Thank you. That’s helpful.
Yup. Which is why her counselor has urged her to do ED. The data for our school indicates her top choices would be matches/likelies as ED, but more reachy in RD. For example, the overall acceptance rate at our high school for BU, ED, is a bit over 60%, and my daughter generally has a better profile and stats than most of the kids accepted from the high school over the last few years. RD drops to around 30%, and she would be more middle of the pack in RD. Vassar’s ED acceptance rate for the high school is 70%, and she would again be at the top of that pack, but RD drops to 40%, and she again would find herself closer to the middle. Cornell drops from 45% to 20%.
Thus, her counselor and advisor has both tried to warn her that going RD can significantly reduce her chances of getting into one of her top choices.
I would not consider GW or Binghamton likely/safety schools for anyone anymore. They are very hard to get into. But reading more about your HS, they may be more in the target category.
Syracuse is a fantastic school - has she considered?
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Our schools acceptance rate for Bing is 89%.
In the last 5 years, they have literally never rejected anyone in the top half of the class. M
It’s a weird school, everyone gets into Bing but few go there. We have more students going to Harvard than Bing this year.
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Lehigh is definitely a reach now for almost everyone.
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If she dislikes Binghamton, why is it still on the list? She could select Geneseo or a different SUNY.
Apart from Binghamton, which she dislikes, where are the safeties?
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I don’t know your counselor but personally, I’m not trusting what they say.
The counselor is playing an admission game and not a right college game - and that’s dangerous. Just my opinion from what you are saying. I don’t know the school, etc.
So right now you have Vassar, Amherst, and Cornell - reach, reach, and reach.
And you have Bing as a safety - and she dislikes Bing. And may UMASS as another - which she also dislikes.
Why would they even be on the list??
btw - just to correct - a current parent wrote me that my COA was off (I said this year) - for those watching (and thank you to the parent), the COA I quoted and will link below is for 2024-25.
$88,742 for tuition room and board; $66418 for contract colleges - and it’s hard to tell with Brooks - looks like it might be a hybrid of the two. Obviously @Dadto2NY has it figured out well - up on all the data, so that’s a note for others.
Thanks
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Given most from your school who apply get into Binghamton, then I am ok calling it a safety. Our HS is similar, although honestly you never know when that will change. Our district also gets a lot of Ivy (and similar) acceptances and Cornell usually takes about 20. When we visited Cornell my daughter said hello to 17 students from her HS. UVA usually takes the top 2 applicants.
Lehigh is a reach, imo. Not because your daughter will not get in…she very well could…but I would not call it a “likely admit.” They require a lot of demonstrated interest and unless I missed something…I don’t think that is the case. We visited 3 times and attended 2 local events. My daughter was on a first name basis with the AO and they exchanged emails for several months. She received a very large scholarship, but on paper…and only on paper…it was a safety (in real life Lehigh is not a safety for anybody…with a few exceptions). I would visit and see if she likes it. Great school, but not for everybody and my daughter turned it down. If your GC feels it’s a “likely admit,” then I guess it is and he/she has reasons to say it. I have not had that experience, also from a competitive NYS HS. I do not agree with your GC, but I am not in a position to argue with him/her…they have information that I do not.
Rochester is a nice match/target for your daughter. I would not count on merit but I would apply. Does your HS give out the Bausch and Lomb award to Rochester? I would ask.
I think your daughter is an excellent student- congrats! My perspective, comments, and advice come from my personal experience…top 1% kids over a few years from a competitive, top NYS public HS. Of course your GC would have experience that is targeted to your specific school…he/she would know best.
I would focus on safety and target schools, and once she has a few that she loves, then narrow down the reaches. If she loves one, then ED. I would not ED anywhere unless it’s her first choice.
Have you looked at Colgate and Hamilton? BU is not a safety…even for top 3% kids. Take a look at UVM and Delaware for safeties.
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I know kids who disliked the “feel” of Binghamton but who loved American? A safe-ish school for your D but doesn’t have the “been there done that” association?
I get where the guidance counselor is coming from. But PLEASE do not have your D’s safety schools be places she dislikes or loathes. I’ve been on here long enough to have seen the very sad Aprils (the cruelest month) with the kids dealing with rejection AND dealing with the reality of trudging off to their hated safety school like it’s a four year sentence in the federal penitentiary.
