Okay, one could turn down full-pay at Harvard and go to Duke with merit. Maybe there is elite and there is ‘elite’. Don’t know that I’d pin my college hopes on getting merit from a tip-top school, though.
I give the parents some credit in considering college costs with their retirement income. Doubt they’ll be living in OP’s basement.
To everyone’s relief, I am done posting on this thread. Good luck to OP.