<p>Slipper, I don’t think anybody on this side of the moat is talking about a case like yours, where ONE or TWO criteria unexpectedly change. That happens. Or you change your intended major at the last minute. Things like that are going to happen…either before you enroll or after. If you’re lucky, your match and safety colleges will have you covered for the change in criteria. If not, you transfer or wait a year and apply. I think what the OP was questioning was scenarios like below where the safeties are just not even close to what the applicant wants, and which 3 or 4 or all criteria would have to change in order for them to be even OK (safeties are exaggerated to make a point–it’s called “hyperbole”):</p>
<p>Guy has 4.0 GPA and wants to study chemical engineering and minor in history at elite college near a big city.</p>
<p>WANTS TO GO TO BUT WAS REJECTED BY: MIT, Berkeley, Northwestern.</p>
<p>IS DEPRESSED BECAUSE SAFETIES HE APPLIED TO ARE: UNLV (father’s bookie went there), Cape Cod Community College (legacy), and Mississippi State (decent in MECHANICAL engineering).</p>
<p>WE’RE SAYING HE SHOULD HAVE APPLIED TO: Purdue (not elite or near big city, but large with good sports and great engineering and has history); Boston U (quasi-elite, IN big city); RPI (elite-ish, in smallish city).</p>
<p>Female, 3.6 GPA, wants to study English or Pre-med on beautiful, nurturing campus in warm-weather location.</p>
<p>WANTED TO GO TO BUT WAS REJECTED BY: Emory, Pomona, Duke.</p>
<p>DEPRESSED BECAUSE AS SAFETIES SHE PICKED: U of Copenhagen (doesn’t speak a word of Danish–just wanted to see if she could get in); NYU (everybody she knows applied there); U of South Florida (huge and not particularly beautiful…but it’s warm!).</p>
<p>WHERE WE’RE SAYING SHE SHOULD HAVE APPLIED FOR SAFETIES: U of Miami (medium-sized, but warm and beautiful); Gettysburgh (not warm, but at least it’s nurturing and beautiful); U of GA (honors) (warm and beautiful–honors gives it a nurturing feel).</p>