You don’t need to visit since your D is clearly burnt out by visiting. But there are dozens of places she could fall in love with; you do not have to settle for “Nobody in our HS ever gets rejected from Binghamton but nobody could ever stand to go there” types of places.
I am not a NY resident and interestingly enough, I know at least a dozen kids who are at or recently graduated from Binghamton and they all loved their experiences. But if your D has a viscerally negative reaction to it- move on. Plenty of other schools!
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Counselors are often happy with 1 safety (it used to be the standard until commonapp became so widespread) but for kids it’s better to have 2 - and a safety isn’t just stats, it’s also acceptance rates. So anything with sub 25% acceptance is an automatic reach, nothing with a sub 40% acceptance rate can be considered a safety unless your school has a relationship with the university (and data). And of course, safeties have to share at least one criterion with her favorites (ie., “like x college but less selective”), so that she actually likes them.
Since she doesn’t like Bing and can’t stand Albany, Geneseo and New Paltz could become true safeties - both are private school-looking and quite different from Bing or Albany… so in addition to admission and financial safeties she may not actively dislike them 
IMHO a downside to New Paltz is that it doesn’t have any Honors Program, unlike Geneseo.
Lehigh is similar to UVA: Lots of traditions, work hard-play hard, happily competitive. In addition, Lehigh is hilly 
. They’ve been trying to decrease the weight of fraternities on social life.
(Btw W&M is actually quirkier, nerdier than UVA, different traditions, more intellectual. If you know Bourdieu’s classification, UVA would be top right hand quadrant or middle/topmost, W&M would be top left hand quadrant.)
American is likely if she shows interest.
GWU is a match.
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Lehigh’s acceptance rate is under 40% and for that reason I would not classify it as a “likely admit.”
The exception to this…as noted above…is if your HS has a relationship with Lehigh that others may not have.
I would also note - it’s also a place you can, going in, like.
Many kids are challenged by this because if they’re chasing Vassar, they’re not going to be happy with the “pedigree” of Vermont.
So we don’t know if the student dislikes Bing because they dislike Bing - or it sounds like it’s a high fallutin’ high school - and perhaps Bing, socially / peer wise - is a let down.
But I really hope they can go to a school - take the brand sign off - and find one that they can like!!!
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A week ago BU was one of the two faves, but now it’s off the list. What happened?
If this trend continues with the class of 2024, including with females who apply in RD, and the school counselor can confirm that this included unhooked girls in RD, then I can see this as a target/match school.
I know that your D doesn’t always have consistent preferences across campuses, and that there is often something about the vibe that sways her one way or the other. But anything you can tell us about why she likes these schools would be helpful as we try and find some alternatives with higher admissions rates that she could be happy with:
- Amherst
- Cornell
- Vassar
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Does your daughter still like Geneseo as a safety? I would pick 2-3 so that she has choices.
You indicated that she does not like state schools. Delaware’s campus is beautiful and my guess is she could make honors.
I wonder if the state school thing is “image” vs. it’s a state school - given the level of high school the student is at and the colleges attended OP has shared from that HS?
Because there would be safer, esteemed LACs - I know Brandeis was mentioned but I’m thinking a step lower in “pedigree” for that likely column - such as Bryn Mawr (since full pay), Connecticut College (Govt Major), Franklin and Marshall (Govt. Major) or even a step below that such as Hobart - which has a Public Policy Major.
There are strong LACs - that aren’t the Vassar level - if that would help the student in building safeties - since the $$ don’t seem to be an issue here. There are others not mentioned as well. And as they are full pay and it might be too large - but SU is likely - and Maxwell is #1 in the country (grad wise) and some of that would float downward.
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Could be image but we do not know. UVA is a top state school and the student likes it. Bing is a strong regional school and the student does not.
I think Delaware is a great school. If we know what the student likes about UVA…maybe we can help find something closer and less competitive.
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" UVA is a top"
I have a feeling - those words right there - are what the student likes - of course, they don’t exist in a safety
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She dislikes the other SUNYs even more. She dislikes Bing the least.
According to her Counselor and Advisor, her safeties are Bing, GW, Clark, potentially Syracuse if she puts in an app. They are going off their own data from the last few years.
She isn’t exactly excited about any of her safeties, but they are schools she would be willing to attend.
She crossed UVA off her list.
Does she have any safeties that she actually likes? This is important.
I keep repeating myself but UVM and Delaware are great schools, and she could make honors.
Do students with your daughter’s profile make honors at Binghamton…from your HS?
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