Or maybe if you take them at their word, you will get some insight into all of the lamenting and complaining about how their DCs didn't get into a safety school. I think that many of these parents are woefully ill-informed or do not understand even the basics of college admissions. My safety was UMD. This was many, many years ago. I got into an Ivy but couldn't afford the costs (partial scholarship only). Ended up at an SLAC where I got a full ride. Don't regret my decision. |
What school? |
JMU. Was in state and graduated without loans. |
SMCM |
DD's first choice was Furman, which was also a safety for her. She was also accepted at W&M (in state) and Emory (Oxford) and still wanted Furman. |
For my son, it was Purdue.
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It wasn’t even a safety 30 years ago when I applied. I got into Columbia and waitlisted at Northwestern. |
NC State 20 years ago. I had high stats, in-state, and it was both a safety and my top pick. I only had applied to 2 places, though. I also got into VA Tech. |
also impressed with Wooster |
UVA. His friends ribbed him for it but they were all shut out of their dream schools and now arecon wait lists and won’t end up “higher.” He was glad to be one and done, and after looking around, in fact definitely wanted UVA. |
What is it like? My niece is interested! |
My niece is interested in Del (and UVM). How does she like it? |
DD applied to Wooster as a safety. She's chosen another school, but Wooster definitely fit the criteria of being a safety where we knew she could be happy to attend. Since she applied EA, it was a great early acceptance to get. |
For me, back when Michigan was MUCH easier to get into, it was my safety and also my third choice, behind only Harvard and Yale. I preferred Michigan to all other Ivies. I didn't get into Harvard or Yale but got into another fairly similar option and went to Michigan instead, to the surprise of friends and family. It was the best decision ever!
Today a similar choice might be Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and other state schools. Some of those are probably too selective to be safeties but some might be pretty safe. If you know what you want to do academically and are a confident person, big state universities can be fantastic. |
This sounds like UIUC University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. |