Safety schools for high achievers

[Anonymous]

Op must be trolling. Not even first time parent is this clueless.

[Anonymous]

i don't understand why you would apply to all of these schools. emory and michigan and usc are nothing alike. i would narrow the search based on fir versus prestige. very few kids will be happy anywhere.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest adding at least one excellent Honors College at a state school as a safety. With so much uncertainty surrounding this year's admissions cycle, I strongly advise your daughter to look beyond the "brand names" and research honors colleges.

[Anonymous]

OP's kid needs to look at r/collegeresults on reddit. People put their stats and ec's plus where they applied, got rejected, and got in. That sub shows how you can have truly exceptional stats like OP's kid and still get rejected from top 20's. It's not just about numbers...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP's kid needs to look at r/collegeresults on reddit. People put their stats and ec's plus where they applied, got rejected, and got in. That sub shows how you can have truly exceptional stats like OP's kid and still get rejected from top 20's. It's not just about numbers...

It’s okay. OP will eventually find out.

[Anonymous]

Troll people!! Not real — OP and “DD” would be an as#ho%e even by DCUM standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Troll people!! Not real — OP and “DD” would be an as#ho%e even by DCUM standards.

True. Nobody can be that clueless and arrogant at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No top 25 is a true safety, even with stats in the top quartile. Also, if your kid is a writer, are there SLACs of interest? Fwiw, my kid has similar stats and his safeties are in the 25-50 range (20-30 for SLACs.) Some excellent choices in that range.

Unfortunately DD has no interest even though I suggested Williams and Swarthmore to her - they are not in the top 25 so out of her consideration set

She sounds like she clings desperately to external validation. Doesn’t that concern you?

How have you helped her in the past when she was not being realistic?

(I mean she may well get into a top 25 school, but be miserable there because it sounds like her research consisted of looking at what schools were on the list!)

Does she have any identity deeper than that which would help her create a personalized list?

[Anonymous]

If she's trying that high, she should be taking the SAT II subject matter tests. The Ivies really want to see those and 800s. Top scores and GPA and even legacy status alone won't guarantee a slot anywhere anymore. Especially if you are white and come from a privileged background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go on reddit and look at what kids have done to get into top schools. Hint: it’s more than SAT and GPA. One writing extracurricular is probably not going to be enough, even if the essays are amazing. Sorry, I honestly don’t mean to burst your bubble. I have a high stats senior too, this is hard.

It sounds like she’s spreading herself thin doing all these supplements and hoping one sticks. I’d rather focus on one to apply ED or REA/SCEA than just rolling the dice and hoping she will like a school that accepts her.

+1. Another way to get a realistic idea of the competition is to go to College Confidential, pick a college you are interested in and read the stats of the kids who did not get in. It's astounding how accomplished these students are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Title says it - but to elaborate DD is in a social group where basically every student is expecting to get into a top 10-15 school. DD has solid credentials but is extremely worried she won't be able to get into a top 15. She is ok settling with a lesser school but doesn't wasnt to go to a school lower than rank 25. Michigan, Emory, USC seem to be her top safeties at the moment, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Those schools AREN'T safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a hook or hooks? Michigan, Emory, USC aren’t anyone’s safeties. USC is the kind of school parents spend $500,000+ bribery to get their kids in. They were risking some 50+ years behind the bars to do it. And these schools don’t want to be known as someone’s fall backs.

Michigan is a safety for almost any kid that can pay full price. absolutely false

Our public HS sends at least 30 kids there from every graduating class.

Emory is a completely different category than Michigan.

USC is a waste of money. Who wants their kid paying that kind of money to go to school with Olivia Jade, a school that clearly doesn't care who they admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To clarify for everyone replying to the chat - DD has a 1560 SAT (800 verbal, 760 math) and 4.8 weighted GPA, and yes she is applying to all 25 top schools except UCLA, UCB, MIT, Caltech. ECs are nothing too noteworthy, but she is a prolific writer and has won many writing contests and has published poems for a close to mainstream publication. She plans on majoring in English.

My kid had better stats than yours with top ECs and 7 varsity letters and is at Michigan as a first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To clarify for everyone replying to the chat - DD has a 1560 SAT (800 verbal, 760 math) and 4.8 weighted GPA, and yes she is applying to all 25 top schools except UCLA, UCB, MIT, Caltech. ECs are nothing too noteworthy, but she is a prolific writer and has won many writing contests and has published poems for a close to mainstream publication. She plans on majoring in English.

What safety schools are on the list? A lot of kids have stats like your kids.

Like I was saying in the original post - we view Michigan, Emory, USC as the safe schools. The naviance data at our HS supports this.

Others on this thread are trying to tell you...take every kid with 1560 and higher, just in the US. That is over 100,000 kids. Add to it the varsity athletes, the theater award winners, the full pay legacies who are "good enough" and the economic and racial diversity with stories too good to pass up and you have well over 200,000 kids. Those 200,000 are vying for, call it, 25,000 slots. Add to it all the kids who have great stories or other hooks and you start to get to 500,000 kids. Now add the international students, who are full pay for the most part. All of the sudden, you can see where 4% of applicants gain admission to these top 25 schools, including Emory, USC and Michigan, that you seem to think are safeties.

The math just isn't with your kid...or ANY kid. Assume a 4% chance at ANY of these schools (maybe Michigan is a little higher just because they have a bigger Freshman class)

Find some actual safeties that your DD will be happy with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No top 25 is a true safety, even with stats in the top quartile. Also, if your kid is a writer, are there SLACs of interest? Fwiw, my kid has similar stats and his safeties are in the 25-50 range (20-30 for SLACs.) Some excellent choices in that range.

Unfortunately DD has no interest even though I suggested Williams and Swarthmore to her - they are not in the top 25 so out of her consideration set

Smart kid but also clueless. They are one and three on the other list and two of the strongest undergrad experiences on earth.

But they also have no name recognition to the lay person

Both are among the most selective schools in the world. They only have no name recognition to the most clueless people in the country.