<p>Sorry, one MORE thing. I just noticed that you said his college list will be smaller next year. I would NOT advise that. I think I read he had seven colleges on his list, which is about as small as he should go considering he had several Ivies on the list I believe, when you consider the odds (for anyone, even the bestest students). Your son may wish to apply to ten schools…four reaches, four matches, and two safeties. Add to that the fact that you are chasing Merit Aid and it means that 6 or fewer schools may not do the trick. One of the many mistakes my nephew made in his competitive admissions process was that in the first round, he had six schools. Got into none. Second try, I think he had 10 or 11 schools and got into all but one (this wasn’t the only change made in his admissions process but was one factor contributing to his success). He only reapplied to ONE school on his original list. BTW, that is the ONE school he did NOT get into on the second try!</p>