<p>This is not meant to be a discussion of Wash U, so sorry. If you score close to 1500 or higher and have an application into Washu U you will most likely be invited to their weekend. Not the multi cultural one, but the one meant to entice all the high scorers to come. I know of many who had 1450 and higher who were invited also.
I know of many who went. Everyone gets there and they look around and everyone is just like them. They all have top scores, great grades. Everyone has a great time and sees all these incredibly bright students and there are about 2,000 of them. A lot of scholarship money is offered that weekend. Wash U however is not able to lure those away who get accepted to the top ivy league schools, MIT, Stanford ect. Instead, many who come to Wash U after that weekend and get scholarship money did not get into their top choices.</p>
<p>Never did I think of or treat any of my prospective colleges as “safeties,” but of course that was a while back. I believe a student disrespects himself and the students attending colleges by using that word. It’s good to know that differences exist, but the overly-strategized hierarchy of colleges might lead to disaster if the same thought and care are not used in completing ALL applications. I was accepted at and went to my preferred school - Yale - and was also accepted at the other fines schools that I applied to - in alphabetical order, Amherst, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, Syracuse, Williams.</p>
<p>My son’s experience with Wash U wasn’t anything like you’ve described. He received a lot of attention from them starting the summer after his sophomore year in high school. He had great grades and ECs as well as what could be described as good but not extraordinary test scores. He applied RD, wasn’t invited to the recruitment weekend in April but found out that he had been accepted in mid-March. He received some nice merit based scholarships but not a full-ride by any means. He’s now a freshman there and he seems to really be enjoying it.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard talking to Yale alumni, I think a list of some of the most popular “safeties” or “alternatives” would include Cornell, MIT, Williams, Swarthmore, Harvard, Wesleyan, Duke, Brown, Columbia, Northwestern, UChicago and Stanford.</p>
<p>NONE of those colleges are safeties whatsoever unless an applicant has a major hook (like a parent is a faculty member).</p>
<p>They aren’t really “safeties,” but applicants with certain credentials can be reasonably assured of getting into at least some of them. </p>
<p>Other “safeties” for Yale applicants surely include less selective private universities and colleges (such as Smith, University of Rochester, etc.) as well as flagship state universities such as Michigan, UVA, Texas and UCLA.</p>