I know students with this mindset. They will apply to high reach schools such as MIT or Stanford - usually not Ivies as they are for the most part students who, due to their practicality, are apt to major in STEM. They can justify the cost/benefit of some top reach schools but their next set of schools will often be out of state publics such as Georgia Tech or UIUC along with in state publics. I see some posters on this forum with similar lists which are often picked apart as having a list of schools with little in common based on school type/size/location etc - except there is a commonality and that’s something akin to value per dollar. These students would never even think to ask their parents to pay for a school which they don’t view as worth the value. They would be far more likely to attend a local in state than an 80k private that seems to offer not much value. As for value, it’s hard to define but it’s not prestige hence the lack of Ivies. It’s more whether the brand is worth the cost. Hard to explain but most would agree that CMU or Rice might be worth the value depending on the student and their interest while for that same student Yale or Harvard may not be.