Are there truly safety schools for every student?

[Anonymous]

One of my DCs had an unweighted GPA of 2.4 with lots of AP classes in their course list. From what I could tell, there are no 4-yr colleges where that GPA is at the 75th percentile for the enrolled students (from the CDS). We assumed that there were no safety schools for them and had them apply to about 15 schools in the hopes that at least one would accept them. They got into 5 schools. We were very glad that their school didn't limit how many applications they could submit.

[Anonymous]

There are schools that have automatic admissions criteria that would let him in. If a school has automatic entrance with your grades, then even if half the applicants have higher grades, you're still fine. I haven't looked in a while, but Wright State in Ohio is an example of a school that used to have automatic admissions with a 2.0 or up.

I'll also say that my definition of a safety is a school where you know you have a spot. So, if you apply to a school like Marymount, which definitely takes kids with this profile but might not be a safety, and you hear via rolling admissions in November, then when you are figuring out your RD applications, Marymount is a safety for you.

[Anonymous]

Some schools have open enrollment, 100% admit rate. Look there

[Anonymous]

My kid got into VCU with zero APs and a 2.5 (at best) high school GPA -- but with a 1500 on the SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my DCs had an unweighted GPA of 2.4 with lots of AP classes in their course list. From what I could tell, there are no 4-yr colleges where that GPA is at the 75th percentile for the enrolled students (from the CDS). We assumed that there were no safety schools for them and had them apply to about 15 schools in the hopes that at least one would accept them. They got into 5 schools. We were very glad that their school didn't limit how many applications they could submit.

What were the five schools?

[Anonymous]

There are open universities like UDC that admit everyone. Trinity Washington admits 97% of students. I would assume those - or the local cc - is the safety for a kid with a lower gpa.

I'm glad your child had choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my DCs had an unweighted GPA of 2.4 with lots of AP classes in their course list. From what I could tell, there are no 4-yr colleges where that GPA is at the 75th percentile for the enrolled students (from the CDS). We assumed that there were no safety schools for them and had them apply to about 15 schools in the hopes that at least one would accept them. They got into 5 schools. We were very glad that their school didn't limit how many applications they could submit.

yes, there are safety schools for that gpa. But you will need to look to find them. And quite honestly, would you want your kid attending a school where the 75% for UW gpa is less than a 2.4 for HS? I'm guessing you are at a private school, since you mention "didn't limit" number of apps. So I'm assuming a very rigorous HS experience that a counselor could help explain or teachers explain in their submissions.

What I'd look for are schools with Holistic reviews (so they truly see that your kid kept attempting AP courses despite not getting As/Bs but was up for the hard work and has perseverance), rolling admissions.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

ODU is another to consider if in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

ODU is another to consider if in Virginia.

That is likely to be my daughter's safety. She's at a program there right now and said she really likes it. My former boss's son went there and enjoyed his time.

[Anonymous]

UTEP has a 100% acceptance rate so yes. HOT CHICKS TOO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

ODU is another to consider if in Virginia.

Add in Radford for VA

Frostburg State in MD

University of Kentucky is another all around safety

[Anonymous]

Add in Longwood for VA and UNC Greensboro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there truly safety schools for every student?

Of course there are. My kid didn't get into UMD but was accepted at Salisbury and Towson. There was no doubt those were his safeties. Had it come down to it, Montgomery College would have been his fallback.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of small private colleges have 100% admission these days, especially if you are full pay. There are too many to mention, even in VA.

[Anonymous]

Unweighted GPA of 2.4 with lots of AP classes in their course list

Likely this student would have been much better off with a more ordinary college prep schedule, without "lots" of AP classes. However Op, you say they got into 5 colleges. They had choices. Why are you asking?

Once an unweighted gap is < 2.7, 100's of colleges are no longer possible but there are still a thousand+ others.