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It is reasonable for the OP to explore options, but I think he’s still in the grips of magical/wishful thinking. Somehow he is going to uncover a public with an Honors college that he can afford with 12.5K/yr from his parents plus what he can contribute & borrow. Maybe such a beast exists, but the OP ought to spend time looking at what he can do at U of Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Once he has his test scores, he’ll know. </p>
<p>We found plenty of such options- great residential honors colleges at public unis. We are paying less than 2/3rds that for D, no loans, and she has a private suite with private bath in her dorm and what must be the priciest board in the country. Otherwise it would be just a couple thousand. </p>
<p>And we kept UMadison in the pocket as one of the safeties, just in case, as I would guess OP will do. But he can speak for himself better than I can.</p>
<p>The problem is that Wisconsin is just beyond the outer limits of affordability for the OP, so it is not that great a safety. The OP’s parents are willing to pay $12,500, which would leave the OP to come up with another $12,500 for Wisconsin. The OP’s parents are wealthy enough to prevent the OP from getting any need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>When doing the college search, the safety should be the first school to be found for the application list. Magical/wishful thinking won’t necessarily produce an affordable admission in April.</p>