<p>Excellent idea^^ above. If, however, that approach doe not work, you can assume your son will succeed in life, despite a name-brand college. He will most likely get excellent grades at his college, get into a great master’s program, or have the option of a top professional program. I see many seniors at Ivies struggle to be in the top 10 or 20 % of their class, as the competition is fierce. Many of the top 10%ers were careful to only enroll in (somewhat) easy A classes or majors, and avoid upper level grad courses to maintain a pristine GPA. (Not all, there are certainly many pure geniuses who challenged themselves.)</p>
<p>But, my point is that your son can have a happy, successful college career then, as a graduate, reach for a more prestigious program if he desires.</p>