I find it hard to believe Elon is more selective than UMW. I base this off of the handful of kids we know at both schools.

Do you have Naviance, 11:45? There are graphs showing the intersection of GPA and scores for each school. I have heard high scores low GPA is not a good combo because it can suggest the student is not working up to potential. Is there an explanation, or is the student young enough that he/she can show an improvement over time?

So what if you have high test scores but not very high GPA? How do you figure out safety vs reach? Do you focus more on GPA or scores?

Anonymous wrote:OP again, I see someone revived my thread! We are planning to visit several of the schools mentioned here over spring break. Thank you. I'm still having a tough time knowing how to identify a safety (finances aside), and our counselor so far has not been helpful, IMHO. To be specific, DC's first SAT was 2050. 4.0 unweighted GPA from a non big three private, several APs, decent ECs. Not to target Mary Washington, but their 75th percentile is 1840, more than 200 points lower than DC's score. Is that what we need for a safety, or can we feel "safe" with schools that are a bit more selective, such as Elon, where the combined 75th percentile is 1990? (These numbers may not be entirely accurate; I just got them off the web.) I would appreciate any feedback on what constitutes a true safety. Thanks!

Your counselor will be able to give you a much better sense on the experience that students from her specific school have had. We just went through the process and my DCs safeties were ones where he was at/above the 75th percentile of scores. However these were pretty selective schools (28-34% admit rates) so he needed to be at the high end to be sure. In the case of Elon it looks like it would be a solid safety for your DD since the admit rate is pretty high and she's above the 75th percentile (I'm surprised it's so low actually).

Interestingly you don't want to be too far above the range because then schools are likely to know it's a safety and either deny or waitlist since they are trying to protect their admit rate/yield. We saw that happen a lot this year, and saw evidence of that on Naviance as well. That seems to be more of an issue for kids in the 2250+ range though.

OP,
At least a couple of posters have mentioned Dickinson -- my DD is at William & Mary, and Dickinson was a "likely" for her -- I believe that she would have been happy there. It is private, though. There is a pretty strong Greek presence, but not for the freshman year.

OP again, I see someone revived my thread! We are planning to visit several of the schools mentioned here over spring break. Thank you. I'm still having a tough time knowing how to identify a safety (finances aside), and our counselor so far has not been helpful, IMHO. To be specific, DC's first SAT was 2050. 4.0 unweighted GPA from a non big three private, several APs, decent ECs. Not to target Mary Washington, but their 75th percentile is 1840, more than 200 points lower than DC's score. Is that what we need for a safety, or can we feel "safe" with schools that are a bit more selective, such as Elon, where the combined 75th percentile is 1990? (These numbers may not be entirely accurate; I just got them off the web.) I would appreciate any feedback on what constitutes a true safety. Thanks!

I think UMW is more along the lines of what your DC is looking for - Elon actually relies a bit on their greek life for the social scene, there's not much more going on. I say this as someone who went to Elon as a freshman and transferred to UMW.

Anonymous wrote:I think Davidson and Sewanee are good options.

The acceptance rate at Davidson is 25%, which is lower than W&M, especially W&M for in state. Sewanee and Elon are closer to 60% so better safeties.

W&L by comparison is 18% - not sure how/why it's gotten so selective.

I think Davidson and Sewanee are good options.

My friend's daughter will be going to U of Mary Washington- her safety from William and Mary. She (my friend) says her daughter chose it because it seemed to have the same laid back vibe as W&M.

UNC

Anonymous wrote:If you are looking for something for as quieter student, I'd look north. Comparable schools might be Bates or Vassar. Union in NY might be a bit easier. Dickinson in PA might also be a bit easier to to get into, and they have some great faculty members.

I would hardly describe Bates or Vassar as "safety schools."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Yes, but my understanding is that a larger share of the Greek life at W&M is service oriented and that fewer involved students live in the houses compared to some other schools. Never attended so I don't profess to really know, but from recent college visits to both UVA and W&M our impression was that greek life played a larger role in the undergraduate life of the school at UVA than at W&M.

Vassar and W&M are very different. My understanding is that Vassar is more like Wesleyan on steroids -- very liberal, social action oriented, and has significantly higher average test scores than WA&M as a whole (though perhaps not for out of state applicants). W&M came across to us as a more middle of the road political feel.

The reason more students don't live in the Greek houses is twofold: the houses aren't as large as at other schools. Also, the houses are inconveniently located to the academic buildings. Most prefer to live in regular dorms.

And there are service projects for the Greeks, but certainly not to the point that I would describe them as more service oriented than social oriented, not by a long shot. There is a service-only co-ed fraternity, but honestly, it was considered undesirable to be a member. I know, that's awful.

My experience is dated (12 years out), but the fraternity scene at WM is smaller, more laid back, and certainly less expensive than more social schools. The fraternity houses are smaller, but so are the fraternities. The houses are also on campus and owned by the school. Sophomore housing used to be tough with a bad lottery number (not sure how it is now), so some would rush strictly to avoid dillard. They are building new fraternity houses that are supposed to be really nice (as opposed to the cinderblock townhouses we had), the sorority houses are small but nice and in a great location.

My safety was JMU, I would also look at Mary Wash as a safety. If the budget is flexible, look at Richmond and possibly some of the SLACs others have mentioned. A kid that likes the feel of WM would most likely not like VT, UMD, etc. It is somewhat difficult, as there are not many small publics with the same academics. Best of luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson is harder to get into than Wake and it's very challenging academically. It's also smaller. You might also consider honor's programs. Elon has quite a good one and it's a lovely school.

What is an elon?

http://www.elon.edu/home/

Anonymous wrote:Davidson is harder to get into than Wake and it's very challenging academically. It's also smaller. You might also consider honor's programs. Elon has quite a good one and it's a lovely school.

What is an elon?