<p>what's some top schools that would be a safety schools to someone who will have </p>
<p>2150~2350 SAT
4.0 Weighted 3.95 unweighted. (only with B+ or two in junior year....my GPA decreased.. ahhhhh!!!)
above average extracurricular activities but no leadership
also have lived in 4 different countries + moved in junior year</p>
<p>by junior year.</p>
<p>i plan to major in physical science or pre-med as a major and maybe or not international relations or language as a minor.
any top,very good colleges thats just not a reach like HYPS but i have a fairly top chance???
what about JHU?</p>
<p>In addition to JHU you may want to take a look at the "Nerdy Nine". These schools include the UAA conference schools plus Rhodes. They are all excellent schools that range from match to reasonable reach schools for a student with your credentials. </p>
<p>Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Emory University, New York University, University of Chicago,
University of Rochester,Washington University in St. Louis</p>
<p>Note that several of these schools have low acceptance rates, and shouldn't be considered safeties.</p>
<p>University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon isn't a safety for almost anyone. Also, your weighted 4.0 and unweighted 3.95 isn't that spectacular. Did you not take mostly honors or AP courses? If not, you could be in trouble in getting admitted to the top schools.</p>
<p>Rochester is probably safe as is most state universities other than Berkeley and Virginia.</p>
<p>If by physical science you mean earth science, Penn State has an excellent department as does Wisconsin. These are both top ranked departments and you would get a lot of money from the school to attend.</p>
<p>my previous school did not offer any honors. but i doubled up in science, skipped a year of math, took US History (which was for 11th, but this doesn't matter because i have to make world history up in my new school for requirements.)</p>
<p>this year i'm taking ap chem, cal ab(only +0.05) and physics honor
the grading scale is 3.5 for B+ in normal. + 0.05 in AP</p>
<p>Wash U and UChicago would be reaches for you (can't be sure because you didn't provide much information about yourself). Case Western is a good safety.</p>
<p>Safety or not, what are you looking for in a college experience? Do you have any preferences about size, geographic location, type of student body (preppy, nerdy, artsy, etc.), possible EC's you'd like to have available, etc.? Will you need financial aid or are you hoping for merit scholarships? It's senseless for us to list schools without knowing which type of school you see yourself at --- a good safety should be no different in that regard than any other school on your list.</p>
<p>UChicago takes 40 percent of applicants, so it probably wouldn't be a reach for you. Then again, I don't know how weighted gpas work. Is it 4.0 on 5.0 scale??</p>
<p>Those that judge U. Chicago by its admissons rate (katdc87 for example) obviously don't know anything about UChi's approach to admissions. It is known to reject kids that got into Stanford and ivies (personal knowledge here) yet take kids with sat scores in the 600s, partly because it looks WAAAAY beyond SAT scores. In fact, the admissions head personally told me recently that SAT scores add very little to the accuracy of the admissions process, as measured by first year GPA.</p>
<p>Regarding the OP's question, IMHO, a true safety is one that admits by the numbers. This would include many state U's. UMich's formula, for example can be found by some gentle googling. What's published may be out of date, but will be representative. </p>
<p>Beyond formulaic state U, it is hard for anyone long distance to advise. So much depends on the history of the school, of which we have no knowledge. For example, if a school routinely sends dozens of kids to the elites (some public schools do so!), then schools like CMU and Rochester may indeed be safeties. OTOH, if no one has ever been accepted before to an elite school, CMU may be a reach.</p>
<p>I've been to UChicago many times and talked to ppl there (admissions officers) and they do take a more "holistic" approach to apps, AND, they take PRIDE in the fact that they have a fab. selection pool and can accept MORE students. Stop with the passive agressive bullcrap, if you will.</p>
<p>So, kat, putting your borderline profanity aside, your most recent post hardly jives with your earlier one, unless you somehow have fabulous insite with the OP to know that the OP is part of the "fab. selection pool"</p>
<p>I'm sorry. I just don't follow your thinking.</p>
<p>Your state school is your safety. Love your state school. They cannot turn you down, period.</p>
<p>AT upper tier schools, your scores and EC's, are commodities. The schools admit that there is nothing wrong with your application, its that they have too many qualified applicants. Thus applying to a upper tier school is playing craps. </p>
<p>Middle level schools (privates) see your scores as too high to their population. They would like you if they can get you so that they can improve their prestige. However, they also know that the chances of winning you are slim because you would probably be accepted at a better school. Catch 22.</p>
<p>If you are International, your odds improve at the mid level and your safety would be found in this category. </p>
<p>The college admission books are quick reads. Suggest you review them.</p>
<p>Here's a question for every body> If Schools of your choice accept 20% of applicants, and all applicants have the same credentials; How many schools must you apply to be 100% sure in being accepted by least one; 75% sure to be accepted by at least one; And 50% sure to be accepted by at least one. All schools of your choice have an applicant pool of 20,000. No other variables.</p>
<p>If you read past discussions, you will see that there is no way to predict that. There have been students in the past mentioned here that had stellar credentials and were accepted to no schools. Make sure you choose a safety!</p>
<p>Even if it were a straight probability game, you would still NEVER hit 100% acceptance. If I recall correctly, the math goes like this:</p>
<p>The question we want to know is, what is the likelihood that two schools, together, will turn us down - the 1s complement of acceptance probability. If one is .8, two is .64, so one's admissions likelihood is 1.00-0.64=0.36. So, apply to 10, and your chances of acceptance are [1-(0.8exp100] or 1.00-0.11=0.89. Pretty good, no?</p>
<p>Here's the flaw with this approach: It assumes each event (admissions decision, in this case) is random and unconnected. We kinda know this is not true.</p>
<p>Basically, to say that it is a reach school for an obviously good student is dumb. I'm sorry if my borderline profanity caused you a great deal of stress.</p>
<p>I know students with stats as good as the OP's who got waitlisted. Who knows why? maybe Chicago thought they would not be a good fit? Maybe they did not write exciting essays? Anyway, Chicago did turn out to be a reach school for them. Not dumb at all to point out this possibility.</p>