In the abstract it may be psychologically helpful to think of things that way, but in reality it doesn’t work that way. Again, just do the math. If what you’re saying were true then you could effectively guarantee yourself admission to “at least one” of the schools simply by applying to enough of them. It’s really not the case. Check the various Results threads from each M10 and see how many kids have nothing but WL and Rejections from 5, 8, 10 schools, all highly rejective.
And that says nothing about what @westernNY1 rightly mentions.
ETA: and to speak directly to the idea of “a qualified candidate” - most AOs at these schools would tell you that they could admit an entire class 2 or 3 times over from a given year’s applicant pool with no fall off at all in academics, arts, athletics, etc. It would simply be a “different” class. Grades, scores, ECs, etc. are table stakes these days.
This thread may be helpful:
Another edit to add: I am not trying to be discouraging! In fact to the contrary - I’m trying to encourage applicants to do what they can to increase their chances of acceptance in a meaningful way 