Safeties - Is private better?

[Anonymous]

Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is money an issue for you? We are shocked at how much money our kid has gotten from OOS public “safeties.” We were aware nothing is really safety these days….so applied to many. He now has 5 excellent options that all come I around the same cost as our in-state option. Similar stats.

We are expected to be full pay no matter where my kid goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree JMU is still very much a safety for a kid with that profile. Would also add U Delaware. SUNY schools are another possibility. Plenty of options!

I've heard some good things about Delaware. My junior wants to stay in the east (distance to home).

I think it’s a great option for kids who want to stay in the Mid-Atlantic and attend a large state public school. Solid place for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

Have 3-4 safeties that your kid would actually go to…
And go wild on the rest. 16-25+ apps if you’ve got the time….
Shotgunning is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

But what should the expectation be for a kid who challenged themselves with AP classes, excelled in sports, found time for volunteer work and employment in the summer? What is realistic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

But what should the expectation be for a kid who challenged themselves with AP classes, excelled in sports, found time for volunteer work and employment in the summer? What is realistic?

Baylor or TCU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a lot of OOS flagships are becoming much harder admits, is it better to look at private schools that don't have in-state admissions requirements? We are in VA and my kid will be one of many who are vying for UVA. My kid doesn't want a small school, so I'm having a hard time finding schools that will still be safeties. UVA, VT & JMU are on their list. Right now, my kid is undecided and I think would benefit from a school where you don't have to lock in your major before even starting college. What would have been a safety before for a 4.0 UW, 1400/1500 SAT with good ECs aren't really safeties anymore. I am struggling to come up with safeties that make sense.

JMU is 100% a safety for your kid. Some nerd will come in here and say, "Not from NoVa!" but they're patently wrong. JMU still accepts nearly 80% of its applicants and its freshman classes are still largely comprised of students who were not even in the top quarter of their high school class. Really, it's a safety school's safety school.

There are also tons of solid OOS flagships that are still safeties for your kid: Alabama, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, just to name a few.

All the schools practice yield protection, so if you are too strong a candidate, JMU will reject you because they don’t want to be your backup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

But what should the expectation be for a kid who challenged themselves with AP classes, excelled in sports, found time for volunteer work and employment in the summer? What is realistic?

There is so much data out there. Plug it in and you’ll easily get a dozen realistic options for that kid. Many have been named already in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a lot of OOS flagships are becoming much harder admits, is it better to look at private schools that don't have in-state admissions requirements? We are in VA and my kid will be one of many who are vying for UVA. My kid doesn't want a small school, so I'm having a hard time finding schools that will still be safeties. UVA, VT & JMU are on their list. Right now, my kid is undecided and I think would benefit from a school where you don't have to lock in your major before even starting college. What would have been a safety before for a 4.0 UW, 1400/1500 SAT with good ECs aren't really safeties anymore. I am struggling to come up with safeties that make sense.

JMU is 100% a safety for your kid. Some nerd will come in here and say, "Not from NoVa!" but they're patently wrong. JMU still accepts nearly 80% of its applicants and its freshman classes are still largely comprised of students who were not even in the top quarter of their high school class. Really, it's a safety school's safety school.

There are also tons of solid OOS flagships that are still safeties for your kid: Alabama, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, just to name a few.

All the schools practice yield protection, so if you are too strong a candidate, JMU will reject you because they don’t want to be your backup.

This makes it sound like the strong candidate kids just can't win. The schools that require their stats are lotteries and the ones where their stats are high reject them for yield. Is that what you are saying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

But what should the expectation be for a kid who challenged themselves with AP classes, excelled in sports, found time for volunteer work and employment in the summer? What is realistic?

There is so much data out there. Plug it in and you’ll easily get a dozen realistic options for that kid. Many have been named already in this thread.

Here's Kansas:

"University of Kansas has an acceptance rate of 88%. Half the applicants admitted to University of Kansas who submitted test scores have an SAT score between 1090 and 1340 or an ACT score of 21 and 28."

[Anonymous]

Elon
South Carolina Honors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with others. It’s gotten tough but not THAT tough. With a 4.0 UW and over 1400 you’ll have plenty of options. I think the idea is just to have a few schools that would be likelies/safeties in case something really wonky happens with one of them.

I hope you are right. I've been seeing a lot of doomsday reports about admissions this year and it has us not feeling too great about next year.

People just need to be realistic and manage expectations.

But what should the expectation be for a kid who challenged themselves with AP classes, excelled in sports, found time for volunteer work and employment in the summer? What is realistic?

There is so much data out there. Plug it in and you’ll easily get a dozen realistic options for that kid. Many have been named already in this thread.

Here's Kansas:

"University of Kansas has an acceptance rate of 88%. Half the applicants admitted to University of Kansas who submitted test scores have an SAT score between 1090 and 1340 or an ACT score of 21 and 28."

I had an intern from the University of Kansas, and she was not very smart. I met her bf and he wasn't smart either.
Choose your safeties carefully OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree JMU is still very much a safety for a kid with that profile. Would also add U Delaware. SUNY schools are another possibility. Plenty of options!

I've heard some good things about Delaware. My junior wants to stay in the east (distance to home).

My son wanted to stay in the region. Applied UVA, VT, JMU, UDel. Got in to all expect UVA and went to VT but if he hadn't gotten in there would have gone to Delaware over JMU.