<p>Quote: “he was accepted at Middlebury, Amherst and Williams with full tuition to all three.”</p>
<p>Full tuition? Wow. Was this merit aid? A few years ago Williams only had need-based aid.</p>
<hr>
<p>Edit: Just checked Williams web site This is what I found:</p>
<p>"Are there any merit scholarships at Williams not based on need?</p>
<p>No. All financial aid awards at Williams are based on need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid."</p>
<p>The strategy for that particular student was probably reasonable. Schools like Williams and Amherst may be trying to “diversify” and accept low income qualified students. I am not so sure that this strategy would have worked as well for the typical high achieving upper middle income white male… :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Those are great acceptances. For some students, if they are willing to take a gap year, then these types of applications are fine.</p>
<p>I still go back to the thread by Andi about her son. It was a surprise the first time when he did not get accepted to the schools to which he applied. He had NOT planned to take a gap year, but he turned lemons into lemonade and did a well thought out gap year and was accepted to the school of his choice the second time around (a slightly different list than the first time around).</p>
<p>That thread is well worth reading if someone can bring it up and link it here.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter HOW MANY schools your kiddo applies to…it matters the range of those schools. Otherwise a plan B should be in place…just in case.</p>
<p>People are confusing this with the andison situation. He did NOT have appropriate safeties – it was more a case of assuming that if he was a good student and applied to 12 schools where he had a 10% chance of admission, he would get into at least one of them. And one of the lessons there was that andison did NOT get accepted the second time around at any of the colleges that had failed to accept him the year before. Applying and getting rejected is burning a bridge.</p>
<p>A real safety is a real safety. If a kid is applying to a college that WILL accept him, then any additional applications are just gravy. And in some circumstances, for some kids, Middlebury is a safety (although I would be happier if they didn’t brag about it here).</p>
<p>All this stuff about “only one college (or four) for me” is hooey, though. There is no student out there for whom dozens, if not hundreds of colleges would be appropriate. Restricting one’s list is always artificial, and that’s fine.</p>
<p>That is always one of my nightmares. Sometimes, the college admissions landscape changes abruptly from the previous years and you can get caught in the froth. A couple years ago, some of the mid-tier UCs got suddenly more selective than in the past. I remember a thread about GCs, parents and seniors being floored by rejections from UC Davis, a school often used as a safety for those applying to Berkeley and UCLA.</p>
<p>Not bragging. Just trying to show how insane I felt it was too. But again the point I was trying to make was that the student should know who they are at this point and as the parent you can advise but you should let them make their own decisions. If they only choose 4 or 2 schools to apply to then so be it. They have to face the reality in the end and should have a plan B. If they apply to additional schools that are not really what they are looking for or not the right fit and only get accepted to those schools then what? Go to the school that they didn’t really want to go to anyway. Maybe they could be happy, my son knew he wouldn’t. </p>
<p>Financial aid initiatives at these schools allow for grants instead of loans for families with incomes I believe up to $180,000, not just low income. </p>
<p>Agreed thumper 1–gap year is an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade.</p>
<p>There isn’t a school in the country with an acceptance rate below 20% that I would consider a safety for anyone. Maybe a match for a top student, but certainly not a safety (in the true sense of the term).</p>
<p>thumper…A few pages back you mentioned that you insisted your D add schools and it was a waste of money…I did the same thing D was perfectly happy with her list of 7 sechools but I insisted she apply to a second UC campus and to Cal Poly. When all was said and done those were the only two campuses which denied her and she really didn’t care so yep money out the window…</p>
<p>OTOH: kids do sometimes change from fall to spring of their Sr. year and decide that a large campus is what they want when they applied only to small LACs so who knows whats really right. I do think having an in state public on the list is rarely a bad idea and I love mythmom’s idea of the “mommy school” which is one campus the parent picks with their child and their stats in mind. </p>
<p>Oh and I am even more conservative when it comes to figuring safties… to me, to be one, a campus has to accept over 50% of the students applying and my kid has to be in or above range in all quantitative measures.</p>
<p>That is precisely what the counselor told us. He refuses to list any school as a 100% sure thing because in his many years of experience he has seen kids get WL or even rejected by their safeties. </p>
<p>Demographics can change. For example, a college is suddenly bumped up in a rankings list and everyone now wants to go there. Or a state starts offering a lot of money to incite students to stay in state (think lottery $$). Or even more recently, with the economic situation, students who have gotten into their reach and would have gone there under normal circumstances have now decided that it’s a better financial deal to go to their safeties with a full ride. That bumps everyone down the list a little bit.</p>
<p>I’ve heard several admissions officers say they have no idea what to expect this coming year with college admissions. Some of the state university honors programs are worried they will end up with a much higher #of applicants, thus driving down acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Sometimes, though safeties will waitlist only to see if an outstanding student really wants to attend or whether the student really plans to go to a much better school. If the student requests to stay on the waitlist, the school will immediately accept them. By doing this, the colleges are able to increase their reported yields in that the schools aren’t turned down by as many outstanding students.</p>
