Interesting idea. I agree that so many applications are skewing results. There are threads here with “convince me why I should take top 10 school A over top 10 school B or C”. Or my favorite… “Tell me about school X. I just got in and now need help to figure out if it has what I want” We also can read today “I was denied by dream schools X and Y but I did get the lesser school M, N. O, P and Z, problem is I would never go to any of those” All variations of things I have read in the past few days. Why are kids applying when they know nothing about a school? Why are they applying if they will never consider going? these questions are insane at this point in the game.
Anyway, to the question at hand of limiting apps, people will always find a loophole to cheat the system. There will always be someone who has a special situation that exempts their children from staying within the parameters thus making it even more unfair to the typical family who plays by the stated rules and lets the chips fall where they may.