<p>If you don’t have local options, it would not be an advantage to limit applications, imo. The OP said the child was already in a satisfactory school - so that’s the safety, I presume the financial safety as well.</p>
<p>One of the points the college admissions forums make is that a safety school should also be a financial safety. It is less transparent for private secondary schools in terms of aid, but there is some info out there. For example, look at the average award and the income levels of the families getting awards. Extrapolate as to whether this will fit. I have to say that our private day school sent a letter that said that few awards went to students who entered in 2009, and that there is a similar expectation for this year. Previously they gave more. </p>
<p>Naturally, one reason the “need blind” schools get so many applications requesting aid is that they do give a lot of aid. The qualifications are somewhat more transparent in terms of who on the low end can expect aid. If it is extremely desirable to find a school, then the net should be cast as widely as practical under the family’s circumstances (“fit”, geographic area, availability of needed aid). If it is just a question of getting somewhere preferred to the current situation, then maybe it is not so necessary to find many schools that are candidates for the child.</p>