<p>Given that Penn does not consider legacy status unless an applicant applies ED, it is a little silly to consider it a safety based on legacy status. There are LOTS of kids with stats that say "Harvard" who do not get into Penn (or Harvard, either, of course).</p>
<p>I fifth or sixth or whatever the suggestion of Michigan (if it's still open) as a high-quality, highly lovable safety/match for high-stat kids. Wisconsin, too.</p>
<p>One may want to also note the number of the 3.7, 3.8 UM GPA stats deferred at UMich for Early response this year.....I would be very cautious about calling UMich a safety if you've had even 2 B's during soph or junior year OOS...that being said, if one is TRULY Ivy material, they should be fine there... and I second the idea of Wisconsin.....</p>
<p>I'm missing something. Why is OSU not a good safety? It sounds like dumb old Dad was overruled.</p>
<p>Hi CRD,</p>
<p>I don't think that it is a matter of OSU not being a good safety, it probably is but OP states
[quote]
Her dad is 100% against her even applying for OSU.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think this is the reason that most people are not addressing the OSU issue.</p>
<p>But OP said "DD told me her best friend only APPLIED to : Princeton, UPenn, Cornell, Stanford, WashU, and OSU". I thought it was a done deal and dad was overruled. It sounds like a fine short list with reaches, matches and a safety.</p>
<p>It's OSU from out of state though and it seems like the family is dead set against it, which can't be good if it is the only one she gets into. I think the other five are reaches for any senior applying this year.</p>
<p>Dad II</p>
<p>You've learned a lot here. There is no safety in that list unless a gap year is in the mix. Nothing wrong with a gap year, but a kid should be ready for that possibility.</p>
<p>Well somebody picked OSU and given it's OOS, it probably wasn't a random choice. It was probably DadII's DD's friend herself through her own research. It was picked from among all other schools. The application is in (noted by the past tense of the word "applied"). Given OSU's honors program, and the resources available at the university, it was probably a well thought out choice. </p>
<p>Why can't we just assume that DadII's DD's friend would be happy to go there if she didn't get into her other choices. DadII's DD's friend's Dad is just going to have to live with (and pay) for her decision. OSU OOS is still much less expensive than a private.</p>
<p>let me clarify. DD's friend applied to OSU because DD did. DD told me that the father told her that even if she got the top full ride at OSU, he will not let her go there. </p>
<p>As of today, she is in the honor at OSU. We still think she will get in one of the top schools because of her all around excellent stats. </p>
<p>All this started when DD and I had one of those "what if I did not get in any where" discussion. DD said she really likes to go where this friend goes. But if DD ends up in OSU, she will not attend there because of her dad. I asked, where else did she apply and DD gave me the list. I was in a total shock right there. The rest, as they said, are what you are reading here.</p>
<p>PS. I know it is none of my business what school other apply. I was just expressing my surprise at such selection.</p>
<p>This is all locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen, since I assume the dealines are past, but Emery, Vanderbilt, JHU and numerous LACs would have been good to add to the list. Oh well. Fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Dad II,
I second Bethievt -- you have learned a lot from your D's experience and the collective wisdom on this board! I agree that there are so many kids who "by the numbers" should be able to get into those schools, but they don't. I'm glad to see that your DD seems to realize that her friend's list is overreaching, too (and that it sounds like DD is getting excited about what OSU has to offer, should she decide to attend). DD's friend could face a long, painful April.</p>
<p>(This is where EA schools can be really useful -- it gives an applicant a sense of where he/she fits in the pool.) DS changed his list a little, but only after getting EA results.</p>
<p>Maybe she applied to Penn State, and not UPenn:)</p>
<p>I'm not all that surprised. I'm constantly amazed by the lists I hear from parents and their hs kids (non-CC of course!), coming from my area high schools. It's sad but I have to stay out of the discussion it's so frustrating.</p>
<p>Here's a typical list I hear from parents of kids with good grades: Princeton, Penn, St. Joe's, Villanova, TCNJ, Rutgers, Rowan. At least they have safeties, but the point is it's not a good balanced list, like in the OP. No disrespect to any of these fine schools, but commonly people don't know about all those many fantastic schools between P/P (or WashU) and Villanova or tcnj (invariably they're rejected at princeton and penn). And they honestly believe the kid will get into Princeton and are especially shocked when they don't get into Penn. Similar to DadII D's friend and her dad. And GC's often don't know much more than the parent.</p>
<p>LOL, This looks like the typical college list at my sons' NJ HS. Just add one more which would be UDel and it is pretty complete. My older son could not understand why he "was the only one" of his friends looking at schools as a junior. Many of his friends did not look at one school until senior year. I guess that is because they knew that they would not go anywhere more than 2.5hours from home, so it was not necessary.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for U Michigan discussion!
