Actually, if more schools focused on “level of applicant’s interest”, then true safeties would be harder to find, so that more students would get shut out, or students would apply to more match schools (increasing the application/admission craziness) hoping to avoid a shut out, since they may not be able to find any true safeties. Also, not every student who ranks a school high knows that s/he may have to play the “level of applicant’s interest” game, or does things that the school uses as indicators of such.