tokenadult

Oh, yes. If the college is a good college for you, go for it.

jym626

I am posting this in this thread as well as the one in the parents forum not so much because I think it is all that important, but I want to get notified when posts are made to each of these threads!

mythmom

I think it's okay to have a "mommy school" on the list: a school the kid does not want to apply to at all but the parent has an intuition that the school might become necessary for financial or other reasons.

Both my kids agreed to this; both were accepted with a lot of money and neither ended up attending.

Both grew to like the schools a lot and had their first choices not accepted them, they say they would have chosen the mommy school.

I was not committed to these schools, but I had reasons for suggesting them.

othermusicdad

FYI - CU Boulder received just over 18000 applications 2 years ago, but it received 24000 this year. They admit just under 16000 students each year and enroll 5600. So they used to admit 88% of the applicants; this year it was about 65%. This info comes from a recently attended admitted students night. I suspect "safety" depends on which college at CU.

ashlieh

My safety was Penn State- main campus. I'm in state and both of my parents went there. I feel in love with my safety and I will be going there this fall.

hsmomstef

My son is lucky -- CU Boulder is his safety, they still have guaranteed admission for Colorado Residents that meet certain testing requirements. Plus, they offer a combined BA/MA in his major and he would be able to transfer in about 50 hours of coursework. It is too big for his tastes, but he would most likely be in the honors program (which makes it seem smaller) and being able to take graduate level courses in his major (and skip most of the intro /distribution classes due to transferring in classes) which means that his classes would be smaller and more focused. Not bad for a safety.

mercruz

Safeties are very important. Just make sure you don't tell others who really want to go to your safety and didn't get in, that said school is your safety. Awkwardness will ensue.

Roger_Dooley

This is such an important point. Along with the posts bemoaning not getting into multiple top choice schools, every year we see post saying things like, "Well, I'm accepted at my safety school... but I really don't want to go there." A school that you aren't crazy about attending is NOT a safety school, it's just a college that you can get into.

Ideally, the safety school should be among the top few school choices for the student. If the top choices are all Ivy-equivalents, and the safety school is nothing like them, insufficient thought has gone into preparing the college list. Or, the student is basing preference primarily on selectivity and prestige.

A student with the stats to aim for Ivies also has the stats to be accepted at virtually all but a few dozen colleges in the U.S., and to get merit aid at many schools. Devoting some serious study to alternatives with almost certain acceptance and the probability of financial aid (if that's important) will pay big dividends.

speedo

problem is that all four of your requirements, accessibility,
price etc, tokenadult are usually not present for most
applicants especially low income ones - you might have
to lower your expectiations to "probably get in" "might
be able to afford it," "there's a couple of decent programs"
and "I can learn to enjoy it." Unfortunately, for a lot of
kids that's the definition of a safety college and also
why they don't bother to apply.

tokenadult

This is an issue of great concern to me, and has prompted some threads I have posted before. It is undeniably true that a low-income student has a narrower list of choices than a student from a high-income family, other characteristics being equal. High family income can even go a long way to boost admission chances of students with LESSER academic credentials.

But for each applicant, the applicant may as well look for the "safety" college that fits that applicant. It's surely especially pointless to apply to a lot of colleges and not get into any. The first step in building an application list is finding a college

1) you can definitely get into,

2) you will learn a lot at,

3) you can afford,

and

4) you will enjoy.

Other people may indeed have more or even "better" choices than you have, but make sure your choices include at least one college that fits that set of four requirements.

speedo

I took my D to that college and she said, "I cant
go here, everyone's dumb!" I understood and
agreed, that's why she and we, like so many
others, are up to our necks in college debt. But,
yes, she did get in, she did learn a lot and she
did enjoy it. Hey, 3 outta 4 aint bad!

Roger_Dooley

>>everyone's dumb

The biggest appeal of the very selective schools is that just about the entire peer group will be smart and interesting.

At a safety school, there will be a variety of levels of past achievement. The trick, I think, is to find a school where one will be able to find a micro-peer group of motivated students. Honors colleges are one attempt to create a more elite environment in a big school. But, just like high school, particular courses and areas of study will attract better students.

And there's one advantage of not going to a school where every other student is at least as smart as you are: the possibility of earning a high GPA and accumulating honors is greater, a plus for admission to law school or med school.

That 30,000 student school may have lower average stats due to in-state admissions policies, but the top end of the bell curve will contain some amazing people.

piccolojunior

Hooray for JHU being a great safety without great financial aid!

jude_36

A recent thread talked about being the kid that inspires others to acheive more, being the mentor in a school with kids less gifted. I thought that was a really valid point. It can be hard to stay motivated if you aren't in a community of your peers, but if you can find a few and then work to raise the others up....

momonthehill

That just about says it all. In the wake of the recent RD decisions, this was the enduring lesson, both for D2, who's just in the very beginning phases of her college search and me, as a parent. I remember when my college freshman D was applying to colleges, receiving that early acceptance from our state flagship U(even though she eventually matriculated elsewhere) was a huge weight off of her shoulders. I also liked Mythmom's suggestion about the "Mommy" school; D1 had one or two of those, and I imagine that D2 will submit a Mommy app., as well.