I wouldn't worry, OP. My son's safeties were UMD, St John's College and George Washington. He got into one of his reaches and all of his targets and safeties. GW made him an offer he couldn't refuse so he went there.

If your kid is a strong student and they have personalized their statement/essays to explain how they'd fit at each college they apply to, there is a very high chance they'll be admitted at all their targets and safeties. The only reason for a safety to reject a student is if they feel that the student put no effort into the application and is just checking off the safety box. Don't do that. Make them feel worthy.

I know a kid this almost happened to. They steadfastly refused even to consider the possibility that they’d have to stoop so low as to even apply below the top 10 or 20 schools. Parents finally all but compelled them to apply to a local school they felt was beneath them. Guess which was the only school where they got in. It turned out to be a great fit, but they barely dodged the bullet. College applications are not so expensive or difficult that a student shouldn’t have multiple back up choices.

Anonymous wrote:I had a friend in high school who had her heart set on a very short list of schools and not interested in going elsewhere. She did not get into any of them, so her parents sent her on some sort of public service trip to Kenya for a year and she reapplied and was admitted.

Lucky for her, her parents were loaded, so could easily pay for a prestigious gap year.

Speaking of the Gap, last time I was home, she was working there. No knock on retail employees--it's a perfectly fine job--but I guarantee a retail job was not in her or her parent's very carefully curated life plan. At some point, you just have to roll with it and find a way to be happy.

There's more than a bit of schadenfreude seeping through your post. It's not a good look on you. If it was your friend why take the dump on her? And you can backpedal the gap quote all you want but that is the equivalent of saying "No offense but...."

Maybe rethink this approach?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In May NACAC publishes a list of colleges that still have openings. Most colleges accept most students. I'd only push to add another safety now if she doesn't love that safety. If the more selective ones don't work out, it's nice to still have options to choose between.

Good to know! I didn't realize there would still be options come May.

There are many, many options. When I've looked at it in the past the list includes state flagships that are less well known, regional public Us, LACs, etc. In Virginia, UMW is usually on the list. In MD, I've seen SMCM listed.

FWIW, my DD goes to one of the LACs that is often listed and she loves it, has everything she was looking for. It just isn't widely known although they do well in job outcomes for her specific program.

One caveat is that if you wait until May schools that might have given a generous merit aid may have no more aid to give or you may get last pick in housing. So, it is better to apply earlier.

Yes, we know. Your daughter goes to Juniata.

Anonymous wrote:I know, this is partly just the anxiety of the whole process. But DD has only applied to one safety which is honestly more like a lower target, in my opinion. Do I insist she apply for a few more places with a 90%+ acceptance rate? Let the natural consequences happen? I don't want to harp, and I'm pretty amenable to the schools she has chosen, just think she needs a better backup.

Yes, you insist but I don’t know about needing to find a school with a 99% acceptance rate. There are plenty of colleges and universities ranked in the top 10% with acceptances above the 75th percentile (Top 387, Princeton Review). Focus there.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

Yes, definitely apply to some others. You know which ones she is applying to, so that means you know, or can easily research, which ones are similar but have higher admissions rates. Pick those out, and then just sit down with her next to the computer some Saturday afternoon and just do it.

This. I never understand kids dreaming of Michigan (OOS) who don't also apply early to IU. Or UVA (OOS) dreamers who don't apply also early to KU. Or Williams dreamers who don't also apply to St. Lawrence. Etc. There surely are schools on her list that have near-doppelgangers that are substantially less rejective--she should apply to those near-doppelgangers. (Plural: It's a mental health win to have more acceptances than rejections, at at least multiple acceptances to choose between/among.)

What is KU? I completely understand at least a family that will pay for Williams but not St. Lawrence. It makes sense to swap out flagships, but SLACs are not an easy swap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

Yes, definitely apply to some others. You know which ones she is applying to, so that means you know, or can easily research, which ones are similar but have higher admissions rates. Pick those out, and then just sit down with her next to the computer some Saturday afternoon and just do it.

This. I never understand kids dreaming of Michigan (OOS) who don't also apply early to IU. Or UVA (OOS) dreamers who don't apply also early to KU. Or Williams dreamers who don't also apply to St. Lawrence. Etc. There surely are schools on her list that have near-doppelgangers that are substantially less rejective--she should apply to those near-doppelgangers. (Plural: It's a mental health win to have more acceptances than rejections, at at least multiple acceptances to choose between/among.)

