Seek Financial Aid for all colleges or just some?

Correct, not altruistic. Schools want the best students they can afford, and schools with huge endowments can easily afford to be truly need-blind in order to get some of those “best” (by their definitions) non-wealthy students. Schools with more modest endowments can be truly need-blind until the aid budget is depleted, to get those students.

So, Sportmom, do ask for aid at every school. Also note that need-blind doesn’t help if the school doesn’t meet full need (NYU for example). And run the Net Price Caluculator for each school to see if there’s a good chance you can afford it.