<p>Okay so I have a fairly extensive list of schools that I want to apply to this fall (that I reeeeally need to narrow down), but I have yet to find any decent safety schools that I could really feel content going to. As for stats:
SAT 2340 (800 M, 790 CR 750 W, 10 Essay)
ACT 35
My school doesn't report GPA or rank, but the only B I've ever received was in Linear Algebra (2nd or 3rd year math course at most colleges) because the teacher was an adjunct (no office hours). My guidance counselor will explain in my recommendation.
AP: Calc AB 5, Bio 5, Calc BC 5, Eng. Lang 5, Enviro Sci 5
ECs are decent - lots of STEM (ARML, National Sci Bowl, Mu Alpha Theta president) , and also a lot of music/performing arts (all-state chorus)</p>
<p>I'm mostly looking at schools in New England or maybe the west coast. Any suggestions would be great - I want to major in physics or math, and I would prefer a school in or near a city of some sort.</p>
<p>Please don’t have your GC explain the B in Linear Algebra. That is a grade ■■■■■ thing to do. What schools do you have on your list? What is your home state? For most students with high stats their flagship U will do as a safety. Alabama will offer full tuition plus for your stats.</p>
<p>I agree, I REALLY wouldn’t have the GC mention that one B. It makes you sound beyond anal retentive… you have to look a little bit human to the admissions officers. In fact, if I were an admissions officer, I would find it quite obnoxious that you (or your GC or anyone else) was making excuses for it. </p>
<p>It is very hard to give you safeties without understanding what your financial situation is, what schools are already on your list (to see what size and vibe seems to appeal to you), what state you live in, etc. Also, are you male or female?</p>
<p>Stony Brook, Rutgers, and Penn State are not-super-selective schools that have good reputations for math and physics. They might be considered near-safeties for admission for you. But you need to check their affordability, especially if you are not a resident of their respective states.</p>
<p>Holy Cross’ math and physics departments offer most junior/senior level courses only once every two years, which means that you may have just one chance to take each course (compared to where courses are offered every semester or year).</p>
<p>coasters except for Chicago: Stanford, Cornell, Reed, Chicago, UCB, CalTech, MIT, Harvey Mudd, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Hopkins. It was easy. Now can you afford any of them?</p>
<p>Here’s a second for UMCP as an academic safety, with these scores even some money. And I like Illinois as an academic safety, too. Penn State is at least two hours from a city. Rutgers is in New Brunswick–I’ll stop there, and Stony Brook would actually lose a beauty contest to Rutgers (sorry ucb). </p>
<p>OP is asking for “SAFETY SCHOOLS”.
I also agree with other posters, explaining why you had a “B” is a good way to help admission officers send your file to the “reject” pile. as you will come of as all you care about is grades, and as such not quite what colleges are looking for.</p>
<p>Lets see, with your stats, the top ranked east coast schools are pretty tough to get in let alone safeties. In reality, Top 10 on the LACs and Top 20 on the National Universities should not be considered safeties to anyone. The competition is getting tougher up there. Hoping finances will not be an issue, I will say take a look at these schools;</p>
<p>East Coast; (Vassar, Hamilton, Georgetown, Carnegie, Boston C, Brandeis, NYU)</p>
<p>Just look at your state’s flagship public university for a safety. Your academics should give you a relatively easy entry to Math or Physics. If you want an urban school, you probably would qualify for significant merit aid at some of the smaller [url=“<a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”>http://theaitu.org”]AITU[/url</a>] schools. Remember that in physics the curriculum for most universities is quite similar.</p>
<p>^^ That might be true. West coast has way too many applicants that the UCS and the Claremont system could be gold now. I mentioned it for him/her in the sense that its an East coast applicant, not a West Coast applicant. An East coast applicant with excellent stats might be sought after by the West Coast schools for diversity-demographics purposes, and vice-versa.
The same applies for OP, as schools like Haverford, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, William , Amherst etc… are no longer safeties for anyone, especially East Coast applicants.</p>
<p>When was the last time Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore were “safeties for anyone”? The 1960s? You make it sound like these schools only posted admission rates below 50% last year.</p>
<p>Anyway. One, OP, I agree with everyone else; don’t explain the B. That’s ridiculous. You have the stats. What you need to do now is show some personality in your materials, and hope it’s not the personality of a grade-grubbing soulless automaton created in some helicopter parent’s basement lab. In other words, making excuses for one B–and “the teacher didn’t hold office hours” is a ■■■■■■ excuse as far as these things go, by the way–is the exact opposite of what you need to be doing. Let the evidence of your supposed catastrophic failure stand on its own terms.</p>
<p>Two, to everyone suggesting the OP’s state school: The OP is struggling to find safety schools “that [he/she] could really feel content going to,” not struggling to find safety schools. I think it’s safe to assume he/she is aware of his/her state school, and it doesn’t meet the criterion above.</p>
<p>OP, what would make you like a safety school? Give us your personal preferences, since they seem to be the confounding variable here.</p>
<p>Just use the supermatch thing on this website. That is how I found my second safety. I already knew I was applying to Rutgers as a safety because i’m in state. I still needed one more, so I used supermatch and found Vermont had everything I wanted. (Except for a football team and prestige) Overall, it is a good safety. </p>
<p>Safety, high stats, West Coast or New England, near city. </p>
<p>Strictly by what you wrote:</p>
<p>UCSD
UCSB
UWashington
University of British Columbia
Northeastern (Early Action)
Boston University
UMASS (Early Action)</p>
<p>Taking some liberties and expanding what you wrote to include schools with a lot of overlap
McGill
NYU
UMaryland (Early action)
UPittsburgh (rolling)
Toronto
RPI</p>
<p>Though not a safety, I would put your probability of admissions to URochester or Brandeis at around 80-90%. </p>
<p>What schools do you already like? And how are your finances for affording school? Safeties can vary a ton based upon those two questions - esp the latter.</p>
<p>Your chances of getting into places with a 30% acceptance rate or higher are quite good - AS LONG AS you don’t worry about that B. I agree with everyone else that it would show a bad vibe to do so.</p>
<p>Affording many of these places could be trickier.</p>
<p>If looking for a good shot at merit aid, try U Pitt or U Alabama. They aren’t New England or West Coast, but they are respectable schools - esp for safeties. Then try the more competitive places too. U Roc is pretty well-known for Physics - esp Optics, but there’s no guarantee it will be affordable.</p>
<p>If you’ve already completed many college level classes, I would stick to schools that had a graduate program with them so you don’t “top out” too early on academics.</p>
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