Here’s a summary post of how things went for our son’s apps, in case it’s helpful for others.
Stats:
GPA: 3.99UW/4.5W
SAT: 1510 (760 V / 750 M)
Rank: top 3% at good, large public in Midwest
APs: Chem, German, English lang, Calc BC, Physics I, Physics C; comp sci at CC
ECs: not many, mostly academic teams, band, and jobs
Applied undeclared within engineering where allowed, applied MechE where undecided engineering wasn’t an option.
Essays: He’s a good writer but struggled HARD to write about himself. He spent way more time thinking about what he might write about than he did actually writing. He appreciated help with understanding the purpose of the essays and with brainstorming topics. That was the crux. It was smart to make him start that process early since it took several weeks to percolate. The actual writing was quick and easy for him. I thought his common app essay was good. Everyone who read it laughed out loud. It was about some unusual hobbies he has and how they reflect his curiosity and investment in obscure and “useless” details. He only had ~10 short supplementals, and they were at least decent.
LORs: He asked a couple of veteran teachers that (coincidentally) most students dislike, but that he likes. He did well in their challenging classes (AP chem and honors precalc). He filled out the brag sheets for them and I’m guessing they were fine letters.
Budget etc: He was chasing big merit due to our small budget. Budget was $20K at time of apps, but later increased to $30K. We got need-based aid at 5 schools; the rest got near our EFC with merit aid. He was uninterested in applying to fancy schools. Few preferences overall, other than avoiding hot sunny climate. Applied to lots of schools due to the unpredictability of TE awards. Applied to honors at several schools, accepted to all. Applied EA where offered; all apps submitted mid-Oct regardless (highly recommend).
TE schools: ($ is cost of tuition & fees + room & board, less aid)
• CWRU: EA deferred to RD, then waitlisted (COA estimate $22K, declined WL spot)
• MSOE: admit, withdrew TE app
• RIT: admit, TE awarded ($28K)
• Rose-Hulman: admit, TE waitlisted then awarded ($28K)
• Syracuse: admit, TE awarded + stacked merit to full tuition ($18K) 
ATTENDING
• Dayton: admit, TE denied but good merit ($27K)
• Delaware: admit, TE waitlisted then awarded ($15K)
• Pitt: admit, TE denied but good merit ($30K)
• WPI: admit, TE denied ($36K)
Non-TE schools:
• Purdue (in-state): admit, no merit ($24K)
• U of Louisville: admit, merit ($19K)
• U of Missouri: admit, merit ($18K)
• A couple other schools related to parent employers: admit
He could have applied to fewer schools, but the extra apps were easy. He’d said for years “I’ll just go to Purdue” but had a big change of heart in August. Campus visits were crucial. His short list surprised us: Purdue, Mizzou, Louisville, and Syracuse. The Delaware award came in too late to fully evaluate, so he declined the same day. The goal was for him to have several good choices within budget and he had a ton (yay).
Quite uncharacteristically for him, he based his final choice on his gut feelings/vibes. Once he decided on that strategy, he went from being frazzled to peaceful about choosing. He thought the decision would be tough, but he had a month to think about it and chose Syracuse without much difficulty (he’d been leaning that way). However, he did want to sit down and deliberate specific pros and cons and data in detail for that last discussion. That helped him feel comfortable with his choice.
We had no idea how wacky things had gotten with college admissions until last spring when I started reading CC. I’m sure our son would have had satisfactory offers regardless (parent employers), but CC helped us come up with a fantastic list and he had an abundance of exciting choices. It was also a confidence boost for him to get so many acceptances and nice offers. Thanks to CC for so much!