When your son or daughter falls in love with their safety school

If the reach admits here had been national elites like Georgetown and BC, I would want to see a thorough analysis of why to choose a regional at the same price. But all the choices are good solid regionals, and picking the one that feels like home is clearly the right call.

@Hanna there is a difference between highly selective, National LAC’s #33/#46 vs less selective St Anselm in the 100’s in regards to rigor, academics and overall quality of students. That being said, being a big fish in a little pond works for some students and there’s nothing wrong with that.

OP here. Just wanted to thank everyone for both the well wishes and the shared experiences. I don’t think I read one post that said my loved one chose a ‘safer’ school and always regretted it. Music to my ears.

My kids focused on instate schools with good programs in their major.

Both had stats that were above average for the schools, they applied early, were accepted by September, and received merit.

They were safeties for admission to the school, but not for merit or major.

My D loved her school after the visit. She was fortunate to get the merit she needed, but it was not a given, it was competitive.

My S also loved his school after visiting, he got merit that was first come first served for his stats, acceptance to his major was by audition, so competitive.

St Anselm might not be a rankings powerhouse, but it definitely has its charms. We saw a production of Pippin there, and it was excellent.

And I hear the food is quite awesome!

My daughter toured St. Anselm with her high school and really liked it too! We are not Catholic so that aspect was not to her liking, but if not for the religion issue it would be on her list as well. She was very impressed.

S was offered 1/3 to 1/2 merit/scholarships at three top 40 universities and waitlisted at two top 20 universities, one which was his #1 for a very long time. He also got about 40% merit for an OOS “safety” ranked in the top 100 on USNWR, but the major applied to was top 15 undergrad in the country. He was also offered a full ride with Honors at a top 50 ranked instate school, arguably could be referred to as a second “safety”, although many at his high school were rejected and was their “dream school” so it goes to show you that it’s all relative. The 1/2 merit was in his top three and a T25 private university, but he finally let go last week, realizing it just wasn’t worth the inflated cost when compared with what the others were offering for much less. We are fine with any of his remaining choices, but he seems to be leaning toward the instate “safety” option, and banking the college fund for his future and/or grad school. Smart kid if you ask me!

Quick LOL: DS is a (soon to graduate) senior at his “safety school.”

We were chatting on Saturday about how he’d enjoyed his 4 years in college, and how his BF had decided to attend there (it had been his first choice, ED), and DS said, “I actually applied to [X School].”

I said, “No, you didn’t; remember, we visited and you decided you didn’t even like [X school]. You decided not to apply there, or to [Y school], after our visits.”

He said, “Oh, right… what WAS that school I was really stoked about?”

I said, you mean [Z school (school in same state as X school, that was #1 in his major)]? Your #1 choice?"

He said, “Oh, yeah, that was it.”

I said, “I can’t believe you FORGOT Z school! You wanted to go there so much!”

He said, “Yeah, well I guess it’s because all this (motioning around the college town and the whole campus and city that he loves, and that is his new home, and winking at his BF) turned out so well, you know?”