First case - I agree with groundwork. The kid applied, and it was a contender. She did the work, I can see wanting to see it out.
My daughter has talked about applying somewhere “just to see”. In her case, she goes to school with a lot of 1%ers who can easily pay full freight. It makes her feel a bit “less than” that she’s a better student than some of them and can’t just apply where ever she wants. I don’t see it ending well, so don’t encourage it at all. Either she doesn’t get in and feels like crap. Or gets in and can’t go, and feels like crap!