<p>Why does it matter if it was the “safety” school pick - it is a pick, and might be the choice if it was compelling financially. Did the op say it was the “financial safety”? I didn’t see that. My ds and every one of my dds picked and will be picking based on lowest cost - safety or reach. Pitt was not a financial safety but it did present the best bottom line due to the merit. You don’t know of people who apply with good stats assuming they will get merit from Pitt? The sole reason Pitt hit our radar during search was because there were people from the previous year with great merit from Pitt.</p>