<p>I have a list of good schools to look at on the east coast but I'm a little stumped on what would qualify as a safety school for me - not a reach school (such as Harvard or Georgetown, just as examples) but also not below my standards. </p>
<p>-I'm a junior with a 4.3 GPA (on a 4.5 system)
-3rd in my class of about 160
-definitely not lacking in extracurriculars (though maybe lacking a little in community service, not sure what would qualify as enough of that)
-I scored a 204 (out of 240) on the PSATs as a sophomore (haven't taken them yet this year)
-also, I scored in the 99th percentile on the SSATs, though I ended up not going to a prep school</p>
<p>The schools I'm looking at are spread out and mostly in/near Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and DC but I'm looking for a couple safeties in New England (I live in Vermont), maybe New York. I have family in Boston so I was thinking Lesley, Northeastern, maybe BU? But I have absolutely no idea what a good safety would be for me. </p>
<p>Also, preferably liberal arts, not larger than 20,000, and campus - NOT buildings in a city that happen to contain classrooms. </p>
<p>I appreciate all the help I can get, thanks!</p>
<p>Have you been to the Boston schools you have mentioned? I don’t think BU and Lesley would meet your description of an acceptable campus and Northeastern might be borderline as well.
Do you know what you want to study?
You might be better off waiting until you have SAT scores to report, it will help identify what you should be shooting for…</p>
<p>No I haven’t been to the schools I mentioned, I wanted some ideas so I could decide on one or two to look at in addition to my reach schools because I’m too busy to go down to Boston as many times as it would take to look at lots of colleges. </p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, that’s good to know. Any other ideas on schools in the Boston area that have a nice campus and have maybe 30% and higher acceptance rates for a safety?</p>
<p>Bentley, Babson, Brandeis, Endicott, Stonehill, Merrimack, Wellesley - all in the suburbs, some but not all have good access to Boston on public transportation. Tufts and BC would be ideal but are not safeties
In Boston, there are also Simmons and Emmanuel which have small but real campuses.</p>
<p>Wellesley’s acceptance rate is deceptive, as is that of most elite women’s colleges, because there is a high degree of self-selection. If your SATs are in line with your earlier tests, it would sound like a potential match for you, if you are a female. Tufts sounds like a potential match school. Wheaton, in Norton MA sounds like a safety. Brandeis is another possible safety/match, depending on your actual scores.</p>
