<p>I know UNC is a very solid 'state school' but does it really beat out Michigan, Berkeley, and UCLA?</p>
<p>It's pretty equal.</p>
<p>Fair enough.</p>
<p>
While I'm glad for your experience, Bard does not "promise" to meet 100% of demonstrated need. In a meeting with the Financial Aid director I was told they specifically don't and can't, but they try with the limited budget they have. This was particularly important to me with two kids in college next year but several other schools offered much better packages than did Bard.</p>
<p>Proud Dad: Sorry for my mistake. We got handsome packages there. For me, the more imoortant element is thatnit is need-blind in admissions. Both S and D were rejected at lower level schools that were not need blind but not as good schools. We also got better packages at the schools they chose, but not different enough to proclude Bard had they not been accepted at their first choice schools.</p>
<p>I'm glad you received better packages elsewhere!</p>
<p>
Not that it helped; my D's going to Bard! If she continues there and nothing changes on the FA front, she'll graduate with nearly $20k in loans in her name (a figure Bard says is totally reasonable), and my mortgage will increase by at least four-times that amountbut that's fodder for another thread! Neither of my kids applied to any schools that were not need-blind, and I find that's sort of standard among the better schools. I'd be circumspect of any school that wasn't.</p>
<p>University of Texas</p>
<p>GADad - I don't think U Miami has the same vibe as Harvard at all. Feel free to PM me if you want more details.</p>
<p>NYU might be a good safety for a Harvard applicant. Be wary of its limited financial aid.</p>
<p>I think great LACs for a Harvard applicant to apply to might be Oberlin, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wesleyan, and Haverford - for the more liberal minded, anyway. They do not have the street vibe though. I suppose Oberlin might be the best safety in the group, though I am hesitant to label it as such.</p>
<p>Tokenadult: I think Brandeis might be a good answer to your question. </p>
<p>Once again, however, I am reluctant to label anything as anyone's safety, especially without knowing anything about the specific applicant.</p>
<p>I'd say Cal, actually, from what I've seen. UMiami would only be a good safety for a Harvard applicant who wanted to major in Marine Science of some sort, who really wanted a career in broadcast, or a music career. It's in a rich suburb, more like Stanford or Princeton, except more palm trees and a fantastic Latin community.</p>
<p>Many excellent schools are not need blind. Yes, the school is certainly more appealing if it is. Yes, Bard's pqckage had more loan money than Barnard and Williams where my kids ended up, but given their endowment I think they put together a nice package. For instance, they offered considerably more money than Vassar did.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter at Bard. I think it is a wonderful school. My D's best friend is there and loves it. She's majoring in physics! I love the Geary Recital Hall</p>
<p>Last week I had a chance to meet some Davidson Fellow Laureate students who are undergraduates at Harvard, and asked them what colleges they considered in their high school years. They think Harvard is great. They never named any specific Plan B colleges in answer to my question--maybe Harvard is a "safety" for that kind of student. </p>
<p>I thought that was amusing because I had just met, at the same conference where I met those students, a long-time college admission officer from a HYPSM college who is now a private school admission counselor who actively encouraged his conference audience to seek schools other than Harvard. His job, of course, involves getting students to think of alternatives to Harvard, and as part of that process he has to talk up the strengths of other colleges and the weaknesses of Harvard. I noticed that alumni of Harvard have somewhat less buy-in to his point of view than alumni of some of the colleges he recommends that students consider. </p>
<p>I appreciate the replies in this thread. Looking ahead to the Northern Hemisphere autumn when high school class of 2008 applicants put together their application lists, I hope everyone enjoys good success in being admitted to a great college, and that no one gets shut out in the admission process. I'd still love to hear more about which colleges international students should consider if they are also considering Harvard.</p>
<p>UCSD, LA, and maybe even Berkley since i live in Cali and have decent SATs and GPA</p>
<p>UCLA, UCSB, Berkeley....although they arent really safties....Berkley and Harvard are my #1</p>
<p>I urge those of you listing schools like Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Haverford and Oberlin as "safety" schools to read the thread about andi's son:</p>
<p>Following up on what twinmom wrote, here are interquartile score ranges for Washington University in St. Louis </p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 670 - 750 85%
SAT Math: 700 - 780 85%
SAT Writing: - 85%
ACT Composite: 30 - 33 54% </p>
<p>and for the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor </p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 580 - 690 63%
SAT Math: 630 - 730 63%
SAT Writing: - 63%
ACT Composite: 27 - 31 72% </p>
<p>Just to illustrate what Harvard's ranges look like, those are </p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 690 - 800 99%
SAT Math: 700 - 790 99%
SAT Writing: 690 - 780 99%
ACT Composite: 31 - 34 18% </p>
<p>This, of course, uses test scores as a proxy for several other aspects of college selectivity (and thus "safety") and is not the whole story, but it does suggest that the U of Michigan ought to be more "safe," especially for an in-state student, than WUSTL, and perhaps safe enough for any likely admittee at Harvard. But I always find out-of-state admission to a selective state flagship university with "holistic" admission a little bit unnerving. </p>
<p>Do we have any further tips for international applicants?</p>
<p>Tokenadult:</p>
<p>Maybe the reason why the Davidson scholars did not think of alternatives to Harvard is that they applied EA and got in, so no need to think further. S's friend was admitted to Pomona but got steered by family and friends to Harvard. I would not call Pomona a safety, though.</p>
<p>University of Texas</p>
<p>
[quote]
Maybe the reason why the Davidson scholars did not think of alternatives to Harvard is that they applied EA and got in
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I haven't had opportunity to ask them what their application sequence was, but that is a possibility. I should point out here the distinction between "Davidson</a> Young Scholar" (broader age range, larger number of students so designated) and "Davidson</a> Fellow" (no theoretical younger age limit, but often near the upper age limit of seventeen by a specified date, and a MUCH more selective process for the designation). I only follow the Davidson Fellow announcements closely for the math awards, and those students are always amazing. It does appear that a student who gains that recognition can probably get in almost anywhere safely.</p>
<p>Not even Davidson Fellows can get in anywhere.</p>
<p>2006 Davidson Fellow, who was a frequent poster on CC (numerous national awards including Intel STS Top 10 winner) was not admitted to Harvard (deferred EA, then waitlisted) or Stanford. Havard's loss, Yale's gain!</p>
<p>UC Irvine (10 char)</p>