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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Build a balanced list of schools: reach, targets and safeties/likelies.  That means recognizing that any school with less than 20% acceptance rate is a Reach for ANYONE. So NU/Duke/HYPSM etc are a major reach for everyone---think of them as highly rejective.  So pick a few and apply and give it your all, but do not let your kid fall in love with them and make sure they know it's not likely to happen.

Pick targets where your kids scores are 50%+ and acceptance rates are 20-25%+.
Safeties are 50%+ acceptance rates and your kid's scores at/above 75%+
Likelies are 75%+ acceptance rates and kid's scores at/above 75+.

remember your kid must like all the schools and you must be able to afford them in order for them to be real and on your list.  A safety your kid doesn't want to attend is NOT a safety.

Pick at least 3-4 in each category and your kid will be fine come March/April senior year.  They will likely be in at 50% of their Targets and 50%+ of their safeties.  Reaches who knows, they might win the lottery.  
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Based on the other post, no public university is a true safety for anyone because they do yield protection. [/quote]

No, they are not a safety for specific majors and because their acceptance rates are too low for that.  Sure Public U might have a 50% admit rate, but if you want CS/Eng/business the admit rates are 10-20%, so they are a Reach.  It's not yield protection, it's understanding the numbers and what they mean.  It also means knowing that you MUST do EA at UMD, it's not a choice---that is how they admit most students.  UMD acceptance rate makes it a Target for many, but that is only for General entry.  Want the elite/hard to get into majors and it is a REACH.

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A lot of Public U don't even admit by major - unless it's Engineering. Just apply as an Art major and then declare CS in the College or apply to McIntire when the time comes. As a non-URM female, DD's friend applied to UVA as a Chemistry major (for the "female in STEM" narrative to go along with her AP classes and volunteer work as a math tutor). She did have awesome grades and stellar SAT scores. But ended up not majoring in STEM :)[/quote]

Easy to go from the STEM major admissions to a Humanities/Social science.  Not so easy to go to eng/cs/stem major if they are direct admit. The elite Public U do admit by major (GaTech/VaTech/UMD/UMich, many UCs, Purdue Eng/CS, UIndiana Business, etc) or at least those with elite programs (I wouldn't call UIndiana elite for anything except the business program)[/quote]

University of MD does not admit by major. You can be admitted to the university without getting your major of choice. If you maintain your GPA you can then switch into most majors (including CS and engineering). Business is actually hard to transfer into. I would not go to UMD for business unless I actually got into the program.[/quote]

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