Agree. Or my favorite- “my budget will depend on where I get in” which is reasonable IMHO. But fifty posts later it turns out the the family will pay for Stanford or Harvard; anything else needs a “full ride” (including colleges which are need only for a family with zero need).
Or a senior wondering if it’s hard to get into West Point now that the family has clarified that there is zero money for college except for grandma’s “college fund” which now turns out to have 5K in it spread among three grandchildren.