What would be my safe schools for phd in HCI/iSchool/CS?

[NLP2021]

Quick info about me

MS and BS in CS; graduate GPA 3.71; several publications; 4 projects with one NSF funded (I'm not a part of PIs); interested in HCI subfields and iSchool subfields.

I'm planning submit phd applications for HCI, iSchool and CS this fall. Recently, I got a feedback from someone saying schools like Northeastern would be my safe schools. When I searched its reputation and ranking, it's pretty high (20-30 in rankings).

The problem here is I'm totally in lost of what would be my safe schools because schools like ex) Princeton would be considered as a safe school if I strictly follow its ranking in HCI and iSchool. Does anyone is having a same problem with me? or if you figured out what's your safe school, do you mind sharing your list?

Edited September 16, 2022 by NLP2021