<p>Scout, without my knowing your D's profile or the school to which she is applying, it does sound roughly speaking to me that the school you are considering a safety IS a safety for her. A well balanced list with two safeties and also matches on the list, should yield results.</p>
<p>Hey, Soozie - tried to PM you but your box is full!</p>
<p>Soozie, you twisted my words. I just used publics as examples of true safeties.</p>
<p>My main point, which I thought was obvious, was that if you have to worry about it, i.e., if there is a real chance that they will look at a serious application, assuming it's complete and filled out as well as the rest, and they will actually reject you because you didn't show enough interest or any other subjective item, then it isn't a safety. This board is full of posts about people who get in nowhere because their safety wasn't.</p>
<p>Obviously, you shouldn't apply to a school you have no interest in attending. In the case of your safety school, the visit is for you to acquire the "lovin" not to show the "lovin". Assuming seniors are really busy, might it not be cheaper and more time-effective to apply to a bunch of safeties that look good on paper and save distant visits for making the final decision if and when you need them. Either way, if they actually reject overqualified applicants, then it's not a safety,</p>
<p>As others have noted, you don't hear about many schools with 70% admit rates that have sneaky enrollment management schemes like denying superbly qualified, but unlikely to yield applicants. </p>
<p>If there's any doubt, why not adopt the direct approach? In addition to the usual moves like visits and e-mails, just write a note to one of the adcoms with whom you've been in contact (the one who covers your HS or area if they have such assignments) and let them know that they are your top choice, and that you'd really be delighted to take advantages of opportunities X, Y, or Z. Or include this information in the "Why X" essay. The admissions offices are just as interested in seeking good fits as students are.</p>
<p>I have alway wondered if schools received the list of where a student sent the Common Application. I had always heard they did not does anyone know for certain?</p>
<p>Yes, If the applicant checks the names of all of the colleges he is applying to, and then hits the "send" button, all the colleges will see where else he is applying.</p>
<p>^^^ Hm - I didn't realize this. I recently saw a reference on CC to applying to one school at a time using the common app. I guess this is the reason? Is it practical to do so?</p>
<p>Number one reason students are not admitted to their safety school -
They don't send in the application soon enough!!!!</p>
<p>One of the biggest pluses of a rolling admission school is that you hear back rapidly, students don't waste that advantage.
Procrastinators my not get a slot at the safety, or they may not get enough merit aid to attend, ar they may not get housing - get those rolling apps in early.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom: Can one do that? Really?</p>
<p>cangel - in general, how early is early enough? D is on track to finish this particular app in mid-September (which I assume is plenty early.)</p>
<p>scout59, if the college is rolling they are probably accepting applications now. Our daughter applied to 2 schools that were very much safeties last summer (they started accepting applications in June). She had 1 acceptance by the end of July with merit money offer and another acceptance with merit money by mid September. I did not ever think she would attend the one college and the other was on the short list until almost the end of the process. Getting the acceptances gave her enough confidence to set her sights a bit higher. Good luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>I also know of some very high achievers who were denied or waitlisted by rolling admissions schools because they applied too late. In both cases, the students had applied ED to an Ivy and, when rejected, had to set their sights lower. How much better to follow the strategy of cmbmom’s daughter.</p>
<p>By definition, schools do fill 25% of their students in the 25 percentile. I don’t see why you have to worry about it. State cleary in the application that this is her first choice and provide the reasons. If the school finds the reasons frivolous, it is better for the school to discover them than your D later on. </p>
<p>For high achievers, it is likely that they will fall into the top 25% regardless.</p>
<p>tetrisfan,
yes you can!</p>
<p>“I recall a HS guidance counselor stating that one kid did get rejected by her safety because she hadn’t made any contact with the school other than submitting the application. (Don’t recall if an interview was required.)”</p>
<p>So is this saying that contact should be made with as many schools as possible to show interest? Like thru emails?</p>
<p>are you saying that using the common app site to send in the applications communicates to all the other schools where else you have applied?</p>
<p>YES. if you check ALL the schools you are applying to, then hit the send button, they will ALL see where else you are applying! So just check 1 college at a time, send the application, uncheck that college and move on the the next one. it takes more time but you have the advantage of not showing all your cards, and admissions comittees can’t make the assumption, based on your list of colleges, that you probably won’t matriculate at their school if accepted, so they make the decision to reject you.</p>
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<p>as long as your safety is not WUSTL :p</p>
<p>Don’t know if it has already been mentioned, but in the “Why” essay, mention the area rep by name and anyone else your d came into contact with during her visits, if possible. And get the app in asap. My s would have submitted his in Sept, but app wasn’t considered complete until teachers submitted their recs.</p>
<p>My s fell in love w/ his safety school and had his app in by Oct 1st even though they did not look at them until Jan (he wasn’t quite brave enough to apply ED though). They accepted him early (Mar 2nd).</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the suggestions and reassurances. (I especially like padad’s comment - after all, there has to be SOMEone in that top 25%.) </p>
<p>As an update, D is almost done with her app to her favorite school - which, as it turns out, is NOT rolling (there was some confusion there) but does have EA. Nevertheless, she’ll be sending that off in a week or so. Teacher recs should be off by then, too. Over the Labor Day weekend we did our last swing of college visits, and now D has one more safety-ish school on her list (which does have real rolling admissions, although they don’t start reading until October.)</p>
<p>So far, though, that original sfaety school is still the number one choice…</p>