<p>I don’t get why safety has to mean that someone doesn’t “actually want to come.” I don’t at all consider Chicago a safety, but I do consider it “more safe” or perhaps “less of a reach” than some. That doesn’t mean that I don’t absolutely love UChicago, that I don’t get a bit happier when I see mail from the school, that I didn’t freak out about getting to go visit it, and that I couldn’t stop blathering on and on about it afterwards. I wrote my UChicago essay first, back in August, because I was ridiculously excited. And now, with the EA deadline approaching, I care more about my Chicago essay than any of my others. Considering it more safe than some others doesn’t put a damper on any of my feelings for the school.
I also don’t see why considering a school as “safer” has to mean that one is arrogant. Of course, the one person I do know who applied to UofC as a safety was incredibly arrogant and thought he was guaranteed admission to Harvard by birthright. So maybe there’s a correlation, but not necessarily a causation ;).</p>