Safety Schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech is a solid safety school.

JMU as well.

+1 Both are solid schools with loyal alumni bases. Often safety schools for students who match UVA, W&M and Top 25.

[Anonymous]

Same with my DS. He has the academic profile to do well at a Top 50 but not the EC's so no way I see him being accepted (also not in our budget anyway). He's just a relaxed, not competitive, person who spends time on casual, personal interests and hanging out with friends. His safeties are JMU and UDel and I think he'd be happy and do well at either of them. He's applying to a few other match and one reach but if he ends up at a safety that would be perfectly fine.

This sounds kind of like my DS. He didn't apply to any Top 50s but he was admitted to UMD's scholars program with a nice scholarship. He was never going to be a "big fish" anywhere because that's not who he is. He goes to one of the schools you mentioned and is happy there. Maybe by the time grad school rolls around he'll care more about rankings and be a little more driven, maybe not. At least he'll have money saved for it.

I agree with PP who suggested finding a rolling admission school that your kid likes for a safety (if there is one). Not everyone has to apply to Pitt by default. Your safety should have a lot in common with your top choices - it just needs to be an easier admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply to Pitt early and it can be a safety. Iowa State is a solid safety and it gives good merit. U of SC, Stony Brook, Wagner, Tennessee, University of Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Miami University, University of Illinois - Chicago, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, NC State, UT Dallas and CU Boulder are schools I recommend to my clients

UGA has gotten insanely competitive; not a safety school anymore.

Same with Clemson. And you have people paying you for this advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply to Pitt early and it can be a safety. Iowa State is a solid safety and it gives good merit. U of SC, Stony Brook, Wagner, Tennessee, University of Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Miami University, University of Illinois - Chicago, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, NC State, UT Dallas and CU Boulder are schools I recommend to my clients

UGA has gotten insanely competitive; not a safety school anymore.

Same with Clemson. And you have people paying you for this advice?

There are a lot of clueless consultants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply to Pitt early and it can be a safety. Iowa State is a solid safety and it gives good merit. U of SC, Stony Brook, Wagner, Tennessee, University of Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Miami University, University of Illinois - Chicago, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, NC State, UT Dallas and CU Boulder are schools I recommend to my clients

UGA has gotten insanely competitive; not a safety school anymore.

Same with Clemson. And you have people paying you for this advice?

My 31 ACT, 4.11 GPA kid was rejected from UGA this cycle. Yes, very competitive school. She was accepted at Clemson tho.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Same with my DS. He has the academic profile to do well at a Top 50 but not the EC's so no way I see him being accepted (also not in our budget anyway). He's just a relaxed, not competitive, person who spends time on casual, personal interests and hanging out with friends. His safeties are JMU and UDel and I think he'd be happy and do well at either of them. He's applying to a few other match and one reach but if he ends up at a safety that would be perfectly fine.

This sounds kind of like my DS. He didn't apply to any Top 50s but he was admitted to UMD's scholars program with a nice scholarship. He was never going to be a "big fish" anywhere because that's not who he is. He goes to one of the schools you mentioned and is happy there. Maybe by the time grad school rolls around he'll care more about rankings and be a little more driven, maybe not. At least he'll have money saved for it.

I agree with PP who suggested finding a rolling admission school that your kid likes for a safety (if there is one). Not everyone has to apply to Pitt by default. Your safety should have a lot in common with your top choices - it just needs to be an easier admit.

The Pitt stuff is really weird--I don't understand why it has pulled ahead of the other rolling admissions schools.

[Anonymous]

Safety colleges for public school or private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know what safety schools are now for high schoolers around the DMV? When I graduated from high school 12 years ago the popular safety schools were: WVU, Frostburg, ECU, & Coastal Carolina.

The bolded are essentially community colleges.

This why we can’t have threads like this. The meanies show up.

This is why I never talk about my sons college. Those are all perfectly acceptable, affordable schools.

+100

[Anonymous]

We just hired a fine young person from the Pennsylvania College of Technology over a young person from VT for a consulting position with a 6 figure salary.

Kids from "safety" schools do survive and make a nice living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just hired a fine young person from the Pennsylvania College of Technology over a young person from VT for a consulting position with a 6 figure salary.

Kids from "safety" schools do survive and make a nice living.

Love the sample of one stories. Useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just hired a fine young person from the Pennsylvania College of Technology over a young person from VT for a consulting position with a 6 figure salary.

Kids from "safety" schools do survive and make a nice living.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Same with my DS. He has the academic profile to do well at a Top 50 but not the EC's so no way I see him being accepted (also not in our budget anyway). He's just a relaxed, not competitive, person who spends time on casual, personal interests and hanging out with friends. His safeties are JMU and UDel and I think he'd be happy and do well at either of them. He's applying to a few other match and one reach but if he ends up at a safety that would be perfectly fine.

This sounds kind of like my DS. He didn't apply to any Top 50s but he was admitted to UMD's scholars program with a nice scholarship. He was never going to be a "big fish" anywhere because that's not who he is. He goes to one of the schools you mentioned and is happy there. Maybe by the time grad school rolls around he'll care more about rankings and be a little more driven, maybe not. At least he'll have money saved for it.

I agree with PP who suggested finding a rolling admission school that your kid likes for a safety (if there is one). Not everyone has to apply to Pitt by default. Your safety should have a lot in common with your top choices - it just needs to be an easier admit.

The Pitt stuff is really weird--I don't understand why it has pulled ahead of the other rolling admissions schools.

I think part of it may be there's a trend toward liking urban schools. DS looked at it but he really wants a "college town" experience and doesn't like urban schools so it didn't make the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Same with my DS. He has the academic profile to do well at a Top 50 but not the EC's so no way I see him being accepted (also not in our budget anyway). He's just a relaxed, not competitive, person who spends time on casual, personal interests and hanging out with friends. His safeties are JMU and UDel and I think he'd be happy and do well at either of them. He's applying to a few other match and one reach but if he ends up at a safety that would be perfectly fine.

This sounds kind of like my DS. He didn't apply to any Top 50s but he was admitted to UMD's scholars program with a nice scholarship. He was never going to be a "big fish" anywhere because that's not who he is. He goes to one of the schools you mentioned and is happy there. Maybe by the time grad school rolls around he'll care more about rankings and be a little more driven, maybe not. At least he'll have money saved for it.

I agree with PP who suggested finding a rolling admission school that your kid likes for a safety (if there is one). Not everyone has to apply to Pitt by default. Your safety should have a lot in common with your top choices - it just needs to be an easier admit.

The Pitt stuff is really weird--I don't understand why it has pulled ahead of the other rolling admissions schools.

I think part of it may be there's a trend toward liking urban schools. DS looked at it but he really wants a "college town" experience and doesn't like urban schools so it didn't make the list.

I guess that could be true, but from what I’ve heard many Pitt safety applicants REALLY don’t want to go there. It’s strange that the school has pull over safeties that are much easier admits that give more scholarships (Iowa State, Bama)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just hired a fine young person from the Pennsylvania College of Technology over a young person from VT for a consulting position with a 6 figure salary.

Kids from "safety" schools do survive and make a nice living.

Love the sample of one stories. Useful.

Love the stories of generalizations about certain schools. Useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just hired a fine young person from the Pennsylvania College of Technology over a young person from VT for a consulting position with a 6 figure salary.

Kids from "safety" schools do survive and make a nice living.

Love the sample of one stories. Useful.

Love the stories of generalizations about certain schools. Useful.

Quite a defense you mustered there.