<p>My son has only one safety school on his college list.</p>
<p>It is a very well known state university (top 10 state university for sure) and he does not mind going there.</p>
<p>Does he need to have more?
How many safety schools does your child have?</p>
<p>Be sure to have a financial safety as well, if you will need financial aid.</p>
<p>I think that my daughter had three safeties.</p>
<p>At least 2</p>
<p>What is the distinction between safety school and match school?</p>
<p>Can Northwestern, Wash U and Vanderbilt be match schools?</p>
<p>A match school is one that you will likely be admitted to. A safety school is one that you are virtually guaranteed admission to.</p>
<p>If the schools are truly safeties, two seems fine to me.</p>
<p>OP: It depends on your student's GPA, SAT, EC's etc.</p>
<p>It takes a lot of stress off to apply to an early action school or to a school with rolling admissions, so a student can have an acceptance by Christmas.</p>
<p>Two safeties, so if all else fails they he still has a choice. Would be great to have a rolling admit in there to take the pressure off.</p>
<p>Is it a true safety? That is, is admissions absolutely guaranteed based on your son's stats?</p>
<p>If so - and if he really is content to go there -- and if you know you will be able to afford it -- then that's enough. If the school has rolling admission or EA, I'd suggest applying early so your son knows for sure that its in the bag.</p>
<p>I would say no more than two safeties. One safety is fine if a kid really likes that school.</p>
<p>
<p>Can Northwestern, Wash U and Vanderbilt be match schools?
A safety school is one that admits most applicants and for which you are in the top half or quarter of the applicant pool. The schools you mentioned reject more people than they admit, and even if you ARE in the top of their pool, you can't be guaranteed admission. IMO, people who are matches for Northwestern, Wash U, and Vanderbilt actually have ONLY reaches and safeties, and those schools are reaches for everyone.</p>
<p>The word "match school" is often misunderstood. A match is not a safety- so of course there is no guarantee of admission. A match is a school that you would not be surprised to get into nor would you be shocked to get rejected from. By that definition, Northwestern was a match for my daughter. She was thrilled and relieved when she got into Northwestern. But not surprised.</p>
<p>^
Agree. Also, I don't know which "top ten state university " you are referring to, but if it's acceptance rate is lower than 50% (i.e. UVA, Wm & Mary, Cal & others), it is also not a safety.</p>
<p>I would have at least 2 true safeties. </p>
<p>In addition, unless you can afford any school your child is accepted to, make sure you have some financial safeties too.</p>
<p>i am confused, so what is a reach school and other terms that they use.</p>
<p>My stepdaughter only applied to one school - Dartmouth.</p>
<p>She was an athletic recruit, and of course she was admitted.</p>
<p>It all depends on the particular situation.</p>
<p>What is a financial safety? Is it full rdie or near full ride?</p>
<p>My child's counselor told us that he WILL get in to the state university.
Is it a safety then?</p>
<p>It's a financial safety if you can afford to pay for it. If you're wealthy that might mean any admission safety would be a financial safety. If you're much lower income it might mean only Community College is your financial safety.</p>
<p>A financial safety is a school that you know you will get accepted to **AND **will be affordable if you can pay for it out of pocket or thru some combination of assured scholarships, grants, small loans, or personal funds.</p>
<p>I think a student should have at least 2-3 financial safeties and this is why....</p>
<p>1) You may no longer like your safety in the spring of senior year and you don't want to get stuck going to a school that you don't like if your other choices don't work out. Believe me...many schools that were "loved" in the fall are no longer loved in the spring.</p>
<p>2) Financial Safeties often offer merit scholarships, so it's nice to have a few offers to possibly choose from.</p>
<p>3) Financial Safeties often have rolling admissions, so it's nice to have one or two admittances in your pocket in the fall.</p>
<p>4) If your top picks don't work out (either because of rejections or they are unaffordable), then it's nice to still have 2-3 schools to choose from. No one wants to feel railroaded into their only affordable choice.</p>
<p>5) And, sometimes you can get a merit scholarship increased from one safety after you've shown the school that another safety (similarly ranked school) gave you a bigger scholarship. </p>
<p>6) And, lastly, sometimes kids don't get into one of their safeties, because they underestimated what they needed to get accepted. Or, one of their safeties isn't affordable because they didn't get the scholarship they thought they would.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Can Northwestern, Wash U and Vanderbilt be match schools?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, but they aren't safety schools for anyone.</p>