What school is known as being a smart kid's safety?

Applying to College
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<p>I cannot comment for I did 8 summers at Interlochen Arts Camp…know many musicians who are doing academic+conservatory…I am currently still a musician and academic. Lots to learn from being a big fish in a little pond. Thanks for the read.</p>

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<p>The ultimate safety is always going to be your state school.</p>

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<p>State Schools require an application…what are you thinking.</p>

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<p>California State Universities
UCI
UCR
UCM</p>

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<p>Case Western.</p>

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<p>At my high school, academically strong students with solid extracurricular profiles can generally expect to be admitted to Cornell, Dartmouth, and especially UChicago.</p>

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<p>KFB -
are you attending a private or a well-known public? Dartmouth is a little particular for most HS’s.</p>

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<p>kentucky - same at my school. crazy!</p>

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<p>OP–</p>

<p>A safety school is not a safety if you wouldn’t consider going to it or you will be miserable at it if you did go. You don’t seem to have any problem with coming up with reaches to apply to. Quit worrying about them and try to find a safety that you’d love to go to if all else fails.</p>

<p>Because as Andi’s son found out, it doesn’t happen often, but sometimes a great looking kid will strike out at every reach/match school he applies to. </p>

<p>You DO deserve to go to the best school you feel fits you because of your hard work in high school. However, you must factor in the following into your statement:</p>

<p>You do deserve to go to the best school you feel fits you AND WHICH ACCEPTS YOU AND WHICH YOUR PARENTS CAN AFFORD. </p>

<p>And that is the truth of college admissions.</p>

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<p>Ohio_Mom - I attend Hunter College High School in New York. It is a public school, small but still fairly well-known.</p>

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<p>KFB -
they have an established relationship with Dartmouth, then, and Dartmouth knows that Hunter will send them appropriate students. Its important to factor in the HS itself - for most HS’s, sending their Sal or Val to Dartmouth would be quite an accomplishment.</p>

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<p>UT Austin shouldn’t be considered a safety unless you’re really, really qualified. Their admissions are totally unpredictable. I applied in-state and was only accepted to their SUMMER program, months after being flat-out rejected. However, I was accepted to Northwestern, UNC-Chapel Hill, etc.</p>

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<p>ml, I think this is a good question, though your attitude seems to preclude getting an answer that would be satisfactory to you. If any advice on this board has made a dent it should be the dynamic duo: Build your college list from the bottom up: Aim high, but love thy safety!</p>

<p>I think you’re being honest about your sense of entitlement and you know what? I agree with you. You, and thousands of kids like you, do deserve to get into the college of your choice. And there’s a good chance that you will. OK, now we agree on that, let’s think about a plan so that you and your parents (who also deserve a break) can get some sleep during those long anxious months from December to April.</p>

<p>A safety is like an insurance policy. Would you drive without car insurance? A true safety is a school that you could see yourself going to without getting a queasy feeling. If you’re lucky enough to live in a state with a great public university system like California or Michigan, you’re all set. If not, keep working on it. </p>

<p>There are reasons other than academic weakness that make colleges less selective. It could be location. For many kids Boston is more appealing than the Great Plains. It could be gender balance. Several schools that used to be all female are now less selective for males. It could be a specific under subscribed program at an otherwise selective school. Time to start digging.</p>

<p>Loving those safeties/less selectives/sure bets doesn’t come naturally to kids – and parents – who have nurtured that sense of entitlement. The truth feels like having a pail of cold water thrown over you and denial is rampant. </p>

<p>Everyone loves the superselectives (Considering how smart kids these kids are, this point is sure hard to get across.) Developing a lovable list of less selectives is work. You have to dig deeper, do more research, visit more, interview, ask a lot of questions. Believe me, they are out there. And, in my opinion at least, you only need ONE. It just has to be the right one.</p>

<p>The first obstacle to overcome is your disbelief that it could happen to you. That you could be the one who didn’t get into any of your first, second, third choices and your State U is a dismal destination. Kind of like learning that you’ll need a $100,000 operation and you didn’t believe that medical insurance was all that necessary. Believe!</p>

<p>There’s been an interesting phenomenon developing over the past two years – two disturbances that have converged into a perfect storm of admissions frenzy. The first is that the top tier colleges have become more and more selective; more applications for the same number of spaces. This has pushed the really smart, talented kids down to the second tier (and has greatly improved the quality of the second tier along the way). Ditto, the second tier to the third, etc. So, what used to be a HYPSMAWSP safety is now nobody’s safety. This is good for the colleges that nobody’s heard of that are actually very good schools. So pay attention to names you’ve never heard. These are this year’s best bets.</p>

<p>Simultaneously, there’s been a surge of merit money allocation by second tier schools “buying” top students. This has bumped out students who might have otherwise been contenders for the spaces and at the same time has tightened up merit money for those who two years ago might have earned it. The top tier HYPSMAWSP don’t give merit money. Financial aid is good if your family is in the EFC ballpark. If, however, you are solidly middleclass and were hoping to score some merit aid at the second tier, look again. You may have to go down a notch to your FINANCIAL safety, a whole different list from the academic safety.</p>

<p>In short, Class of 10, aim high, but love thy safety!</p>

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<p>Classic post momrath, too bad there’s no bookmark on this site!!!</p>

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<p>Tufts, definately.</p>

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<p>Tufts rejects approximately 3 of 4 applicants - more RD.</p>

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<p>Define “smart”?</p>

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<p>Patriot League Schools-Colgate, Holy Cross,and Bucknell.</p>

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<p>Bravo, momrath. I’m copying your post to give to the College and Career lady at our local high school. Every year, somebody at our high school suffers disappointment. Maybe your post will save someone during the next college admissions round.</p>

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<p>hmmm… i picked my safeties right… brandeis, colgate, case western grinnell, and macalester… got into all with full rides. for anyone considerin med school i would highly suggest applyin to case western as a safety. its a hidden gem. my scores were around 1480ish.</p>

<p>and someone mentioned duke as a safety.haaaaaaaaaaaahaahahah.</p>

<p>duke '09 baby!!</p>