OP, please come back and answer more questions about what you are looking for. Sporty students? Mid size vs LAC? Rural vs suburban/urban? These all make a difference.

Anonymous wrote:My kid, who also had Bucknell and UMD as safeties, also had Purdue and Tulane as safeties. DC was admitted to all four, and Tulane with significant merit aid. But, I'd not use those as safeties unless solid student means some combination of top grades/high SATs/very rigorous courses.

PP. This is what I'm referring to about different posters' different definitions of safety, because schools with low acceptance rates shouldn't be safeties for anyone, especially a school like Tulane with a reputation for yield protection and an acceptance rate in the teens due to their heavy use of ED. They love to defer/waitlist, which means it's not truly safe, if the purpose of a safety is the last backstop when the rest of the apps go to heck-in-a-handbasket. OP, just be aware.

Rolling admissions safety now: Pitt or PSU. Once admitted, focus on the targets/reaches.

PP again. We also got decent merit money from both UVM and Union too.

OP said Bucknell and BC were targets not safeties. This was like my kid and my kids safeties were union (NY) and University of Vermont especially if you are full pay. Maybe skidmore and Lafayette too but those may be more like low target. Union has a very similar feel to Bucknell.

My kid, who also had Bucknell and UMD as safeties, also had Purdue and Tulane as safeties. DC was admitted to all four, and Tulane with significant merit aid. But, I'd not use those as safeties unless solid student means some combination of top grades/high SATs/very rigorous courses.

Oh brother. Nobody can tell you a safety without stats.

But UMD is nobody’s safety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of those three, Bucknell would be the safety.

No. Wrong. Check the CDS.

I don’t think those three are anyone’s safeties. Just means op doesn’t understand the college admission game.

-dp

First we should define whether you are looking for actual, true safeties or would be satisfied with low matches. Some posters at DCUM seem to define safety differently than I do. I say a true safety has >50% acceptance rate with the student's stats >75th percentile for the school. Harder to guess if the student has no test scores or a split between scores and GPA. For a high stats student, I would put BC as a high target/low reach, for example; a lot depends on fit (supplemental essay). What school/major? Student's stats? Do you need financial aid?

To be able to offer suggestions, it would also help to know what aspects of BC and Bucknell are most appealing to the student? BC is a suburban/bordering urban mid-size Jesuit university with 10k students and D1 sports and no Greek, Bucknell a rural LAC with Greek life. There are several mid-size Jesuit (and some other Catholic) universities that could be considered safeties.

Anonymous wrote:Of those three, Bucknell would be the safety.

No. Wrong. Check the CDS.

Of those three, Bucknell would be the safety.

Penn State is an easy safety. They have rolling admission.

Anonymous wrote:UMD is not a safety for most kids. Add one or two schools with rolling admission (like Pitt) it can take a lot of stress and pressure from the process. UMBC if you need instate safety depending on your kid’s stat

+1

UMD is not a safety for most kids. Add one or two schools with rolling admission (like Pitt) it can take a lot of stress and pressure from the process. UMBC if you need instate safety depending on your kid’s stat

Anonymous wrote:Trying to help DS finalize list of safety schools.

Targets are Bucknell and Boston College.

Safety is Univ of MD but looking for other options.

What are the stats? What does he want to study?

Trying to help DS finalize list of safety schools.

Targets are Bucknell and Boston College.

Safety is Univ of MD but looking for other options.