<p>Thanks MYOS1634, I get it now. Excellent advice.</p>
<p>To get back to your original question, some of the colleges that meet 100% need and are easiest to get into (keeping in mind this list is made of super selective to very selective colleges 
ie., I’m talking in relation to the 60 others on the list, not the thousands of colleges in the US) would be Gettysburg and St Olaf.
They’re very different (one is secular, heavily Greek, on the East Coast, in a very small town that’s historically significant; one is religious-affiliated, “dry” and no Greek life, in the Midwest, in a college town) so you could 1° have your daughter fill out the “request info” forms for both to see what she likes best based on their publications 2° read just these two descriptions in Princeton Review’s Best Colleges/Fiske/Insider’s Guide 3° Run the NPC’s on both. You’d have a basic idea of things she likes or dislikes and about costs.
Then you could take “similar” schools but one notch down, such as Muhlenberg/Ursinus and Illinois Wesleyan/Gustavus Adolphus, and see if you get merit money (enter ACT 32). Those colleges don’t meet need for all admitted students, but will for those students they want. What are the costs according to the NPCs? Are they similar, higher, lower than at Gettysburg and St Olaf?
Then take the lower-costing universities among the four above, read their entries in the guide(s): how are they similar/different in vibe to the previous two? What does your child like or dislike about them? Would she like them as safeties? If not, what makes those wrong for her as safeties?
If all are too expensive, you’d have to go one notch down still - but you’ll have an idea of what colleges expect from you and whether you’re willing to pay that much.
Then post back here again with details, and we’ll provide other suggestions. </p>
<p>Thanks again, MYOS1634. You clearly know what you are talking about. I am wondering if you are a college advisor! I had never heard of St. Olaf, but as she is totally non-religious, that school is out. I have ordered the Fisk Guide. I do appreciate all helpful responses. People like you can help us avoid time-wasting.
Also, to be clear, she hasn’t done the ACT, but 32 is the highest score on the PLAN. Someone else said if she stays on track and continues to do well, or improves, she can sort of assume that a safety will be a school in which she exceeds the criteria for the top %25. Does that sound right? That is a useful thing to know, because part of the problem with figuring out a safety is that we aren’t sure how “low” she needs to go, if that makes sense.</p>
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<p>You may want to ignore the score impact on her choices, but the bottom line is that after finances, it is the next most important factor in her admissions. (I know people will jump in and say grades are, but I think that is BS on the part of most colleges – it is test scores that they can trumpet and show against other peer colleges, while grades are more subjective – high test scores go a very long ways in the admissions process). So depending on how the actual tests go next year, you may end up with a very different list of schools.</p>
<p>Also, your D has liked smaller schools when she visited them. Why on earth would you pick a large university as her safety? That seems ridiculous. She needs to want to attend her safety as much as her other schools.</p>
<p>A safety can be a school where she is in the top 25% AND the acceptance rate is fairly high (I would say 40% or higher) AND you know you can afford it no matter what the financial aid and merit aid looks like AND she is very willing to attend if her other applications don’t work out. Note that some schools consider student interest in their admissions process, so she really should pay some attention to safeties (visit, get on their email lists, attend if they have presentations in your area, etc).</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, Intparent. Good point re test scores. Seems that there is much conflicting info about tests v.s. grades lately.</p>