Well, two of S19’s safety schools have a 30 percent overall acceptance rate but a 100% acceptance rate from his high school even for much lower stat kids. I was a little nervous about that but our GC was absolutely sure he’d get in.
And it’s not always easy to say you’ll find safety schools that are a good fit when a student defines his fit in a very narrow way. S19 ( and now D21) have a very specific list for what they think make a good fit school. Both of our kids give up quite a bit of what they really want for the safeties on their lists. And, believe me, we spent a ton of time on S19’s list and now on D21s. I’m certainly jealous of anyone who has a student who isn’t as picky. Location, size of school, majors available, specific ECs available, nice dorms, good food, campus housing all four years, strong career centers, academic fit and not big fish/little pond, travel to and from school not too taxing…it is not easy to find any schools that fit what they’d like let alone safeties.
I get that they don’t need to get everything they want but, because we are full pay, we are darn sure going to try our best to find the best fit. Not really interested in paying so much for less than that. That’s why all safeties on our lists have to offer merit.