Regarding the fact that the ACT with writing is being offered in your area next month, your student really doesn’t need to sign up for writing portion.
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Thank you. Example 1 is more like us. Not a food though 
We co-own with his sister a 1 shop Automotive business that his father started in the 70’s. The land is leased.
We make enough to get by and Covid has hit us hard but government programs have been immensely helpful in us not having to lay off any of our employees (less than 10). Not as bad as it was for so many because we were an essential business, but definitely not a good year for us. We are hopeful that it will pick up when the weather warms up and people start getting out more.
Also, my health over the last 7 years led to a major drain of personal assets. I am a leukemia survivor who had a bone marrow transplant oos followed by years of out of state graft vs host treatment (medical travel adds up to a lot). I finished that in 2019, but my meds max out my deductible every year.
Be aware that colleges that promise to “meet need” typically have their own definition of EFC and “need” that is not necessarily the same as what FAFSA EFC may suggest.
It is best to use the net price calculator on each college’s web site to get an estimate specific to that college. Note: if the parents are divorced, or the parent finances have income and assets from self-employment, small business, rentals, etc. (other than mainly typical W-2 income and small amounts of ordinary interest and investment income), then doing net price calculators can be more complicated, and some colleges’ net price calculators are less well matched to their actual financial aid practices in these cases.
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Note that, for a college where a merit scholarship is necessary for affordability, the reach/match/likely/safety assessment must be based on the merit scholarship, not admission.
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The CSS has a question about medical expenses. Those are not considered “choices” (in that buying a Honda v. a Jeep is a choice) and are thus not treated the same by most “super generous” colleges’ formulas.
Enter your info (full NPC, not the “quick” one) at Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Williams, and Swarthmore, for a broad swath of types of super generous schools with different formulas when it comes to property, equity, etc, etc. You’ll notice whether you end up with similar numbers or widely different ones.
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In our experience the schools like Harvard (sorry @Southoftheriver !!) were kind of holistic about financial aid as well. I mean, they looked at the whole picture. The CSS Profile has a special circumstances section and you can also communicate with the financial aid officer you are assigned. The leukemia and medical expenses will be included in their deliberations. And not all small business owners have inadequate financial aid.
When my kids got accepted at schools, the first thing I did was talk to the financial aid office. I told the office with my first that I did not want him to come to love the school and then have to leave. They were very helpful.
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I apologize if I missed it but I’m surprised no one has referred the OP to this thread:
(not sure if that will translate correctly, but search the site for “advice in merit aid”, and the poster’s name starts with “Kevin”)
I know all kids are different, but seems like there are a lot of similarities here.
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I would love to see your list of happiness students!