Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts, Frostburg, Pitt, Charleston..

How is tufts a safety?

Yeah tufts is 100% not a safety for anyone because they are hyper sensitive on yield

Tufts is not a safety for anyone because they accepted only 9.7% of applicants last year. Anyone thinking this is an easy backup school hasn't done their homework.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally disagree that many of those listed above are safeties, even for a high stats kid.
For my high stats kid, safeties were very difficult to identify, because admissions are tough across the board, and bc of yield protection (justifiable).
I humbly recommend treating "safeties" with the respect they deserve, showing them a lot of demonstrated interest, and only choosing those that your student would be happy to attend.
Nothing is a slam dunk anymore, nor should it be.

OP here. I want to say BU will be my kid’s safety but want a few true safeties. I’m thinking Penn State.

Do schools reject high stat kids knowing the school is considered a safety?

Yep- DS got deferred EA from CWRU because he hadn’t shown enough demonstrated interest. Was high stats, good GPA and course rigor.

Did they tell you that’s why they deferred him?

Pitt, AZ, AZ State, UVM, CU Boulder

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally disagree that many of those listed above are safeties, even for a high stats kid.
For my high stats kid, safeties were very difficult to identify, because admissions are tough across the board, and bc of yield protection (justifiable).
I humbly recommend treating "safeties" with the respect they deserve, showing them a lot of demonstrated interest, and only choosing those that your student would be happy to attend.
Nothing is a slam dunk anymore, nor should it be.

OP here. I want to say BU will be my kid’s safety but want a few true safeties. I’m thinking Penn State.

Do schools reject high stat kids knowing the school is considered a safety?

Yep- DS got deferred EA from CWRU because he hadn’t shown enough demonstrated interest. Was high stats, good GPA and course rigor.

DS this year, wants to study CS. Ironically enough, the safety programs (UMN, Pitt, OSU) are nearly as good as the reaches.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Public: JMU, Virginia Tech, George Mason, Christopher Newport

Private: Richmond, Dickinson, Wake Forest, Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh

Some of these are in no way safeties. Virginia Tech, in particular, should not be on this list.

Depends on the school and major at VT.

Bucknell, Penn State

Anonymous wrote:
Public: JMU, Virginia Tech, George Mason, Christopher Newport

Private: Richmond, Dickinson, Wake Forest, Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh

Some of these are in no way safeties. Virginia Tech, in particular, should not be on this list.

Our plan for a high stats kid is to apply to places that are probably safeties (but not definitely safeties) that have EA and notify before RD applications are done. Then, if he doesn't get in, I guess we scramble for "true" safeties.

So, for example, Pitt is getting harder to get into. It might not be a true safety, but if you get into Pitt in October, as kids I know did, then it serves as your safety in that you can stop looking for another safety.

Anonymous wrote:
Public: JMU, Virginia Tech, George Mason, Christopher Newport

Private: Richmond, Dickinson, Wake Forest, Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh

Agree with the Publics except VT. VT dynamics have really changed since 2019. Lots of really qualified kids getting waitlisted. Some colleges within VT are an easier admit than others but VT has changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally disagree that many of those listed above are safeties, even for a high stats kid.
For my high stats kid, safeties were very difficult to identify, because admissions are tough across the board, and bc of yield protection (justifiable).
I humbly recommend treating "safeties" with the respect they deserve, showing them a lot of demonstrated interest, and only choosing those that your student would be happy to attend.
Nothing is a slam dunk anymore, nor should it be.

OP here. I want to say BU will be my kid’s safety but want a few true safeties. I’m thinking Penn State.

Do schools reject high stat kids knowing the school is considered a safety?

Yes, or they may waitlist and expect you to reach out and show the love to get off the waitlist.

Anonymous wrote:UCLA, Imperial in London, and UCSF.

WeLL UCSF is all graduate/medical/nursing so I’d take that one off your list

To find a true safety for your high stats kid (or any kid), in my humble opinion, you look for schools that:
- they would be happy to attend
- their stats are comfortably within the top 25% range
- the acceptance rate is above 50%
- they show demonstrated interest like on campus tours, plus interviews if available, so as not to be yield protected
- are not chosen just bc they are publics or privates bc that can really vary.
I'm sure greater minds will weigh in here, and I look forward to reading those.
Wishing you good luck in this process!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts, Frostburg, Pitt, Charleston..

How is tufts a safety?

Yeah tufts is 100% not a safety for anyone because they are hyper sensitive on yield

Anonymous wrote:Fairfield, Bucknell, Drew, and Lehigh

This is a good list.

Bucknell yield is very low and they are ok with it.

And given how low the Asian population is, they are thrilled when Asian kids apply and don’t discriminate

I would target the PA privates - bucjnell, Lehigh, Gettysburg, Dickinson, F&M, Lafayette

Unlike nescac’s they don’t collude and aren’t nearly as worried about yield protection