Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:21     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Risky move. A lot will depend on number of schools she applies to and which ones. They could all assume that she will go elsewhere and deny for yield protection.

Apply to rolling admissions school just in case.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:17     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Send an app to ASU. Rolling school, true safety. Every year some top kids get shut out and apply there in April. It costs you $55 to take care of it now and will save you months of anxiety.

You can get accepted but are you willing to pay $60k OOS for your safety?

My kid got $25k/year merit, which certainly takes the edge off.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:14     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
My daughter planned a few safeties, but after being accepted very early to a rolling admission target school she decided not to apply to several targets and all the safety schools she had been considering.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:13     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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?


Pitt comes to mind

I love Pitt, however would you be willing to pay $50k+ OOS?


If the kid doesn't get into UMD or any reaches, then sure. But I'd encourage U Toronto and McGill applications, to be certain there are a few good options.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:12     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote:Send an app to ASU. Rolling school, true safety. Every year some top kids get shut out and apply there in April. It costs you $55 to take care of it now and will save you months of anxiety.

You can get accepted but are you willing to pay $60k OOS for your safety?
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:11     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote: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.


+1
This is the type of situation we see here every year when decisions come out. Someone who thinks they’re a shoo-in for the most selective schools winds up getting rejected from all with no reasonable back up. Live and learn.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:07     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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?


Pitt comes to mind

I love Pitt, however would you be willing to pay $50k+ OOS?
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:03     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
#1 Rule in college admissions should be:

Make sure your child finds a safety they LOVE.

Takes away all the anxiety, strain, and heartbreak. If you didn’t do this, you’re an idiot.

Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 18:00     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote:
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?


Pitt comes to mind
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 17:55     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Judging class rank is very difficult at many local publics, especially in Montgomery County. Unless you've been told she is Number 1 or 2 in class, assume that perfect grades may only put her in top 10 to 20 percent of class. You need some likelies, at least 2. If in MD, consider VaTech. It's an easier acceptance from out of state.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 17:54     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a 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?

Applied to a number of matches. Felt very confident in many but not sure any could be classified as a safety since we needed merit for many to work.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 17:52     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Send an app to ASU. Rolling school, true safety. Every year some top kids get shut out and apply there in April. It costs you $55 to take care of it now and will save you months of anxiety.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 17:52     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
Anonymous wrote: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.


Good advice here. For certain reasons, my student attend a true safety and in its honors college. Wonderful experience. Excelled in the classroom, research labs, and beyond. Now attending a top flight research grad program.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 17:46     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
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.

Thank you. She's not applying to only ultra reach schools but as of now she has no true safeties.
Anonymous
Post 11/20/2025 17:46     Subject: Did anyone's kid skip applying to a safety?
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.


Didn’t get in anywhere except safety? Where did he apply?