<p>Zoosermom.
What you did sounded reasonable to me. She’s welcome to apply where she wants, but you’ve made it clear how much you’re willing to pay for her education.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you also put it down in writing and give it to your daughter. As part of that, also write down that she is welcome to look for outside scholarship $. You even can steer her to CC, her GC’s office and to fastweb.com.</p>
<p>In her heart of hearts, your D may think that you’ll chip in more if she gets an acceptance to her dream school that costs more than you’ve promised to pay. By your writing down what you’re willing to pay, that will clearly put the ball in her court in terms of her figuring out how to make any of her expensive dreams come true.</p>