Safeties? Please Help

Thank you all for the advice!! We’ve never received child support or anything like that, and it’s definitely not going to start now.

I think to be safe, a safety should have, at minimum, a 45% admit rate – and the higher, the safer. And the applicant should be at or above the 75th percentile for GPA and test scores.

Heck, you could simplify it and just say the admit rate should be at least 50%.

Wake, Kenyon, Oberlin, U of Rochester and Case Western are not safeties.

As a California resident, I think you should direct your safety search to the lower UCs and strong CSUs. You might also look at relatively lower-ranked (say, 65th or lower) LACs known for strong need and/or merit aid.

And check out a list of schools with large automatic merit awards – see if any of them interest you.

You know what the traditional reach schools are – top-15ish LACs, top-20ish private universities, and some of the more selective state flagships OOS – but there are also some match-range schools that give strong need-based aid, like (including some already mentioned here):

Emory (high match)
Carnegie Mellon (high match if not CS or Engineering; those are reaches)
Tufts (high match)
USC (high match)
Boston College
Brandeis
U of Rochester
Wake Forest
Tulane
Lehigh
Miami(FL)…

LACs:
Grinnell (high match)
Davidson (high match)
Bates (high match)
Oberlin (high)
Reed (high)
Kenyon (high)
Macalester
Pitzer
Holy Cross
Lafayette
Bucknell
Whitman
Trinity (CT)…

You see, there are plenty of match-range schools that provide good need-based aid too. You might read up on these for fit, run the NPC on some you like, and go from there.

You have the stats to have a shot at some traditional reach schools too – I wouldn’t give up on them. Pick some that you like based on academic, environmental and social fit. Run the NPC (that should be stuck in your head, something to do for every prospective school…). If they clear both the Fit and Finances hurdles, go ahead and apply.

@prezbucky thank you for these suggestions!

Just be aware of the non-custodial parent waiver issue at many of these schools. Best to treat each school that requires it as a reach unless/until the waiver is granted by that school, and send the waiver requests early.

I’ve heard that from other people that have applied to Lehigh. Very important to visit if possible

University of Florida and Florida International University

RD at many selective schools is a crap shoot. At first you think you’re a lock. Then you read the results on the decision thread while you’re waiting to hear and you say, “Geez I don’t know if I’ll make the cut” as you see 4.0s with 1450 SATs get waitlisted. But if you pick a good collection, you’re likely to get a few of them. Sounds more like a match than a safety.

with creds like this you probably have a shot at berkeley tho! Plus, they rank pretty high for chemistry

@calibay19 Obviously not a safety, though.

my dd had your testing stats except her GPA was higher and she had some different state level awards. She was surprised to be WL and rejected at two schools that were sold to her as safeties. In the end she had great choices but chose University of ALabama to take advantage of the generous full tuition scholarship. She was fortunate that we had the ability to pay for many (not all) of the higher ranked schools but was so surprised with all that UA had to offer academically. She truly loved it as her first choice when and said she wished she had never even spent the time/energy/worry of applying to the others. She is thriving, has found many peers, is being challenged and supported, and could not be happier. She is shocked by the rigor and also the climate of inquiry. Her roommates are all out of state top of class students who are also thriving. It would be a safety for you but may be financialy out of reach.

How much CAN your family pay? Alabama is filled with top ranked, high caliber students but even with the full tuition it is pricey. Room and board, along with course fees, books, travel expenses, etc… make it more expensive than many think. At any out of state school you should count on $12-$15K a year out of pocket for those things - possibly much more depending on location.

U San Francisco, CSU