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What is the role of safety schools in an international student's final US college list?
Counsellor: Hi Susan. It is good to see you again. I hope your summer was enjoyable. Thanks for making an appointment like I asked. I have reviewed your final list of colleges and have a couple of thoughts I want to share.
Student: Cool!
Counsellor: The first thought is that your list seems fairly well thought out, balanced for the most part and ambitious. You have quite a few highly selective schools on your list.
Student: I think my grades are very good. I have a 3.88 GPA, I’m on the student council and I made the dance team again. Plus, I visited almost all those schools.
Counsellor: I know you spent time researching and I think the list consists of schools you would love to attend and schools that your parents hope to see you attend. The only thing that I see lacking on your list is a true safety school.
Student: A safety school? Do you think I won’t get in to any of my top choices? Do you mean that I’m not good enough to be accepted? My grades are good and so are my SAT scores and I know some people with lower SATs who got into some of those schools last year.
Counsellor: Susan, do you understand the purpose of having a safety school (or two) on your final list of colleges and universities? Let me ask you a question: How would you define a safety school for college admission?
Student: I think I know what a safety school is. It’s a school that is easy to get in to. But, I have a question for you: Does anyone ever really go to a ‘safety’ school and really like it? Because it really sounds boring - a safety school! I want to be excited about going to college. A ‘safety school’ is not exciting!
Counsellor: You raised a good point, Susan. I understand your concern about the term ‘safety school’. Perhaps the term is not the best phrase to be used in our conversation. What else can we call it?
Student: Well, all I know about what a ‘safety’might be is that it is a school that you are interested in but maybe one that is not so selective. Is that right?
Counsellor: Pretty close. Ok, so why don’t we call it a school of interest for lack of a better term? Can we live with that for a while?
Student: OK. Even ‘school of interest’ sounds better than safety school. And, maybe there wouldn’t be as much pressure to be admitted to a school of interest. My Dad says that I could never make the dance team at Princeton even if I got in. But, I really want to be a lawyer and everyone says you have to go to Princeton to become a successful lawyer.
Counsellor: Everyone but me, Susan. I happen to know a number of really good schools where you could make the dance team, study to become a lawyer and receive a wonderful education. And, I can almost guarantee that you will be admitted and perhaps receive a merit scholarship. Do you know what I call those schools, Susan?
Student: No, but I am interested. What are they called?
Counsellor: I call them ‘safety schools’!
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Any experienced college counsellor would advise each senior to select a safety school or two. Every high school senior applying to college or university is made to understand that advice on one level. However, it is striking that so few students and parents really appreciate the role that the safety school choice plays in college admission and placement. What exactly is a safety school and why is it so darn hard to pick a good one?
It is the second or third month of your senior year and we assume that you spent six months researching, studying, perhaps visiting and finally deciding on a final list of colleges and universities. That list, let’s say, totals ten schools. You have done your homework, checked out the website, downloaded the applications, consulted with your parents and wrote to each school to express your interest and desire to apply. Now you are ready to discuss that final list with your college counsellor or university advisor.
What results is a conversation much like the one between Susan and her counsellor. Most of those ten schools are very attractive, well-located, highly ranked, perfectly suited and extremely selective. This is particularly the case with international students. However, a smart applicant also includes on that final list a couple of schools that are slightly less competitive and still very appealing. Those schools are a good ‘fit’ and perfectly suited to that particular student. The highly selective schools on the list accept less that 15% percent of their annual applicant pool and it has been that way for the past ten years. The less selective schools on this student’s final list accept closer to 50% of their applicants. That makes those schools ‘safeties’ for many international students.
But, how many international students applying to colleges and universities in the US think this way? Few! International applicants to US colleges and universities are either convinced or persuaded that their chances are good and they still expect to be accepted?
There in lays one of the most serious problems in international college counselling. International students and parents needs to understand and accept the new reality. That reality clearly suggests that as much work needs to go into selecting a safety school as it does in doing the easy thing, selecting a well-known, prestigious college that accepts less than ten percent of its extremely gifted, talented, diverse and fortunate applicants.
Written by Jack Murphy (2011)
www.PossibilityU.com
