<p>millancad,</p>
<p>“safety school” does not imply you don’t want to come, although that is often the case, but it does mean the school is far down your preference list.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, any comment like it is “less of a reach” for UofC is an invitation for disappointment, even more so this year with a new admissions team. Hint: it is not just the essay prompts that have changed. </p>
<p>The truth is that admissions decisions to top unis has been capricious for years. I know of one guy that was rejected by every ivy he applied to (6, I believe), and Stanford, yet went on to win a Rhodes Scholarship. His high school record was excellent etc. etc. yet nada. </p>
<p>So, parsing the fine points of “this place is a tad easier than x” is just not useful use of time. Published demographic information (e.g. GPA, SAT distribution, yield, admission rate etc.) only help to some degree in putting schools in broad categories, and don’t tell anything about the other factors that play a big role in decisions.</p>