<p>"However, don’t forget that a safety must also be safe from a cost point of view and must otherwise be a school you are willing to go to (has the major(s) you are interested in, etc.). "</p>
<p>This is an important point: the safeties should be schools where you want to go and think that you might be happy. I have seen people who pick a safety, get rejected from their matches and then realise that they don’t really want to go to the safeties. For example, I know someone who wanted to go to Georgetown so applied to GWU and American as safeties. When Georgetown turned him down, he decided that he really did not like GW or AU (other than the fact that they were also in DC) and ended up having to take a gap year and starting over. (There’s nothing wrong with GW or AU, he just did not want to attend either). Good luck, Jackuk</p>