For strong students (grades, tests, ECs), what are your child's safeties and targets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Safeties will be UMD (in-state) and McGill (discount due to French citizenship). No idea about targets. Reaches will be top 10.

Maryland is not remotely a safety in state.

PP you replied to. Sigh, this is why these threads never do well. For my kids, UMD is a safety. I posted above about my second kid, who has a far better profile than my first kid, who was accepted to UMD (and chose another safety to attend). They both have very high test scores and GPAs, 12 APs, blah blah blah, but my second is far stronger in STEM and has STEM internships and national awards. Applying EA, there is no way she doesn't get in. She knows she cannot blow off any of her essays, to guard against yield protection (but I don't think UMD yield protects a lot).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Safeties will be UMD (in-state) and McGill (discount due to French citizenship). No idea about targets. Reaches will be top 10.

Maryland is not remotely a safety in state.

PP you replied to. Sigh, this is why these threads never do well. For my kids, UMD is a safety. I posted above about my second kid, who has a far better profile than my first kid, who was accepted to UMD (and chose another safety to attend). They both have very high test scores and GPAs, 12 APs, blah blah blah, but my second is far stronger in STEM and has STEM internships and national awards. Applying EA, there is no way she doesn't get in. She knows she cannot blow off any of her essays, to guard against yield protection (but I don't think UMD yield protects a lot).

I think you are right--they don't yield protect. Private school kids tend to do much better in admissions than public schools, yet the yield out of privates is abysmal.

[Anonymous]

UT Dallas because it's a full-ride for NMFs, and Texas A&M because it waives OOS tuition for NMFs. No Bama even though it's a big NMF school.

[Anonymous]

DC had 36 ACT, great EC & leadership, great grades, etc. Applied to a wide range: got into all of the top five public. Waitlisted at a few ivies; then refused the waitlist option. Wanted big school, football, Greek life, numerous highly ranked majors, strong network of alumni. Would sacrifice one or two of those nonacademic qualities for a good offer but wound up finding the perfect fit.
But I strongly advise also applying early to a school that you know you can get into bc it really takes the pressure off to know that you have an acceptance already by October. Getting into top schools becomes essentially a lottery and I’ve seen amazing students only aim for the top ivies and get in nowhere. Be sure to find a true safety you could honestly be happy about.

[Anonymous]

DC’s safety was community college. We’re in CA so the CC to UC/CSU pipeline is quite robust, not to mention financially prudent. Got Stanford REA so didn’t end up going the CC route, but was absolutely not too proud to do so.

[Anonymous]

DS has 4.2 weighted after junior year, (3.95 UW - had two Bs in freshman year), high rigor, final SAT TBD but likely to be around 1450. According to Naviance, at our public, this is doable but not a sure thing for UVA, as an example (highest weighted GPA a kid can have after senior year is around a 4.45).

Reaches are UVA, W&M, Wake Forest, Villanova Business School, considering applying to USC and UNC for what-the-hell additions. Still figuring out ED strategy.

Safeties/Targets (varying degrees of those here) include possibly Lehigh (very high target, yes), University of Pittsburgh, VT, Loyola Marymount University, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, University of Delaware.

[Anonymous]

For kid aiming for WASP

Macalester
Lafayette
Kenyon
Oberlin
Bryn Mawr
Conn college

[Anonymous]

One kid’s safety is another kid’s target.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS has 4.2 weighted after junior year, (3.95 UW - had two Bs in freshman year), high rigor, final SAT TBD but likely to be around 1450. According to Naviance, at our public, this is doable but not a sure thing for UVA, as an example (highest weighted GPA a kid can have after senior year is around a 4.45).

Reaches are UVA, W&M, Wake Forest, Villanova Business School, considering applying to USC and UNC for what-the-hell additions. Still figuring out ED strategy.

Safeties/Targets (varying degrees of those here) include possibly Lehigh (very high target, yes), University of Pittsburgh, VT, Loyola Marymount University, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, University of Delaware.

Apply ED to UVA and use this summer to up volunteer hours and leadership roles. Make sure he has a job. If he doesn’t have one, have him offer to mow grass of elderly neighbors, or walk dogs for free. Be creative to get over that gpa (sort of) cut off.

[Anonymous]

Lower UCs but we’re in California

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you wonder over to the BC thread, a bunch of people there are saying BC is a safety. Maybe take a look.

BC is often seen as a safety for students shooting for Notre Dame, Duke and Vanderbilt.

But safeties vary so much depending on someone’s major and interests. A STEM kid is going to have a very different list of reaches and safeties than a liberal arts kid.

I don't think you understand fully what a safety is.

BC is more like a target, and ND, duke and Vanderbilt are reaches. Places like Fairfield, PC, ad Fordham are safeties, if you will. Some might argue Villanova, but that is no guarantee by any means. BC had an acceptance rate of 13% this year. That is not a safety.

BC 100% yield protects in RD from some privates (and maybe publics too--I don't have experience). From our private they will get 25/100 applicants who apply. They have room for 5 from this private (clearly they're not going to enroll 25 kids from one school). So they defer or deny the Ivy level kids who they know won't say yes and take the 3.7 kids who they know will accept.

This happens each year at our school. It's not a safety for high stats kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lower UCs but we’re in California

Lower UCs can also be good safeties from OOS.

[Anonymous]

GW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you wonder over to the BC thread, a bunch of people there are saying BC is a safety. Maybe take a look.

BC is often seen as a safety for students shooting for Notre Dame, Duke and Vanderbilt.

But safeties vary so much depending on someone’s major and interests. A STEM kid is going to have a very different list of reaches and safeties than a liberal arts kid.

I don't think you understand fully what a safety is.

BC is more like a target, and ND, duke and Vanderbilt are reaches. Places like Fairfield, PC, ad Fordham are safeties, if you will. Some might argue Villanova, but that is no guarantee by any means. BC had an acceptance rate of 13% this year. That is not a safety.

Villanova is a safety, you just have to ED. They’re just a big yield protector like Fairfield. 60% ED acceptance rate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you wonder over to the BC thread, a bunch of people there are saying BC is a safety. Maybe take a look.

BC is often seen as a safety for students shooting for Notre Dame, Duke and Vanderbilt.

But safeties vary so much depending on someone’s major and interests. A STEM kid is going to have a very different list of reaches and safeties than a liberal arts kid.

I don't think you understand fully what a safety is.

BC is more like a target, and ND, duke and Vanderbilt are reaches. Places like Fairfield, PC, ad Fordham are safeties, if you will. Some might argue Villanova, but that is no guarantee by any means. BC had an acceptance rate of 13% this year. That is not a safety.

Villanova is a safety, you just have to ED. They’re just a big yield protector like Fairfield. 60% ED acceptance rate

Nobody should ED to a safety. ED to a target is controversial!