<p>would be considered safeties, and which be considered matches with an ACT score of 30, and a GPA of 3.8 or above?</p>
<p>What part of the country are we talking about Concerneddad. Assuming the entire country is your oyster, I'd say the following could be safeties for your daughter: Beloit, College of Wooster, Knox College, Goucher College, Earlham, Ursinus College, Allegheny College, Willamette, Wittenberg, Drew U, Gettysburg, Hobart & William Smith, Manhattanville, Simmons, Providence College. However, some other schools may be safeties, depending on whether they are looking for geographic diversity (I am thinking of Dickinson, Wheaton (Mass) and Franklin & Marshall which are looking to boost their geographic diversity)</p>
<p>Thanks Carolyn, yes I am asking about the entire country.</p>
<p>Two schools that I think highly of in Texas might also be added to the safety list for your daughter: Trinity U and Southwestern College. </p>
<p>I'm struggling with this same question myself - my daughter currently has lots of good matches on her list with one reach --- but no absolute safeties. Kind of makes me nervous. Luckily, many of the schools she is interested in have an Early Admissions (not ED) option where overall acceptance is much higher. I figure that applying EA might boost at least some of the schools into the "safety" range for her.</p>
<p>Denison is an often-forgotten school with a lovely campus. I've also heard very good things about Ohio Wesleyan and the College of Wooster, if you are considering looking for schools in the midwest.</p>
<p>Could anyone tell me what you mean by LAC? Thanks.</p>
<p>LAC = Liberal Arts College. LAC's are schools that focus exclusively on undergraduate education; they do not have graduate or PHD programs.</p>
<p>Ahh. Thanks!</p>
<p>Focusing on the Midwest, Lake Forest and Gustavus Adolphus would be safeties; Lawrence and St. Olaf borderline match/safeties (probably safeties if the GPA is unweighted.)</p>
<p>Matches :Whitman, Occidental, Tulane(with good merit), Emory,</p>
<p>In match/safety territory: Rhodes, Univ of Richmond, Wake Forest, St Lawrence, Pitzer, Clark, Univ of Redlands, Univ of Pacific</p>
<p>Lots of religious schools as well if they interest you.</p>
<p>Depending on SATII scores and ECs, if you take a look at the top LACs listed in US News, probably from #19 down could be considered safeties. Some in 11-19 might also fit that category as well.</p>
<p>My D has loved everything she has read, heard and seen about Southwestern in Texas (we are from PA). It would be a good fit based on your child's stats. I know someone has already mentioned it but I thought I should point it out again so you can take a look. It also has a self defined merit scholarship program that is nice... Very competitively priced as well..</p>
<p>Denison now has SAT median around 1300 - mostly from giving out tons of merit aid.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg College in PA could be a safety. It has a caring faculty and administration and very friendly students.</p>
<p>Ariesathena, Denison's average SAT is 1240, according to their website, which is quite a bit lower than 1300.</p>
<p>If you do use the US News rankings as a guide, you really need to use the selectivity ranking, not the overall ranking, and schools above #40 on that ranking would not qualify as safeties given the ACT score. Given the GPA and assuming a strong application, the student could certainly be accepted at schools with higher selectivity, but they would not be safeties. Matches would likely be #25-40.</p>
<p>How about Hamilton? Would you consider that as safety?</p>
<p>There are so many other factors to consider that I am not sure it is fair or reasonable to give you guesses based just on ACT and GPA--these might include intensity of course load, quality of high school in the sense that class rank or approximate class rank would be involve, and extracurriculars would presumably come into play, since the numbers alone pretty much match those of many applicants to many solid schools. I somewhat agree with reidm in general about the level of schools that might fit, but I think you need to go beyond the numbers.</p>