<p>How do you choose your safety schools? When I'm looking for safety schools, it seems impossible. Everyone that I look at I don't want to attend because they seem to easy for my academic capabilities. How do I find one that I will be happy with going to, even though the average student is far below my academic level? How far approximately should the schools average GPA and SAT scores be for it to be a "safety school", but not something that is a complete joke of a college to attend to?</p>
<p>How do you choose your safety schools? When I’m looking for safety schools, it seems impossible.</p>
<p>A safety school needs to be a school that you know you’ll get accepted to and that you know FOR SURE that all costs are covered by ASSURED grants, ASSURED scholarships, small federal loans, and/or family funds. And, you should like the school.</p>
<p>*Everyone that I look at I don’t want to attend because they seem to easy for my academic capabilities. How do I find one that I will be happy with going to, even though the average student is far below my academic level? *</p>
<p>What are your stats? I find it hard to believe that all/most safeties would be too easy for you.</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>Do you know how much your parents will pay?</p>
<p>And, what state are you in?</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore at high school and I’m wondering which college (academically speaking) is right for me? So I have a 3.6 GPA unweighted, and by the time I graduate I will have taken AP Music Theory, AP Physics, AP American History, AP Statistics, BC Calculus, AP French, AP Psychology and possibly AP Bio (still deciding on that one). I don’t know what my SAT will be but I would estimate at about 2100, give or take.</p>
<p>There are many safety schools that would be a challenge for you.</p>
<p>I am looking to major in economics and mathematics. Which colleges specifically would be good backups for these majors and my stats?</p>
<p>What about your state flagship or one of its satellite campuses?</p>
<p>giatns, most schools of any size have a range of students attending. Therefore you will be able to find an intelligent, ambitious group of peers at many, many colleges and universities, even those where the average student is not all that impressive. Remember that you don’t need an entire campus full of high achievers; you only need enough to make your classes and extracurricular intellectual life interesting and challenging. </p>
<p>Realize, too, that many lackluster high school students do much better work in college, either because they have matured or because they are finally able to concentrate on the subjects that matter to them rather than taking a standard curriculum. Those kids won’t get admitted to the most elite schools even if they bother to apply there, and their stats at entry might not look so hot, but they really shine at the schools where they are admitted.</p>
<p>State schools are a good place to start looking, because lots of students who could gain admission to elite private universities attend them for convenience or for financial reasons. Generally the flagship university is the most selective, the regional or branch campuses less so; which ones would be safeties for you will depend upon the state in which you reside.</p>
<p>The best advice I ever heard about choosing a safety was on this site, and I cannot recall who posted it, so please forgive me for the plagarism. </p>
<p>Figure out what schools you REALLY want to attend if you could have everything you wanted, and money was not object, and there was no such thing as rejection. Then, find schools which are similar.</p>
<p>So, for example, you might like the fact that Brown has no core requirements. Find less selective schools like that, etc…</p>
<p>YOu might not be able to have everything you want, but if you make your list, I bet you can find a lot of it in a few of the “less selective” or “selective” schools out there.</p>
<p>Good luck. Good question.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’ve also heard on here that THIS is the MOST important school to find, especially if it’s an affordability issue. That’s all I’ve got, all of it stolen from other posters. ;)</p>
<p>^ True.</p>
<p>I second the idea of the state flagship, especially if they have an honors program. The “similar, less selective school” idea is a great one, though. For example, Georgetown is one of my top choices, so I’m looking into American as a possible safety.</p>
<p>Do sit down with your parents and talk about how much they are able and willing to pay. Then look around for places that cost less than that, or at least no more than that plus whatever federally determined (FAFSA) aid you qualify for. From that list of Financial Safeties, pick out one or two that offer the major you are interested in. Check them out thoroughly so that you can identify at least one love-worthy Rock-Solid safety for yourself. If you choose well, you may find that your list can be a whole bunch of reaches and just this one safety as your back-up. You may not need any matches at all.</p>
<p>*I am looking to major in economics and mathematics. Which colleges specifically would be good backups for these majors and my stats? *</p>
<p>We need more info from you.</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay?</p>
<p>Hey you guys. I’m in the state of New York. Money isn’t really an issue, so I’m not worried about scholarships and fees. I’m looking for a college in an urban setting like NYC, Boston, Philly, D.C., etc. The college that I really have my eyes set on right now would be NYU, so similar schools to NYU that is in the eastern time zone would be fine. I have a 3.6 GPA now (my GPA has gone up since last year, so hopefully it might become a 3.7) and based off of practice tests I’d estimate my math to be about a 740, critical reading a 650 and I don’t know about my essay. I will have taken 7-8 AP classes by the time that I graduate, and I have pretty decent extra curricular activities. The only legacy that I have is to SUNY Albany from my mom (don’t really want to attend there), my dad came to the U.S. from the Netherlands (I have dual citizenship if that helps at all, but I am a permanent resident in the U.S.). Again I’m looking for a safety school with a good Mathematics and Economics Program.</p>
