<p>I don’t think the OP’s premise is about not applying to a particular school for fear of rejection. I took it to be about having one school being the one and only or about Ivies being the only ones worth getting into.</p>
<p>I got taken to task several years ago when I failed to express sufficient sympathy for a young woman who was still depressed in mid-May about her failure to be admitted into “any of the Ivies to which she’d applied” and having to “settle for choosing between Wellesley, Chicago and Rice.” I can categorically say that had my S had to choose between Chicago and Rice, he would not be feeling that he had to “settle” for either or go into a blue funk for six weeks or more. They are great schools, as good as HYPSM and as worthy as being included in a group of dream schools.</p>