What exactly defines a safety school?

[MWolf]

@theloniusmonk

“Schools with 35-50% acceptance rates are matches, not safeties.”

That’s definitely not true, there are enough counterexamples to prove that wrong. The easiest would be where a particular major has a 30-50% acceptance rate and is auto-admit based on weighted gpa and standardized tests. A local school, SJSU, would be a good example, its CS major is in the 40s, maybe less. But if you meet the eligibility index, you’re in. I agree that would not apply for more holistic colleges.

I would have to agree with this.

Many large flagships with acceptance rates in the 40%-50% range are often safeties for students with GPAs above 3.8, and tests which are in the top 1%-5%. For example, UMN, which has an acceptance rate of around 45%, accepted every student from my kid’s high school in the range of GPA > 3.79, SAT > 1500. That entire upper right hand corner of the Naviance scattergram was solid green checks, with nary a red X to be seen.