Will go and talk to DD. Actually she is still debating whether to apply to UMich. Her transcript and letters are already there, but her app is not complete. As far as I understand, U Mich has a long essay that is unique, so she cannot recycle her current ones. She was working on the app, but then dropped it before Jan 1 deadline.Then she got convinced that U Mich is just a reach like HYP for anyone out of state and so late in the season and is probably not worth the effort applying. Maybe I should encourage DD to still finish this app by next weekend.</p>
<p>
[quote]
DD told me that the father told her that even if she got the top full ride at OSU, he will not let her go there.
[/quote]
Maybe the dad will change his mind if that ends up being the only option after kid doesn't get admitted into any of the other colleges. ;)</p>
<p>That being said, we really don't know this kid -- I think just about every high school has one or two students who clearly are top leaders in everything they do, and very likely to be admitted to Ivy-caliber schools based on the school's own history and likely recs from the school. So if this good friend is also the likely class valedictorian, the kid who seems to win all the awards and recognition at the school, or who always ends up elected as president of every club or who gets the leading role in every play, who every teacher thinks of as head & shoulders above the rest..... then her chances may indeed be very good at admission to the schools she has selected. Yes, it is a crap shoot.... but there still are some kids who seem to lead charmed lives. So despite the apparent folly of the college list.... it may just turn out that the kid ends up where she wants to be. </p>
<p>At my d's high school, it seemed like every year there was ONE kid who ended up admitted to Harvard or an Ivy-equivalent.... and it was generally easy to predict who that kid would be. On the other hand, I'm kind of glad we live in California where all of those super stars do use the UC system as their safety--somehow the kids who are disappointed in their Ivy-quest do manage to overcome their disappointment when they end up at Berkeley or UCLA.</p>
<p>Look, the list may not be crazy. If you tell me that the girl is a top student at one of the top-flight NYC private schools, I might accept that Penn or WashU could effectively be a safety. But. If it were my kid, I would have encouraged her to be more careful.</p>
<p>"That being said, we really don't know this kid -- I think just about every high school has one or two students who clearly are top leaders in everything they do, and very likely to be admitted to Ivy-caliber schools based on the school's own history and likely recs from the school. "</p>
<p>That's very true, but even then it's not a sure thing. D1's best friend is a senior at D2's school. She is am amazing student and human being. 2200+ SAT scores, top 1% rank in an IB program, tons of leadership, a job working 20 hours a week where she's earned the position of manager in a store. Tons of heartfelt community service, spent last summer in China teaching English, and has a compelling story of recovering after being hit by a car driven by a drunk driver. She was rejected from Cornell. Thankfully, she's applied to a total of 9 schools, including several true safeties, and never put her heart into any one school. So one never knows.</p>
<p>What's the EA/ED round turn out in OP's DD school? If it is a high power HS and the kid among the top students, I don't think it is too crazy either. A top ranked OSU indeed could serve as safty. </p>
<p>My problem with OSU is nowadays a good OSU charge as much as a good private school. Unless you are in honor program, the classes in most StateU could be so crowded, that you could hardly get registered to those 'hot' courses. UMich dose offer 'merit-based' scholarship to out of state students but still it is 'need-based'.</p>
<p>I think the val at our high school has gone to HYorP every year since I've been paying attention. :) But they've all been amazing kids -a few Intel semi or finalists, great ECs, decent sports etc.</p>