'Safety' schools with pretty decent programs

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm freaked out after all the SAT postings and stuff. When I say safety i mean it without a derogatory connotation. If there was a better word I would use it, maybe something like decent but relatively unknown school. I want like a really good safety school which is pretty decent except for the fact that it is not well-known. Any recommendations? just for reference these are my stats <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=40848%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=40848&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Since a safety is a school that I might possibly go to, I would want the school to be as decent as possible. I want to double major in history and chemistry.</p>

2

<p>well, a good stategy for picking safety schools is to choose a school that's not so selective but is known to specialize in the field of study you wish to study. I don't know about history and chem, but an EXAMPLE would be, if you're looking for a good pre-med safety school, there's SUNY Stony Brook. It's not that selective and neither is its liberal arts/social studies program that respected, but med schools know that if you're a stony brook graduate, you'd make a pretty good doctor and have done some good research work, maybe even on par with the premed programs of some of your levels or reaches.</p>

3

<p>What are your academic and career interests?</p>

4

<p>Better ternm than Safety? How about "sure bet", meaning you are likely to get in since your stats are in the top 20% range. I like this term better since Safety makes it sound like a "last resort" when in fact many kids choose a safety over a match for many reasons including fit, location, merit scholarships, etc.</p>

5

<p>2 comments. First, everyone should pick a safety they'd be happy to attend. Why? Simple matter of math and probability. Suppose you apply to 2 reaches, 3 matches, and a safety, not an uncommon combination. And suppose somehow you could know with complete certainty that your odds of getting into each match were 65%. If you do the math, the odds of getting into no match are 1 in 25! So if the reaches don't come thru, 1 out of every 25 people in this scenario would only have their safety.</p>

<p>While schools that admit most students can be identified, what makes them a good safety for you is too specific for people to give one you're sure to like. Do you want a school in the city or rural area? Large state school or one with under 2,000? A LAC or a university? Religious or not? There are many variables, and you should build a set of criteria for finding all your colleges and then apply this criteria to finding your reaches, matches, and a safety or two.</p>

6

<p>The ideal school for me would be a school in the city with suburban features in the campus(columbia) or suburban location, that is pretty small like columbia. Also I don't mind either LAC or university, and i don't want it to be religiously affiliated.</p>

7

<p>I think for a business major, Indiana is a good safety for many of the kids posting on these boards. With the stats that are posted most often, the applicant would get a direct-admit into the Kelley School, which is a top-ranked B School. The campus is nice and if you don't mind a large university, it is a great place. There are other strong programs as well. Many of the big state universities make good safeties and are fun to attend.</p>

8

<p>a lot of the "colleges that change lives" are semi-sure bet-ish</p>

9

<p>Ahem. My top two recommendations for safety schools with great programs are University of San Francisco (awesome location, underrated programs, rising athletic teams, good for business, pre-law, nursing, english)
and Santa Clara (beautiful campus, great reputation among catholic colleges, rising reputation nationally, good for business and tech)</p>

<p>Also, you can find colleges that offer one good program for your major, but are still fairly easy to get in to. For example, I applied to University of Iowa because their Creative Writing program is considered by everybody to be the best writing/english program in the country. Mostly, its the grad school that has the rep, but you get all the perks of that while your an undergrad too. So, if you want to study writing, thats the place. Otherwise, state colleges that can be safeties but have one really top major are pretty common. Another example is U. of Missourri - journalism</p>

10

<p>Ok As I stated above I would like to double-major in chemistry(or environmental science) and history(or politicaly science). I might do a major and minor thing if the circumstances don't follow. Do you know that have great chemistry and history deparments relatively speaking that are kind of easy to get in like 10000% acceptance for me?</p>

11

<p>Good schools in history and chemistry that are sure bets if you visit and show interest are Sewanee and Centre College; maybe Tulane, though I wouldn't say you are a 1000% sure there.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
The ideal school for me would be a school in the city with suburban features in the campus(columbia) or suburban location, that is pretty small like columbia. Also I don't mind either LAC or university, and i don't want it to be religiously affiliated.

