<p>Dad2, I think it’s great that you are looking at the high end possibilities so you know what is needed to get the foot in the door when the time comes. What I am saying is that you should also look at the lesser known possibilities as well, and they require more time and effort, as there is not as much info out there on them.<br>
As for your son, since you now know what schools like Duke and Wash U expect in terms of contribution from you, looking at schools with merit money is going to be a goal for you. I just want to comment that both Duke and Wash U are in the rare category of being top dog schools that also give merit awards, albeit to the most highly desired students. Many schools like HPY do not give a dime for merit. You get need only, and you now have an idea how need is defined. To get substantial merit money, you need to look at schools that have it and will give it out. There are threads out there that list those schools. You may not want to apply to schools that give need monies only, and need to look at how many merit awards a school gives out.
I was just answering to a thread about UPitt. The question was how hard it is to get a full tuition scholarship there. My impression is that it is a school that does give generous awards to more kids than most. Those are the type of schools you may want to examine. A school like BC with a generous tuition paid award is great, but only 25 or so are given each year, and those kids who get them are HPY material. The chances of getting that money is very slim. There are some schools like Arizona or Oklahoma where if you qualify stat wise, it is pretty much automatic what you get. The whole idea when going for merit money is to diversify the apps so you get different odds there with some good and sure ones to balance the lottery tickets.</p>