My D was in HC at USC. Business and premed prep majors are popular but she had several engineering and CS friends. Two now in good phd programs, one with REU at Harvard and major research experience.
I get your feelings but you’re right that your not likely to get money from schools like Duke. As a sc mom I will tell you that walking away from instate money like palmetto fellow is hard to justify when you see these kids in USC honors do amazing things. Work hard for top test scores and try to be good enough for Carolina scholar or better yet new Stamps. Frankly palmetto plus Leiber if you’re NMF basically would leave you around only 5k (or less) and that’s automatic with no other merit. Hard to beat.
Clemson would also be a great choice and was recently ranked very highly in getting students internships and jobs.
Research scholarship opportunities at places like Ga tech and Duke and go for it. Just don’t be suprised when money is issue.