<p>I think part of it’s to see whether Rice is a reach school for you or not…and whether they should give you merit aid to lure you away from Ivies, if you applied to Ivies. </p>
<p>There’s nothing to say you need to be completely honest about every single school you applied to. I know it sounds weird but I only listed a few schools I applied to, most of which were on the same level as Rice (with a few Ivies thrown in there) and things worked out, admissions-wise and finances-wise.</p>