Safety school your child ended up loving…?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason University!

Please tell me what your kid ended up loving about it. I'm serious. I've wanted to like it for my first kid, and despite multiple visits, it just seemed half-ass'd... but that may be more a factor of they way they host their visits, and not indicative of the actual student experience. For my second kid, GMU seems like an obvious choice b/c he really doesn't care about the "traditional college/college town" experience, and it'd be quite convenient for him to be at college close by.
So, can you tell me about the good experience your kid had.

My kid had a different experience because they were an athlete, so they had built in activities and a group of friends. But I will say, having had several kids at other schools in the Northeast we were very impressed with how they have stepped things up in the past 10 years or so by building more dorms, etc. And I think if my kid was interested in STEM, that would make it an even stronger candidate. We have relatives who live in the DC area, so we knew it was considered a suitcase school. I know this thread is about safeties so full disclosure, GM was a match and they seemed to get a great education. My kid also had a great social life, that admittedly may have been due to the team aspect. They loved taking the metro in to Ballston and DC to go out to bars (pre-Covid). If your kid would like to be closer to home, and you live in VA I think it's an excellent option. I also have a friend who lives in Nova, her kid found his people there and had a great experience too. I think that's been the key for all my kids-find your group and you will have a good experience.

+1. My DC was a Game Design major at GMU and had a wonderful four years! (I attended the tours and accepted students day and it was well done, not “half-assed” at all. He lived in the dorms all four years. We saw him only on holidays and the weekends in which he chose to come home. He found his group of friends and loved campus life. He did a term at Mason Korea and had a number of classes and an internship at the high-tech Manassas campus. The internship opportunities were great and he was hired by Microsoft before graduation.

A colleague's daughter took a gap year and took a course at GMU and liked it so much she ended up enrolling full time and is just finishing now. Ended up being a great school for her. Spent a year abroad, also did music while she was there. Her family feels like the school is really innovative in alot of areas and one to watch...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cal.

I know will say that’s not a safety, but it was for this kid. And they absolutely loved it.

What is "Cal"? ?

Berkeley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

I really liked Haverford and wished my kid would have ended up there. He got into an Ivy equivalent but still think he would have been happier at Haverford....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

I really liked Haverford and wished my kid would have ended up there. He got into an Ivy equivalent but still think he would have been happier at Haverford....

Yeah, still not sure Haverford's a safety, saying this as a parent who kid applied to Pitt as a safety (I'm fine labeling some schools at safeties for certain kids). DD's best friend applied to Wooster as a safety and ED'd at Haverford. Why didn't your kid go to Haverford?

[Anonymous]

Mizzou
Kalamazoo
Washington & Jefferson
Miami U (OH)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

I really liked Haverford and wished my kid would have ended up there. He got into an Ivy equivalent but still think he would have been happier at Haverford....

“Ivy equivalent”? The Ivies themselves would have us believe there IS no equivalent.

But given the range of Ivy schools, I don’t know what this might mean. Is there a consensus on “Ivy equivalents”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

I really liked Haverford and wished my kid would have ended up there. He got into an Ivy equivalent but still think he would have been happier at Haverford....

“Ivy equivalent”? The Ivies themselves would have us believe there IS no equivalent.

But given the range of Ivy schools, I don’t know what this might mean. Is there a consensus on “Ivy equivalents”?

Equivalent how? Prestige, selectivity, class sizes, quality of the education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

I really liked Haverford and wished my kid would have ended up there. He got into an Ivy equivalent but still think he would have been happier at Haverford....

You wish your kid *had ended up* there.

What is an "Ivy equivalent"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cal.

I know will say that’s not a safety, but it was for this kid. And they absolutely loved it.

What is "Cal"? ?

Some people on DCUM are so provincial. How can you not know Cal? Have you ever watched college football? Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cal.

I know will say that’s not a safety, but it was for this kid. And they absolutely loved it.

What is "Cal"? ?

Some people on DCUM are so provincial. How can you not know Cal? Have you ever watched college football? Good grief.

There are way more people on DCUM who don't know how to speak nicely to others than there are who are provincial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Umdcp is not a safety for anyone. Acceptance rate has to be higher than 50-60% to be a safety.

Get over yourself. It is a safety for many kids. You don’t get to decide what other people define as a safety for them.

It's only a safety for kids aiming for Ivies, or equivalent. For kids a tier below Ivies, it's not a safety. DS didn't get in, and he went to Haverford.

True, but there are many people on this site whose kids are aiming for Ivies, so it seems fine to include it in a list of safeties.

I really liked Haverford and wished my kid would have ended up there. He got into an Ivy equivalent but still think he would have been happier at Haverford....

You wish your kid *had ended up* there.

What is an "Ivy equivalent"?

Ivy equivalents are schools like UC Berkeley/Cal, UCLA, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Vanderbilt, etc. Tippy top schools that are not Ivys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cal.

I know will say that’s not a safety, but it was for this kid. And they absolutely loved it.

What is "Cal"? ?

Some people on DCUM are so provincial. How can you not know Cal? Have you ever watched college football? Good grief.

Nope. Never watch football.

[Anonymous]

Scripps turned out to be fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Scripps turned out to be fantastic.

Scripps is #3 on the ranking mentioned earlier, behind Pomona and Northwestern at #s 1 and 2. They're doing something right out there, because Claremont McKenna is #12, and Pitzer and Harvey Mudd are #35 and 37.

https://lesshighschoolstress.com/blog/6/