My son was considering applying to Evergreen State (open admissions) as a “super-safety,” but decided that Guilford and Eckerd were safe enough. Both accepted him (as did Tulane and Willamette) well before the general application deadlines for other colleges, and so he didn’t need a super-safety. I recommend finding match and safe schools with rolling and/or non-binding early admissions. You should hear from at least one of them before December 31st, and most ultra-safe colleges have later deadlines.