NP here. This makes me feel good about my kid’s list: they are applying/have already applied to the first four schools you listed.

What is KU?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

If people have no choice but to start with a community college or a commuter college, or they really want to take that route, great.

But, for kids who luck out and have a good fit with where they end up, the freshman dorm is more important than the classes or the diploma. Even a bad experience in a freshman dorm is educational. So, if you can help your daughter start out in a respectable, dorm-oriented four-year , that’s a lot better than the community college route.

This is like the high SATs discussion. Of course, all sorts of brilliant people refuse to take standardized tests or, for whatever reason, have low scores, and decent people know that’s no big deal.

But, seriously, if you have a choice, all other things being equal, of course it’s better to be a National Merit scholar.

And, of course, all other things being equal, it’s better for many students who want the dorm experience to start out in a dorm at Juniata or the University of Nebraska than to start out in a community college, or to skip college altogether because some luminaries have declared that college is the new poodle skirt.

The dorm might be loud or have mice, but learning to deal with the hassles is as much a part of college as discovering that college physics is hard.

I had a friend in high school who had her heart set on a very short list of schools and not interested in going elsewhere. She did not get into any of them, so her parents sent her on some sort of public service trip to Kenya for a year and she reapplied and was admitted.

Lucky for her, her parents were loaded, so could easily pay for a prestigious gap year.

Speaking of the Gap, last time I was home, she was working there. No knock on retail employees--it's a perfectly fine job--but I guarantee a retail job was not in her or her parent's very carefully curated life plan. At some point, you just have to roll with it and find a way to be happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

I was a high-performing honors student, and I changed my mind about what college I wanted to attend the summer before college started. I applied to my target school for spring (got in) and enrolled in a community college for one semester. It’s not the end of the world if it comes to that, though the fact that you’re thinking about this in October means there is plenty of time to add some safeties.

Is this a serious thread?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

Yes, definitely apply to some others. You know which ones she is applying to, so that means you know, or can easily research, which ones are similar but have higher admissions rates. Pick those out, and then just sit down with her next to the computer some Saturday afternoon and just do it.

This. I never understand kids dreaming of Michigan (OOS) who don't also apply early to IU. Or UVA (OOS) dreamers who don't apply also early to KU. Or Williams dreamers who don't also apply to St. Lawrence. Etc. There surely are schools on her list that have near-doppelgangers that are substantially less rejective--she should apply to those near-doppelgangers. (Plural: It's a mental health win to have more acceptances than rejections, at at least multiple acceptances to choose between/among.)

NP here. This makes me feel good about my kid’s list: they are applying/have already applied to the first four schools you listed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it were my kid, I'd say, "humor me ... I need this. I need for you to apply to a few more schools. Pick 3 from this list." I would, already, have a list. At this point, schools that you think might be a good fit. And you know you can afford. Downplay you went to much effort. But on the contrary, I think it is imperative to have taken this chore seriously.

You're not saying they have to go. I do think it's ok to recognize that this whole process is stressful to parents. And lessening our stress is a reasonable ask. As parents, we each have thresholds so we feel like good-enough parents. For many of us, one of those is, that the student gets into college.

Why, so many commas?

Only the very last one is incorrect. (And yours, of course.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

Our straight-A student only got into his safety. Admittedly, he was not at all well-rounded. He went to school, got good grades, and did nothing else.

Look at the lower-ranked SEC schools, OP. They tend to want numbers only, and offer good merit aid for high test scores, but still have national name recognition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She does community college and applies again for the sophomore year.

She's a straight-A student. We're not looking for Ivy League, but I'd be pissed if it came to this, to put it mildly.

Yes, definitely apply to some others. You know which ones she is applying to, so that means you know, or can easily research, which ones are similar but have higher admissions rates. Pick those out, and then just sit down with her next to the computer some Saturday afternoon and just do it.

This. I never understand kids dreaming of Michigan (OOS) who don't also apply early to IU. Or UVA (OOS) dreamers who don't apply also early to KU. Or Williams dreamers who don't also apply to St. Lawrence. Etc. There surely are schools on her list that have near-doppelgangers that are substantially less rejective--she should apply to those near-doppelgangers. (Plural: It's a mental health win to have more acceptances than rejections, at at least multiple acceptances to choose between/among.)