<p>So what safeties should I apply to, other than SUNY University at Buffalo? Should I even be considering UB as a safety (their admissions rate is 53%)? Keep in mind that any school I should be competent, at least, for STEM fields. (Case, RIT & RPI are off the list… see previous posts)</p>
<p>“So in applying for reaches, you might want to vary the types of schools you have in that basket.” The problem is that schools that (claim to) meet full need and (claim to) have no-loan policies are the same types of schools (Harvard, Princeton, Columbia…). I don’t want to apply to a school that will cost a lot even if I get in (exactly the point you made - “you might get accepted but not be able to afford to go”), or a school that will have me drowning in debt.</p>
<p>One such school would be Carnegie Mellon, which I like other than the cost. They offer some merit aid, and with my SAT Math score I think I have a shot at it.</p>
<p>As far as extra-cirriculars are concerned, I am trying to get into a Computer Science research workshop over the summer, which would enhance my application I think. Wish me luck</p>
<p>I think you should apply to schools like Carnegie Mellon and hope you get lucky and one of them gives you a generous package of merit-aid and financial aid. I think you should limit the applications to the upper echelon schools, they are just so hard to get into. I think you should apply to a few of them, but not a whole bunch. I can understand you not wanting to drown in debt. It might not be realistic to expect no loans.</p>
<p>RIT <em>does</em> “negotiate” on financial aid, both merit and need-based if you have a better offer from a peer institution. You might also look at Drexel and Northeastern – both of those offer some pretty decent merit money. </p>
<p>University of Rochester does have a good engineering program – I wouldn’t count them out.</p>
<p>University of Maryland College Park offers merit scholarships up to a full ride.</p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh also offers full ride scholarships.</p>
<p>Boston University offers a full tuition scholarship for engineers (Alexander Graham Bell).</p>
<p>Keep in mind that full ride or even full tuition scholarships will often also be extreme long shots. </p>
<p>Even with your current SAT scores, University of Alabama would give you a full tuition scholarship (guaranteed, I believe). I think they only offer full rides to national merit scholars, but others here are more familiar with their scholarship programs than I am.</p>
<p>1) You can pay for it without any aid other than federally determined need-based aid (FAFSA-based aid) and/or guaranteed state aid (TAP, etc.) and/or guaranteed merit-based aid from the college/university itself.</p>
<p>2) You are absolutely certain of admission. You know this because you meet or exceed stats that institution has posted right on its website as guaranteeing admission. Many public institutions do publish this information for in-state applicants. If none of the universities in your state do, then your in-state safety will be an open admission community college. In SOME cases, where a high school has years of records that indicated that no applicant from that HS who has a given profile has ever been denied admission, then a particular college/university might also be considered safe.</p>
<p>3) Your major is offered.</p>
<p>4) You will be happy to attend if all else goes wrong in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Your first step is to find out what your family can contribute for your education. Once you have that baseline, you will know how far and how deep you will have to dig to find your safeties.</p>
<p>“So what safeties should I apply to, other than SUNY University at Buffalo?”</p>
<p>Can your family afford Buffalo? Has anyone like you from your HS ever been denied admission? Would you be happy to attend Buffalo if you don’t get in anywhere else? Answer those questions, and you will know if you need more safeties.</p>
<p>happymom, that’s an ideal list, but I don’t think most students can actually find any schools that meet all those criteria. Most schools don’t have guaranteed admission criteria, for example. Chances are if a student’s in-state public schools don’t have guaranteed admission and/or aren’t affordable with no aid at all, there won’t be any school that meets those criteria. </p>
<p>yes, a local CC can be a backup, but that’s not really the same as a safety, IMO. </p>
<p>In some cases what a student has to do is find 2-3 schools where they are <em>almost</em> certain to be admitted (stats well above average for the school), and <em>almost</em> sure to be affordable (perhaps via likely but not guaranteed merit aid). My S1 did not have any guaranteed safeties. I’m still looking to see if I can find such a thing for my S2.</p>
<p>The plain and simple truth is that nationwide the single largest group of traditional age college students is comprised of those who are attending their local community colleges. Next up is the group at home state public 4-years. Unless a student has a truly arcane career goal, his/her most basic needs can be met by one of these options. That is the bare bones of a safety.</p>
<p>Yes, some families have a bot more money available, so that they can have the luxury of parsing the differences between chances of admission at A, B, and C. Most don’t. If there is no institution where the student is flat-out guaranteed admission on the application list, then that student needs to have a solid “what I’ll do if I don’t get in anywhere” plan.</p>
<p>You are fine for SUNY BUffalo in terms of admissions, but you are only guaranteed their $2500 merit award. You may get a great financial aid package in addition and/or get some of their other awards but that is not a guarantee. Please verify that $2500 award as well. Be aware that this information can change very quickly and be outdated, and that is the case for all schools.</p>
<p>If money is your major concern then I’d widen your net, apply to schools that will perhaps give you merit money, and not worry about a school being “too far”. Don’t focus on why you shouldn’t go to a school (which is what # 10 looks like) focus on why you SHOULD go.</p>
I think I have a shot at it.</p>