<p>How can anyone believe that a top 20 school is a safety school? Rice received over 12,000 applications for about 850 slots. It has never been “easier to get into” than other top 20 schools. Top 20 schools have the luxury, and the extreme difficulty, of choosing a select group of students out of thousands of highly qualified students. My D got into Rice, Brown, Yale, Duke, WashU, but not Princeton, and waitlisted at Northwestern. Each school is looking to put together the most diverse group of students possible, across all dimensions: geographic, socio-economic, ethnic, international, artists, engineers, athletes… You cannot compare admissions decisions. They each have different needs in the end. You may be exactly what WashU is looking for, but Vandy may already have 3 of you. All you can do is put together the strongest application possible and take full advantage of whatever college you attend.</p>