I wish there weren’t such a stigma around “safeties” or being second (or third or seventh) choice and so much emphasis on yield. So many amazing students are edged out of admissions from (let’s call them for sake of argument) tippy top schools who would be a wonderful addiction to (again for argument) a “next level” school. In fact, that student’s matriculation would likely boost up the safety school’s score/GPA profile, their community would have a smart kiddo who maybe just barely slipped through the cracks (because those cracks are big when 85% of applicants are getting rejected), which would make all boats in the harbor rise over time.
Of course I’m not talking about a student who hates this safety school and attends with a heart filled with regret. Or a safety school that is not academically challenging enough. I’m talking about the kids we are all afraid of our kids becoming — rejected because of misguided (IMO) yield management fear. We hear over and over again of stories of great kids with 98% SSATs going 0 for 10. And I’m guessing maybe 1 or 2 of those 10 (at least in some cases, not all) were “safeties” that this 98%-er would have happily attended after licking their wounds, doing revisits and getting their mind set on loving the school that loves them.
But nope.
Don’t let that great student in because they dared to dream to go to Andover. (Or wherever.). The thinking that if any student dared to dream to attend a school a notch “above” is too snooty/smart/whatever to be a part of us is shortsighted at best. The irony if this approach is that the better that safety school perceives that candidate to be, the more likely they will assume they will get in somewhere better, and the bigger the risk to their yield, so the less chance the safety school will give them an offer to hedge for the yield risk.
Oh gosh.
Talk about the tail wagging the dog.
The idea that if I’m not first choice then I don’t want to play at all is fine in choosing life partners, but for school admissions, I’m against it.
(Not saying all schools take this approach.)