Relating SAT Score to "Safe"

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hope this is the right locale to post this question.
I have searched here and elsewhere and have not found an answer to the following question yet.</p>

<p>How does one's SAT score relate to a "safe school?"
In other words, should my daughter's SAT score be way better than the school's mid-50 range or right in the middle?</p>

<p>Let's say my daughter scores 600 in Reading. (Will use just one number to keep it simple.)</p>

<h2>SCHOOL'S POST 50% RANGE</h2>

<p>490 - 590 She's above
510 - 610 Just within the top
550 - 650 Right in the middle
590 - 690 Just within the bottom</p>

<p>Which school is the "safe" one? Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Above the middle 50% and being a state school usually qualifies as a “safety school”</p>

3

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I guess then, that really implies that “safety school” sort of means, in a sense, “over qualified.”</p>

4

<p>^ Yes. There are some schools with automatic entry criteria (grades and scores) that might be safeties as well despite not being in the top 25%. For a school to be considered a safety you should also be able to afford it.</p>