Not necessarily true. If his list is top heavy, he might not get accepted. If the schools don’t offer merit aid, and you don’t qualify for need based…the schools could be unaffordable.
The important thing is which 10 schools are ON the list.
You are looking for a net price of $5000 a year…this means you are looking for $55,000 a year in aid for a school,that costs $60,000. You are looking for $25,000 in aid for a school that costs $30,000. And you are looking for,these numbers in merit awards.
You need to be very realistic about your ability to pay. As long as you and your child are willing to walk away from schools that don’t give you sufficient money…fine. But it can be a tough time for a student to get accepted, and then find out that the family can’t afford to send them to the college. For example, even with a full tuition award at BU, you would still need to pay $12,000 a year, or more in room, board, and fees costs. That is more than double your $5000 desired net cost.