Is it worth it to apply to schools you can't afford?

[ucbalumnus]

@NEPatsGirl

The only time its worth applying to a school you can’t afford is if its a safety. My D attends a school I specifically told her not to bother applying to because the NPC put it way out of reach. In the end, they offered her a fantastic package, some here call it preferential packaging, because there was something about her they wanted in their class profile.

It was not a safety if it was unaffordable. At the time of application, that school should have been considered a reach to get the needed merit scholarship or preferential packaging, since there was no way to know competitive such merit scholarships or preferential packaging was. Obviously, reach does not mean impossible, and she was one of those who was successful in getting an affordable offer out of that reach (of course, once the affordable offer is in hand, then it becomes a safety).