<p>^YES, I feel sorta cheated. After reading the prompts from years past, when it finally becomes to my turn to apply, we get bleargh prompts. </p>
<p>Anyway to OP, if there really are people who regard Chicago as their safety, I think it would be unfortunate if they were to get in and choose to attend. Besides warm weather, arrogance is another thing for which UChicago will have no room.</p>
<p>If you’re applying to Chicago as a safety, don’t bother applying. There’s so many people out there who actually want to come here. And admissions can tell if you’re applying just because this is a “good” school and when you get that defer/reject letter, your ego will be crushed into an infinite number of pieces. (Actually because Michigan is the home of many Ivy rejects, some people who have gone through this ordeal still think they’re the bomb, which is really sad, because you’d think they would be a bit more humble)</p>
<p>I don’t get why safety has to mean that someone doesn’t “actually want to come.” I don’t at all consider Chicago a safety, but I do consider it “more safe” or perhaps “less of a reach” than some. That doesn’t mean that I don’t absolutely love UChicago, that I don’t get a bit happier when I see mail from the school, that I didn’t freak out about getting to go visit it, and that I couldn’t stop blathering on and on about it afterwards. I wrote my UChicago essay first, back in August, because I was ridiculously excited. And now, with the EA deadline approaching, I care more about my Chicago essay than any of my others. Considering it more safe than some others doesn’t put a damper on any of my feelings for the school.
I also don’t see why considering a school as “safer” has to mean that one is arrogant. Of course, the one person I do know who applied to UofC as a safety was incredibly arrogant and thought he was guaranteed admission to Harvard by birthright. So maybe there’s a correlation, but not necessarily a causation ;).</p>
<p>millancad,</p>
<p>“safety school” does not imply you don’t want to come, although that is often the case, but it does mean the school is far down your preference list.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, any comment like it is “less of a reach” for UofC is an invitation for disappointment, even more so this year with a new admissions team. Hint: it is not just the essay prompts that have changed. </p>
<p>The truth is that admissions decisions to top unis has been capricious for years. I know of one guy that was rejected by every ivy he applied to (6, I believe), and Stanford, yet went on to win a Rhodes Scholarship. His high school record was excellent etc. etc. yet nada. </p>
<p>So, parsing the fine points of “this place is a tad easier than x” is just not useful use of time. Published demographic information (e.g. GPA, SAT distribution, yield, admission rate etc.) only help to some degree in putting schools in broad categories, and don’t tell anything about the other factors that play a big role in decisions.</p>
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<p>Ahh. Okay. I had never know that was part of the definition of safety school on CC. That’s caused me a bit of confusion in the past.</p>