<p>i was at a grad school interview last week, and met a bunch of people from the NESCAC schools. we were laughing because it seems like people that dont get into brown go to wesleyan, and people who dont get into wesleyan go to vassar, bates, or connecticut college.</p>
<p>My safeties were NYU, Vassar, and Bard.</p>
<p>I'm astounded that any is calling Vassar a safety. Its admit rate is one percentage point higher than Wesleyan's, and still below 30%. How is that a "safety"?</p>
<p>A percentage isn't always the best indicator of selectivity. Each person's case is individual. I considered Vassar and Bard "safeties" not because they're necessarily easy to get into, but because my high school in particular gets a lot of admits there. Wesleyan was up in the air because my school doesn't have a very strong history with them.</p>
<p>OK. For your situation, then, it's an individualized thing. However, I think it's misleading to list Vassar as a safety in response to a generic "What's an appropriate safety if you're applying to Wesleyan" question, from someone who doesn't go to a school with your track record.</p>
<p>I think a better word would be "alternative" or "second choice" rather than "safety" is appropriate when comparing Wesleyan to Vassar. Although similar in feel I think the admissions are slightly different. My daughter attends Wesleyan. While at the Vassar info session a few years ago, the adcom was really stressing the importance of SAT scores, at Wesleyan the info session seemed to be more about being well rounded, community service, what are you going to do for us while you're here kind of thing. Obviously, grades and scores count but it seemed to be different. You also have to take Vassar's 60 female/40 male into account.</p>
<p>They are both highly regarded liberal Arts schools and would be too close to say that one is a safety over the other. </p>
<p>But of course Wes is Best.. lol</p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>My private H.S. calls so-called safety schools "Likely" schools. As if that really helps much...</p>
<p>That's true, Chedva. But then how else would I contribute to this thread? For all I know this person could be going to a high school like mine, so I might as well give my two cents. If it doesn't help them, oh well. If it does, great!</p>