I’m in favor of switching “safety”, “likely”, “match” and “reach” to @AustenNut’s classifications:
- “extremely likely”
- “likely”
- “toss-up”
- “lower probability”
- “low probability”
(Perhaps with the addition of “guaranteed” for auto-admit schools).
I see a lot of applicants saying they aren’t sure how to classify their schools. AustenNut’s probability based classification might be easier to use, and removes the negative connotations sometimes associated with “safety”.