By Zoe Frances Huber
During these trying times, many things compete for our focus, but for students looking to pursue higher education; the college decision is an ever-present stressor. This process requires much research, and an important aspect to consider is your safety school. A safety school is a college you can rely on acceptance from because you have exceeded the given requirements of a first-year student. The purpose of having a safety net such as this is if you don't get admitted to your top-choice schools, you will have something to fall back on. Picking out safety schools may be a confusing process that spurs many questions such as, “How do I pick a safety school, and how do I know if I meet that school’s requirements?”
Preferring a school that you would like to go to is the first step in identifying a safe school since no one wants to go to a school that doesn't fit their needs. To pick a school such as this you must meet the following criteria: you should be confident that you have an 80% chance of getting accepted, and you should be above the 75th percentile in SAT or ACT scores. Also, you should reflect on that particular college’s acceptance rate as no university with a 15% or lower acceptance rate should be a consideration for your safety school options. You cannot ensure that you have a shoo-in opportunity of being admitted if the school you’re applying to is too competitive. Furthermore, you can make sure you are picking the right school for yourself by entering the name of the school into PrepScholar’s admissions requirements section on a web browser. Prepscholar is an online calculator where you can discover what percent chance you have of getting into a specific school that you’re searching for.
The number of safety schools you should apply to is personal to you, but of all the places you apply to, about one-third of them should be safety schools. Schools within proportional reach should be another one-third of the pool of choices you apply to, and the remainder should be match schools. These schools are schools that meet your academic level and expertise. You want to make sure you have many options to pick from during the college application and decision process. With all these schools together you can make sure that you will get into one school that you truly love.
With the college decision process sneaking up on many students, we can move boldly with the proper knowledge on how to find certain schools that we can rely on for acceptance. By making sure we fit the proper guidelines overall for schools with different acceptance rates, we can ensure our futures are bright. Remember, whether or not you get into your dream school or a secondary pick, your school doesn’t define you. With the proper attitude and skills, your future will be big.
Resources:
Berkman, Justin. “What is a Safety School? How Should You Choose Yours?” What is a Safety School? How Should You Choose Yours?, PrepScholar, 29 09 2019, https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-a-safety-school. Accessed 2 11 2020.
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