<p>Hi! So right now I'm looking at St. Olaf college as my only safety. I would be very happy attending there but I'm not sure if I can be certain I will be accepted. What do you think? Should I find another safety as well? If so, do you have any suggestions?
My stats
4.0 (as a junior, will likely end up as a 3.9 or so)
PLAN 32-35 range
Volunteer in a Children's Hospital
Play 3 varsity sports
Sing, play the flute and piano
AP U.S history 5
I'm currently taking AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Lang and Comp, AP Spanish Language and AP Human Geography
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>@Katycollege16
St. Olaf will likely be a good safety. It’s an excellent LAC. Make sure to express serious interest to your admissions rep. If they think that the school is a safety for you, it could hurt you. Have you or your parents completed the net price calculator for St. O? That will give you a better idea if it will be a good financial safety. </p>
<p>You might want to consider Lawrence U. in WI. Very similar to St. Olaf in that they both are very strong schools for music and science majors. The location (downtown Appleton vs. edge of town Northfield) of Lawrence is more desirable. And if need to fly in, Lawrence is about 5 miles from the airport vs. 45 min + from Minneapolis.</p>
<p>depending on your getting the ACT score you anticipate, it could be an academic safety.</p>
<p>it has to have your major, of course, and you absolutely have to be able to afford it. have you run the net price calculator? without knowing what it would cost your family, and without knowing what your family can afford, you’re no closer to knowing if you can go there than you were on your birthday. Your first birthday.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses! My family can afford St. Olaf so I don’t have to worry about that.</p>
<p>It all depends on what your definition of “safety school” is; I think of a safety school as a public university in your home state where you know that your acceptance is an absolute slam dunk, and where costs are reasonable/manageable. Try to include among your applications, as a safety school, a school that falls within those parameters; if you’re “not sure” that you would be accepted at St. Olaf (as you indicate), then it shouldn’t be thought of as a safety school.</p>
<p>I know someone whose eldest child – a very bright person, a member of every honor society available at her private high school, lots of AP classes, outstanding grades, good standardized test scores, etc. – applied to lots of high-falutin’ Ivies/LACs/prestigious universities, but not to her large public state university. She was rejected by EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL that she applied to – except for Vanderbilt, which was also the very last school that she heard from (after some anxious waiting time, also). </p>
<p>The point here is that, no matter how certain you think you are to get admitted to a very competitive school, college admissions are not a mathematical certainty or a scientific given. Apply to Big State U, and hold your acceptance as your final back-up plan. If you get accepted to St. Olaf, then you don’t have to worry about going to Big State U – but at least it’s there in the unlikely (but never impossible) event that you need it.</p>
<p>I agree with gandalf78 above. You need an absolutely guaranteed college as a safety, without considering whether or not demonstrated interest etc. may turn a possible acceptance into a waitlist or rejection. I recommend that you add to you safely “list” your appropriate state public university. It probably isn’t the state’s flagship, but one or two down the list from that. Your high school college counselor can help you with determining which that is.</p>