When I ran NPC at ivies and even Duke and U Chicago the result was less than Our state school.
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We are under the 150, but over 65. Cost of living and incomes are lower here.
Not to go too deep into specific schools yet - but will throw out University of Utah. Affordable, great honors program and becoming more and more popular with kids from the Western States. Could be an ideal safety that would be nice to attend too.
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So for income of $100k, for instance, cost at Harvard would be $10k. A state university might have merit aid. He can apply and then you can compare.
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Unless he’s not comfortable going so far from home, I’d chase the money applying to the places he’s interested in (that are good with money) and see what happens keeping the state school in reserve in case the others don’t come through. There are a lot of really terrific schools out there and he ought to be an attractive applicant.
Noting though, he doesn’t have to go away to be successful. If he doesn’t want to go to any of those or doesn’t get in to any of them your state school (or another low cost school) can work just fine and he’d likely love it there too. Most kids love where they go. But in your case with those schools looking like they will be less expensive and more kids coming to college age in the future, I’d see if he could snag a spot. Browse through any that are good with money, running the NPC, seeing what they offer, and then select some to apply to later this summer (he selects too, of course, not just parents).
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That’s close to where we’re at.
When do the applications open up? I’m hoping he has most of this done by the end of summer since he is taking another full load of AP classes next year and xc “officially”starts mid August.
It will depend upon the school. Many use the Common App, but some do not. The Common App has their essay prompts for 21/22 released already for students to be thinking about it when they want to from now to application submitting time. I didn’t look to see if they have dates yet for when it all starts this year.
Here’s their link for first time applicants:
And the essay prompts:
But some schools don’t use the Common App, so each one of those will need to be looked at individually. At our school, kids sometimes have acceptances to less selective rolling admissions schools when we start in August. Many schools don’t release decisions until much later though. You want to be early for merit aid places. A deadline for application submission often comes later than deadlines for scholarships.
My guys were finished applying to places by Thanksgiving (my deadline). You thought you were “late” in your OP. Nah, at our school “late” are those seniors who come by the guidance office in March - May and say, “I want to go to college. How can I apply to X?” You’re right on time to be starting the process, esp for educating yourself.
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Thanks, lots to learn
@MomofNPCC, I know it’s hard to gauge advice on internet forums, so I’m just popping in to say that you have some of CC’s best posters giving you advice!. By best, I mean they have been around for multiple admissions cycles, consistently aim to be helpful and constructive, have a deep knowledge base, and- most importantly- their comments are always fact & experience based, and they are upfront about it when they are speculating or out of their depth. They won’t 100% agree with each other- but their differences will be useful, giving you a better sense of the big picture and the many variables inherent in this process.
Looking forward to following your journey 
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Then you are in exactly the position where you want him to apply, as his reaches, to top schools that offer decent financial aid. He should consider, over the summer, whether he wants to apply early action to one of these top schools. He may also need to apply early to flagship state U’s and certain other private schools (regular decision on the other private schools, possibly), because some of them require that one apply early (usually by Nov 1) in order to be considered for merit aid. Then he should have his list of other private schools which do not require applications before the regular decision deadline, and would probably spend December vacation getting those buffed before sending them out, assuming Jan 1 or Jan 15 deadlines, if he doesn’t get into his first choice early action school with wonderful financial aid.
This is what we did. Kid applied early action to Harvard, and to a few flagship state U’s. He applied regular decision to at least one other private school that he had to submit the application by Nov 1 in order to be considered for merit aid. He had a couple of other private schools that he would have applied to if he hadn’t gotten into his first choice early action, but decided to not submit those applications.
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OP- I wish I could tell you that my nagging resulted in the kids getting their essays done over the summer. That was not to be. But even with a heavy course load, EC’s, and all the rest of senior year they managed to get it all done. My kid who is a gifted writer was also a procrastinator- terrible combination.
It will be fine, even if not done on your timetable. Kids like the adrenalin rush of pushing “send” right up to the wire, apparently!
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This. That’s why I think guidance counselors, private schools etc are really overrated…you can get into great colleges with neither (my kids did)…do the research (folks here will help), come up with, say, 10 schools (sure bets to reaches) and – if possible – do a few tours to better understand the sell vs. the reality.
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Same!
Me all summer: Get your essays done or at least mostly done now.
Kid during summer: I have time. They won’t take that long.
Me: Longer than you think. Ask your sister.
Four months later…
Kid: OMG these essays are killing me. They take so long and there’s so.many.of.them. I should have done this over the summer! 
Me: Tried to tell ya.
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Word of caution about essays. D also wanted to be done by the end of the summer before school and activities started. We totally didn’t realize that some honors programs have separate invites with additional essays. Same with some scholarships. So, don’t be surprised if there are still a handful of essays that have to be done during the Fall. Just hoping to help manage the expectations.
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We know so little about this student - wondering why the immediate reaction is to apply to an Ivy? Understood that they have the $ to be very generous, but would he want to go just because he can? Before a list is made, I would hope more is done to really determine fit. What about California or Texas? Missouri or Illinois?
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My guess is all of these would come in unaffordable, but the OP can check if they wish. They need 20K or less (preferably less) and the student appears to have high GPA, stats, and a geographical hook (for the schools which look for it). Some schools are really good with aid - hence the suggestions (when we think the student has a chance to be accepted).
Of course the OP and her son will be looking at the schools to see if they feel they fit. We’re starting the search with affordability, because that’s how many need to handle the college search. Affordable, then consider options.
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Would think Stanford, Rice, Claremont colleges etc could meet need. My larger point is to consider fit, along with price.
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Gotcha - I thought you were meaning public schools in those states. I agree that those are some to check into as well - at least run NPC’s on them. They’re good schools.
What an amazing post! Thank you! I feel like I am talking to a bunch of helpful Guidance counselors from all over.
At one point I came across the WUE program and looked at places like ASU, but it only allowed it on the outer locations and not the main one in Tempe. So for that (I have a friend who lives in AZ w kids at Barrett) he’d have to apply oos and see if they wanted him enough to give enough aid.
I have learned a lot from you and everyone about the books and best sites to look at, great questions to help him narrow this down and timelines. I don’t feel so alone. Most of my friends have kids that are younger and don’t know any of this yet.
We’ll pay for the apps. We don’t qualify for aid on that. We own a small business that has been affected by Covid, but have managed to stay afloat without having to lay off any of our 10 employees. Hoping that summer picks up (it should).
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