In general, you should have a budget.
You can find out from your parents what they can afford - and honestly, reduce that by $3-5K because college costs more than they say. So if they say they’re willing to spend $40K a year, that gives you a #. And then yes, UCLA would be out in that case. You can’t say - I’m willing to pay for a good school - most/all schools are good.
Secondly, if you’re unsure, figure out if you have financial need. The quickest way would be to go to an expensive school that meets 100% of need - like a Rice or Cornell and have your folks fill out the net price calculator. If it shows, you have to pay full cost. Then you have no need. If it says, you can only afford $25K a year and you’d get the rest in a grant - then you start looking at programs that meet 100% of need - if that makes sense.
So there’s what you truly can afford (need based aid) but then there’s what your parents want to afford - what they’re willing to spend.
In my daughter’s case, we got not a cent of need based aid. She got into a school that meets 100% of need (Washington & Lee) but got no money. The cost is $81K a year.
I was only willing to spend $40K a year. So why I could afford $81K a year (according to the school), it came off the list because I set an artificial barrier of $40K.
Typically public schools do not give OOS need aid - there are a few exceptions. But some give a lot of merit aid and they publish it - Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina as examples. In some cases you can figure the exact amount; in other cases just estimates.
Private colleges do offer need based aid - if you qualify - but the amount they award depends on the school. Some award both merit and need aid - but typically they are not stackable - so you get whichever is biggest.
Bottom line - before you apply to any school - even the dream school - you need to set financial parameters because as @Gumbymom says, why spend money or time applying somewhere you’re not going to go to.
It’s why my daughter didn’t apply to Georgetown or Cornell - no merit aid - so I told her up front, she’d be wasting time applying.