<p>You don’t mention in your original post what the differences are between the schools your son visited, other than his likelihood of admittance. If the schools are all of about the same size and in similar locations (like all in small towns) then I would try to get him to visit a couple campuses with other characteristics.</p>
<p>I pretty much insisted that my son visit schools of varying sizes and locales so he could see how the different campuses “felt.” He did not like one school that was integrated into a large city – too urban for him.</p>
<p>If your son is the type who already knows what he’s looking for – size and locale wise – then I think 4 schools is enough.</p>
<p>My D applied to only ONE school as a transfer and darned if she didn’t get in! A friend’s D also applied to ONE school for U & ONE school for her masters. She got into both. Think of the app fees, stress and paperwork saved by such a sensible approach and the kid has already done the hard work of winnowing down what s/he’s interested in.</p>
<p>Never could figure out those who wanted to apply to tons and then have to figure out which one to attend. Seemed like a lot of wasted time & energy to me and irked those he had to get recs, transcripts & other paperwork from, plus costly in effort, app fees, test score fees, etc. Glad your kid has a safety in the mix, should be just fine (provided your family can afford the schools on your child’s list).</p>
<p>Yea, I forced my kid to apply to a school (OOS public) he didn’t want so he didn’t have the transcript sent & refused to consider the later acceptance & full-ride offer. It was a waste of money. He also blew off & didn’t complete several apps for schools he claimed he wanted to attend (didn’t want to write the essays, I guess), so of course those were a waste as well–more app fees out the window! He could have been fine with just 4 apps, but oh well, it’s always hindsight.</p>
<p>Do YOU feel comfortable with the 4 schools? Do they seem to fit his personality and needs? There are so many times a parent needs to point out something a kid is overlooking…maybe this is one of those and that’s what’s unnerving? Otherwise, 4 including a likely match and good safety seem fine to me. The other question though, is-- is he someone who could bear to do the gap year if it turned out to be necessary. I think a lot of kids would take it too much to heart, watching all the friends go off while they have nowhere to go, maybe losing confidence and motivation. Others would be fine.</p>
<p>If the student has a true safety which in my definition is</p>
<p>A school where the student has a really good chance of being accepted and if this is the only school where student is accepted, they would be happy to attend.</p>
<p>This school is a financially feasible option for the family without depending on merit aid or athletic scholarships (as students get hurt, grow tired of their sport).</p>
<p>Then you only need 1 safety and then everything else is gravy.</p>
<p>However, based on 2 of the threads that Op started:</p>
<p>I would say that unless the Op’s son is a heavily recruited athlete, is applying really early to UConn (their state U) really early in cycle with comprable SAT scores (which we do not know if this is the case), I would question if student really does have a true safety in this list. Even then UConn states itss very important factors as:</p>
<p>Class Rank
Rigor of secondary school record
Standardized Test Scores
Talent/Ability
Academic GPA </p>
<p>Depending on where the student falls the ranking, it could hurt the applicant if these schools have a pretty formulaic or numbers approach to admissions. Under this type of process, the applicant would definitely not be first student to be shut out of their state U where even seats there are becoming more competitive.</p>
<p>We don’t know if money is going to be an issue and Op is going to need merit $ to make this happen.</p>
<p>The conventional wisdom on CC over the years is to use a bottoms up approach, making sure the safety is a true safety (this can be the hard part). Hopefully the student can apply EA, or rolling and have an acceptance in the pocket before the RD deadline. Op would be remiss not to sit down with his/her son to make sure the safety is a safety (consult with the GC as to where students with son’s profile get accepted, if your school has naviance look up his numbers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the “legwork”…lol. Our school does have Naviance, which helps. S’s SATs are a 1430 (CR plus M) /2060 (Total), so that helps too. School counselor and Naviance have identified schools that they feel are clear safeties, although who really knows with this economy hence my concerns.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m right there with you, Kajon! LOL Until this whole “college-thing” became a reality, I honestly never had to utter a word to my daughter about her school studies. I certainly didn’t hover over her nor was I constantly reminding her about her college prep timeline. Life was soooo nice back then! Well, next year at this time, all of this college app-stuff will be over.</p>
<p>I thought I would update this thread since my son just received word that he has indeed gotten into his safety (Indiana). I’ve also convinced him to add two schools he hasn’t visited yet and can visit if he gets in. It’s always nice to have some options, I think.</p>
<p>That’s great. Some kids get much more active in the college search once they actually see the process working. A great early acceptance can really be a spark. I’m sure he’ll have some nice options next spring.</p>
<p>Congrats, readytoroll!!
Doesnt it feel great to know your s will be going to college next year?? Really helps to abate the angst. </p>
<p>We had just the opposite experience when our s’s heard early that they got into their safety. It decreased their desire to apply anywhere else, as they compared all others to their safety (which were also financial safeties)-- so it became "would it be worthwhile to pay any more to go to XYZ school than this school? The answer became “no”, and younger s didnt even finish one last application he was almost done with. If he is happy with his safety, I’d say he’s done!! Let him enjoy his senior year!</p>
Well, next year at this time, all of this college app-stuff will be over.</p>