<p>“Everyone that I look at I don’t want to attend because they seem to easy for my academic capabilities.”</p>
<p>I’d learn how two write a sentence or too without to many mistakes before I’d claim it’s tough too find a school up two my level.</p>
<p>Anyway, there are schools that have wonderful academics without being especially difficult to get into. U of Wisconsin, U of Iowa, U of Colorado, U of Kansas, Clark U, Georgia Tech, Case Western Reserve, U of Vermont, Fordham, U of Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Miami of Ohio are such schools. Most are in locations which are less than glamorous, which is a main reason their admissions are relatively easy.</p>
<p>Your dad is from the Netherlands where higher education is essentially free. This means that you do indeed need to have a conversation about the financial side of your education. He may not truly understand just how hideously expensive colleges and universities are in the US. He also may feel that your local SUNY is perfectly fine because where he grew up everyone went to a public university. Since your mom is a SUNY grad, I’d suggest that you start with the SUNYs for your list of potential safeties. Don’t be surprised if your dad’s plan for your education is to send you to the Netherlands. All the Canadians I know do their level best to send their US-Canadian bi-national children to Canada for college because it is cheaper there.</p>
<p>In my (admittedly somewhat limited) observation, students who major in math are considered to be freaking geniuses wherever they go to college. Provided the higher level math coursework that you are looking for is offered, you will be fine wherever you end up.</p>
<p>*Your dad is from the Netherlands where higher education is essentially free. This means that you do indeed need to have a conversation about the financial side of your education. He may not truly understand just how hideously expensive colleges and universities are in the US. He also may feel that your local SUNY is perfectly fine *</p>
<p>Happymom makes a very good point. You may know that your parents have a good income, but if you haven’t actually talked to them about how much they’ll spend, you can’t just think that money isn’t a concern. Every year we have students who post who had assumed that their parents would pay the $50k+ per year for wherever they wanted to go…only to find out that the parents can’t/won’t pay that much.</p>
<p>So, ask your parents what your budget is for college. If they say, “don’t worry,” then politely follow up with something along the lines of, “So, it’s ok if the school costs $55k per year.” (this is important because many parents have NO IDEA that college can cost that much.) </p>
<p>If after all of that, they’ve “signed on” to paying for wherever you go, then you’ll be able to create a good list of reaches, matches, safeties.</p>
<p>Some schools to consider - if money is not an issue at all…</p>
<p>Fordham
American U
Boston U
Ohio State
Penn State</p>
<p>If money is an issue…</p>
<p>SUNYs
schools that will give you lots of merit scholarships for your stats.</p>
<p>I already talked to my dad about going to college in the netherlands. The problem with this to me is that I don’t speak dutch! My dad gave up speaking in dutch to us (he still does from time to time) and I can only understand what I hear from cognates and context. I know that they speak a lot of English in Holland, I’ve been there multiple times, and everybody seems to be fluent in English (except for children). My dad still wants me to study abroad there for a semester, but I’m still deciding on that. My dad is fine wherever (location wise) I go. My mom wants to keep me in the same time zone. My mom would rather me go to Florida than Chicago because of the time difference. She wants me to be able to call her with convenience. This is also a bit annoying because I want to apply to UC Berkeley as a reach school, but I’m not sure she’d go for it. But overall my dad is okay with me staying in the U.S. and my mom wants me to stay in the eastern time zone.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of schools to choose from within your time zone. </p>
<p>Just make sure your parents know how much schools like Berkeley and other cost ($50k per year or more)…That is one thing many parents have no idea about…especially since your mom went to a SUNY and your dad didn’t go to school here.</p>
<p>OP, is English your first and/or only language? I ask because your writing is a tad awkward. I’d be concerned about your SAT essay score and the caliber of your application essays. </p>
<p>What math are you currently taking in high school? </p>
<p>Since math and econ are very common majors, I suggest you focus on looking for schools that are in urban areas on the east coast. Look at how your stats compare with these school’s profiles as well as their admissions rates to see if you are in match or safety territory. If your scores and GPA are average for the school, and the school has a low acceptance rate, that’s going to be a reach. In addition to the other suggestions above, take a look at Pitt (in a great area of Cleveland), Rochester, Northeastern, George Washington U, Rhodes, Tulane, and U Maryland-College Park, for starters. </p>
<p>As other posters have said–you MUST have the money talk with your parents. They may be fine with the cost of any school, but you must have them run a FAFSA estimator so they can see how much they will be expected to pony up each year. Many parents say “don’t worry, whereever you get in we will find a way to make it work financially.” Parents say this because they love their children and want to reward them for their hard work in school. Don’t believe your parents if they say this. </p>
<p>If, however, they say “why yes, we have $100k sitting in a college savings account for you and we can easily pay another $30k a year when you’re in college”, then you can honestly assume that you have carte blanche.</p>