Applying to safety school in same city as reach - bad idea, right?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| E.g., if a kid suspects they won't get into Rice, so they apply to Texas Southern. Or Tulane and Southern University. Or even Trinity College vs. University of Hartford. Assuming it's not a matter of a strong geographic preference, is this as unhealthy as it sounds? |
Anonymous
| Why is it unhealthy? If they like the location it makes perfect sense. I suspect, for example, that plenty of students apply to multiple colleges in Boston, or other cities. |
Anonymous
| Why in the world wouldn’t you do this? My kid did. |
Anonymous
"Assuming it's not a matter of a strong geographic preference..." |
Anonymous
+1 Boston is an excellent example. |
Anonymous
OP here. This is a small city (less than 50,000) people that isn't known for being a desirable location, and I am pretty sure my kid would spend the first year being bitter about the rejection from their top choice. That's why I ask. |
Anonymous
| All depends on your kid I suppose. Last year DS had no issue applying to H, BU and NEU, but refused to apply to Drexel, because he would be staring at Penn in jealousy the entire time he was in school. |
Anonymous
| Once they decide where they're going, their attitude will likely change. I doubt all the Pitt kids are sad all the time because they couldn't go to CM. Instead, they love Pitt. Same with RIT. U Rochester and Nazareth. |
Anonymous
We had a similar conversation with my DS about Drexel as a safety - and it was a no due to being across the street from Penn. But let's assume the OP was talking about Carleton and St. Olaf's Or Clark and Holy Cross Does that change things? |
Anonymous
That seems like quite a projection. |
Anonymous
| Why would that be a bad idea? |
Anonymous
Maybe. But they never mentioned any interest in this "safety" (more like a target), they're not the ideal student, and I'm rather suspicious of the location. |
Anonymous
|
My DC didn't get into his top 2 choices but ended up loving the school he picked and can't imagine having gone to one of the others. Kids tend to adapt very quickly. I don't think being in the same city would make much difference.
I went to a college in a small town with 2 colleges (already mentioned in this thread). In those days there was very little overlap between the applicant pools of the 2 schools and I don't think the students at either school wanted to be at the other. |
Anonymous
That's the thing - there's little overlap in this case as well, which is why I don't want them applying for the wrong reason. |
Anonymous
| If transferring is a possibility, it's a good idea to stay close. |