Re #14: A LAC selection could add a missing element if the OP would like a purely undergraduate focused environment. That’s up to him or her. That said, my primary comments were on the OP’s original list, which appears to have been thoughtfully composed. One of Darude’s questions is, “Does this seem like a good bunch of colleges?” My personal answer to that is yes. If a statistically-based, “lock” type admissions safety were to be added, that’s not something I would have any reason to recommend against.