[/quote]
Not so fast! That's a start and answers the questions I posed, but what I said just scratches the surface. Big greek system? Opportunity for study abroad? Guaranteed housing all 4 years? What parts of the country? I could list dozens of differences between colleges, hundreds if I wanted to take the time. Of course most wouldn't matter to you, and that's ok. What you ought to do is identify what does matter and then find colleges with those qualities.</p>

<p>What I'm advocating, then, is a top-down search. Bottom up, the way most people pick colleges, is pick schools with attractive names (a Harvard, Williams, etc), add in a few schools for flavor, and then throw in a safety. You end up with a incoherent collection of colleges; a student that will be ecstatic at a rural small college like Dartmouth is unlikely to be similarly pleased at an urban campus like Columbia, yet you'll see lots of people apply to both. You'll see plenty of people that jump at the big brand names (Princeton, Stanford, etc) with little actual reflection on why they are choosing those schools or if they are actually a good fit.</p>

<p>Since you're a junior, you have plenty of time to decide. And the smart way to use some of that time is to decide what matters. Its like planning a trip to Thailand. If you know almost nothing about Thailand you'd want to learn whats out there before planning the tourist spots you want to see, the accomodations you expect, how you'll travel between spots. Same with college. Most HS kids aren't well informed about what's available, even if they have siblings in college. But there's plenty of help out there. Books are an excellent starting point. "Looking Beyond the Ivy League" by Pope is an excellent book to read because he describes the various choices different types of colleges offer. Reading the Fiske or similar guide is similar because you see descriptions of various colleges. </p>

<p>You can take my advice or leave it, its fine with me. But if I was in your shoes here's what I'd do. Read thru the books I listed above, then make a list of tentative goals (and underline tentative). Now visit. If (for example) you think you'd like a smaller-size school then visit one near you even if it isn't a school you'd consider. The point is just to get some real-world exposure and see if your preferences pan out. If so great, if not scratch it out and try again. You have 6 mos to do all this and if you do it right you'll end up with a carefully chosen basket of reaches, matches, & safeties all of which you'd be happy to attend. In fact some people who carefully weigh what they want actually discover their safety is their top choice! What I'm arguing for is a purpose-driven approach rather than a grab-bag of "names".</p>

13

<p>Yes that is why I want to have a sure bet school with a decent program. Anyways are there any suggestions? Oh yeah does rolling admissions increase your chance of getting in if you send your app early?</p>

14

<p>Imrad...
How about Tufts outside of Boston if that is the type of setting you seek. Depending on your stats maybe Haverford, University Of Maryland, PENN. I think we need a glimpse of your stas to know what is worth considering.</p>

15

<p>Consider University of Tulsa (TU) - It is located in a residential section of a large vibrant city (about 2-3 miles from downtown) on a handsome campus. TU has about 2800 undergraduates (and 1300 grad/law students) with lots of merit aid available. It also has the second lowest tuition (behind BYU) of any of the top 100 universities (rated by US News). Another fact for your chemistry interest - TU has the highest number of Goldwater Scholars (national competition for juniors in college math/sciences) of any university in the U.S. (along with Princeton and Duke). For your history and liberal arts bent, TU has just had two Truman Scholars selected in 2005 (national competition for those interested in government service). Check out their website at utulsa.edu and you will see what I mean.</p>

<p>By the way, I am a U Chicago grad, but I was very impressed with what this Oklahoma dynamo had to offer when my son and I were in the college hunt last year. (My son attends Texas Tech Honors College, but TU was a close second.)</p>

16

<p>Editing correction to my University of Tulsa post - TU has the second lowest tuition of the top 100 private universities. Second, TU has the most Goldwater Scholars of any college/university in the U.S. (along with Princeton and Duke) since 1998.</p>

17

<p>My stats are on the first post. However, I want to know a college that doesn't mind being a safety but still is decent.</p>

18

<p>In 2003, Wisconsin (Madison) admitted 65% of their applicants. Academically, Wisconsin is Top 25. Only 55% of the freshmen were in the Top 10% of their HS class (compared to 90% at Michigan).</p>

19

<p>This year UW is down to about 55% admits but your point is otherwise accurate.</p>

20

<p>but who the hell would want to spend four years in madison wisconsin? Might as well attend The University of Siberia. the kid can certainly do better than that. Its a great school, but not a great choice, unless you like cold, and beer, and nothing else.</p>