My DS always knew that he was applying to very selective schools (small shot at getting in) we could NOT afford at full price. We are also upper middle class so our income looks “fine” but paying 55K was not possible. One school worked out for acceptance and aid. If not, he would have gone to public HS. We would not have paid to attend a local private HS (the usual small city catholic HS in New England). IMO getting into a Lawrenceville (not his school) opens doors and opportunity. St Patrick Day School for 18K a year in Portland Maine (fictional) is not a wise investment because our local public HS is excellent and that is not the case for all. So for us aid was close to everything.