Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that a lot of OOS flagships are becoming much harder admits, is it better to look at private schools that don't have in-state admissions requirements? We are in VA and my kid will be one of many who are vying for UVA. My kid doesn't want a small school, so I'm having a hard time finding schools that will still be safeties. UVA, VT & JMU are on their list. Right now, my kid is undecided and I think would benefit from a school where you don't have to lock in your major before even starting college. What would have been a safety before for a 4.0 UW, 1400/1500 SAT with good ECs aren't really safeties anymore. I am struggling to come up with safeties that make sense.

JMU is 100% a safety for your kid. Some nerd will come in here and say, "Not from NoVa!" but they're patently wrong. JMU still accepts nearly 80% of its applicants and its freshman classes are still largely comprised of students who were not even in the top quarter of their high school class. Really, it's a safety school's safety school.

There are also tons of solid OOS flagships that are still safeties for your kid: Alabama, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, just to name a few.

All the schools practice yield protection, so if you are too strong a candidate, JMU will reject you because they don’t want to be your backup.

This makes it sound like the strong candidate kids just can't win. The schools that require their stats are lotteries and the ones where their stats are high reject them for yield. Is that what you are saying?

NP... that's what they're saying, yes. Doesn't make it true... might be a kernel of truth to it, but the yield protection thing is way overblown. As others have stated (and have seen it in recent experience with my nieces/nephews who are a bit older than my grade school kids) it is common to get into one or more of your target and/or reaches, but also often have a better financial aid package offered by one or more of your safeties.

If you pick true targets and True safeties, your kid should get into at least 50% of the targets and same for the safeties (or more). Key is Targets are acceptance rates of 20-50%, your kid stats are 50%+ (higher is much better), safeties are acceptance rates of 50%+ and your kid stats are 75-80%+, and you must show demonstrated interest. they must think this is your top school and your kid is excited to attend.
If you do that, your kid will have several targets and safeties to choose from.

IMO, most who complain their kid got rejected everywhere has a list of 10+ schools that are all 2-15% acceptance rates---and those are high reaches for everyone. Applying to more school like that does not significantly increase your odds of acceptance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason you state, OP, doesn't seem like a reason to seek privates.

Other state schools:

MSU
ASU
AU
UVM
Alabama
U of SC (South Carolina)
WVU
Rutgers
SUNY Binghamton

Reaches, if desired: Michigan and UNC

Are these the schools for kids taking 10-12 APs in high school and getting a 4/0 UW? I feel like you could take a much lighter courseload and still attend these schools? Am I wrong? Is it worth it to have a challenging senior year or is it smarter to just take APs that are interesting and explore other electives b/c you'll probably end up at the same place anyway? Am I reading it wrong? This is so different that when I did this.

Yes, kids with 10-12 APs are at these schools with kids who did much less. The college application process is unpredictable. There might be more theoretical options for student A vs. student B, but that doesn’t always translate into an acceptance.

How do you tell your kid to take that extra AP if the results are the same if they took a fun class?

Well there's always a chance your kid might get into a T25/T50 school due to taking a rigorous course load. Otherwise, your kid takes APs because it's the next level for them and they should like the courses. A 4/5 on AP test gets them college credit. My kid had credit for 6 meaningful courses at college. Let them add a CS minor to their Engineering major and graduate on time.

Anonymous wrote:Given that a lot of OOS flagships are becoming much harder admits, is it better to look at private schools that don't have in-state admissions requirements? We are in VA and my kid will be one of many who are vying for UVA. My kid doesn't want a small school, so I'm having a hard time finding schools that will still be safeties. UVA, VT & JMU are on their list. Right now, my kid is undecided and I think would benefit from a school where you don't have to lock in your major before even starting college. What would have been a safety before for a 4.0 UW, 1400/1500 SAT with good ECs aren't really safeties anymore. I am struggling to come up with safeties that make sense.

Your best bet will be private schools not public.

Cast a wide net.
Things that aren’t safeties but closer will become important in EA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason you state, OP, doesn't seem like a reason to seek privates.

Other state schools:

MSU
ASU
AU
UVM
Alabama
U of SC (South Carolina)
WVU
Rutgers
SUNY Binghamton

Reaches, if desired: Michigan and UNC

Truthfully, this is why we are at a private high school.

As a full pay family, I wouldn’t pay for any of these schools (maybe full ride at MSU would be considered but we’d pass on the rest)…..and no one from our kid’s school ends up at these kinds of schools esp with 3.8+ GPAs and commensurate scores….

Our college counselors would be fired if this was the outcome for those kids esp if they can pay. As it is, people are pissed that the outcome for a 3.6 kid is UC-Boulder and a 3.75+ kid might end up at Wisconsin.

Saying the quiet/whispered part out loud now are we?

Which schools??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason you state, OP, doesn't seem like a reason to seek privates.

Other state schools:

MSU
ASU
AU
UVM
Alabama
U of SC (South Carolina)
WVU
Rutgers
SUNY Binghamton

Reaches, if desired: Michigan and UNC

Truthfully, this is why we are at a private high school.

As a full pay family, I wouldn’t pay for any of these schools (maybe full ride at MSU would be considered but we’d pass on the rest)…..and no one from our kid’s school ends up at these kinds of schools esp with 3.8+ GPAs and commensurate scores….

Our college counselors would be fired if this was the outcome for those kids esp if they can pay. As it is, people are pissed that the outcome for a 3.6 kid is UC-Boulder and a 3.75+ kid might end up at Wisconsin.

Saying the quiet/whispered part out loud now are we?