Anonymous wrote:Applying only to reach schools is risky. Sometimes the only ones accepted the kid are the targets and safeties.

In a typical year, kids at our school would apply to several ivies and Stanford MIT as reach, applying to Duke, JHU as targets, and applying to Northwestern, Vandy, WashU, as safties. Often times, the only schools accepted them are the safeties. So counselor's advice is to focus on the essays for target/safety schools.

Snort. None of those are safeties. And given that you can't spell...how old are you?

My high stats kid with perfect grades did not get into any of her reaches and not even some of her targets. Got into a very good school. Rolling admisisons at Pitt, U of Minnesota, U of Arizona and more. I would do at least one true safety - make sure it's a decent school in a good college town/area so that if it is the last choice - all will be well. My kid got into their safety today and every time it happens with one of my kids there is just a huge sense of relief because you know they are going to college somewhere. My kids all feel it too. College admissions is weird and unless shes an elite athlete, scholar or something - there are no guarantees.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is in the top 1-2% of her large public high school and has a 1540 SAT (school average is mid 1000) with lots of leadership. She has no interest in attending any of the schools that are considered true safeties and would rather apply to several high targets instead of adding a safety. She applied EA in state to UMD but their acceptances have been so weird lately, that I'm starting to worry that this is a bad ieaa. She's not applying for any impacted majors. Thoughts?

My kid was also top 1-2% public high school, 1560 SAT, great ECs, top rigor and going in with enough DE credits , summer college and AP courses to be a junior. He even took a full summer semester of regular summer college courses at a top institution known for grade deflation (not a high school program, so counts as regular UC courses)-straight As. He did not get in. Lower stat kids or athletes in random sports got in.

He’s very happy at his safety.

What colleges did he apply to and was rejected? What was his targets, safeties?

Applying only to reach schools is risky. Sometimes the only ones accepted the kid are the targets and safeties.

In a typical year, kids at our school would apply to several ivies and Stanford MIT as reach, applying to Duke, JHU as targets, and applying to Northwestern, Vandy, WashU, as safties. Often times, the only schools accepted them are the safeties. So counselor's advice is to focus on the essays for target/safety schools.

Anonymous wrote:DC is in the top 1-2% of her large public high school and has a 1540 SAT (school average is mid 1000) with lots of leadership. She has no interest in attending any of the schools that are considered true safeties and would rather apply to several high targets instead of adding a safety. She applied EA in state to UMD but their acceptances have been so weird lately, that I'm starting to worry that this is a bad ieaa. She's not applying for any impacted majors. Thoughts?

My kid was also top 1-2% public high school, 1560 SAT, great ECs, top rigor and going in with enough DE credits , summer college and AP courses to be a junior. He even took a full summer semester of regular summer college courses at a top institution known for grade deflation (not a high school program, so counts as regular UC courses)-straight As. He did not get in. Lower stat kids or athletes in random sports got in.

He’s very happy at his safety.

Anonymous wrote:DC is in the top 1-2% of her large public high school and has a 1540 SAT (school average is mid 1000) with lots of leadership. She has no interest in attending any of the schools that are considered true safeties and would rather apply to several high targets instead of adding a safety. She applied EA in state to UMD but their acceptances have been so weird lately, that I'm starting to worry that this is a bad ieaa. She's not applying for any impacted majors. Thoughts?

Our kid is from a similar school, similarly top 1-2%, highest rigor, higher SAT scores and NMSF. DD doesn’t view UMD as a safety because it has been too quirky with acceptances recently.

I expect she will probably get in, but I personally wouldn’t put all my eggs in that basket.

Every year, a mother comes on here to complain that her kid applied to 10 schools and didn't get into one of them, and then asks, "What now"? Be prepared for that situation, OP. That's why every college counselor advises safeties. We picked Pitt because it was easy and rolling, and DD entered senior year with at least one acceptance under his belt, which reduced stress.

She should at a minimum have some low targets with a 40% acceptances rate where she is in the top 25% of applicants and puts an effort into the application.

Alternatively, apply to Canadian or UK schools where they accept based on numbers alone (or almost alone).

This sounds like a recipe for disaster

It will probalby work out, but it is sheer folly not to apply to a safety she likes enough now; otherwise she will be left scouring the "we still have spaces" school in May. Many will waive the applicaoitn fee and don't even have essays, so it is literally no effort to have that protection.

Teach her some humility while you're at it. Go visit a safety and see the smart kids who attend them. Pull up the bios of some of the alumni of those safety schools. Remind her that being the top of one of thousands of schools in the country makes her one of tens of thousand of kids and her SAT makes her one of over 10K kids.

Anonymous wrote:What is considered a “safety” will be different for different kids. Given how competitive the application process is for selective schools, she should apply to a couple that are slightly less selective than her top choices.

Thank you. What are some suggestions for safeties for her at this stage of admissions?

There are schools that accept applications well after most acceptances are released. She can always apply to one of those but it might be even less desirable than a safety she could apply to now.

Is she prepared to possibly learn a very hard life lesson?

What is considered a “safety” will be different for different kids. Given how competitive the application process is for selective schools, she should apply to a couple that are slightly less selective than her top choices.

Wasn’t there a thread on this last spring and the student was upset she only got into Pitt. I wouldn’t recommend not applying to any safeties.

DC is in the top 1-2% of her large public high school and has a 1540 SAT (school average is mid 1000) with lots of leadership. She has no interest in attending any of the schools that are considered true safeties and would rather apply to several high targets instead of adding a safety. She applied EA in state to UMD but their acceptances have been so weird lately, that I'm starting to worry that this is a bad ieaa. She's not applying for any impacted majors. Thoughts?