Thanks for moral support, will keep you posted.
The short answer is they don’t want your son’s blood but they do want your money.
I think your son is competitive for admission at both Richmond and William & Mary. Absolutely apply and see what happens. I am not saying that your son can’t or won’t get merit aid from Richmond. It’s not a matter of “qualifying”. The harsh reality is that being in 75th percentile or above in terms of stats is no guarantee for admission let alone merit awards at selective schools. My point was only that because you need merit to make it affordable, you should consider University of Richmond a reach. Look through last year’s threads and you will see plenty of high stats kids who did not get any merit aid from Richmond .
As for William and Mary, there are very few merit awards. They award a handful ( I think it’s 8) 1693 scholarships. It covers cost of instate tuition plus room and board. It is a highly competitive process involving a couple of rounds of interviews. The recipients are highly accomplished both in and out of the classroom. Generally these are students who also have Ivy League acceptances. They also have the William and Mary scholars which is earmarked for students who have overcome adversity or bring diversity to the campus. I don’t think your son falls in those categories. To put things in perspective, my S22 had similar stats to your son: near the top of his class, 34 ACT on his one and only try (never took the SAT), 5s on 10 AP exams and aced multivariable and linear Algebra his senior year. He also was a year round athlete, had a paid job as a math tutor, high level recognition in the arts, summer research position, and lots of community service. He is fairly average for an out of state student. We pay full price.
I’m glad your son had a great interview. William & Mary is kind of a quirky place. ( In a good way lol) I think your son probably has a good chance of admission. Wishing you all the best in the college search.
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Thank you @Greatpyrmom for your thoughtful note. Do not get me wrong, I may have had a heat stroke down in Virginia, but am fully aware both of these schools are lottery tickets for us, guess I wanted to whine a little about how you can’t have every shiny object you want…can’t buy a Porsche on a Honda budget.
Just wow on your son’s stellar resume, he is a great kid all around. Hope he is having a great time at WM!
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Thank you for the kind words about my son. He sounds great on paper but he is still a knucklehead. 
I’m obviously very proud of him, but he is what folks on these boards call “average excellent”. He fell in love with WM when we toured and applied early decision. It is a perfect fit for him and he is super happy there, but I’m sure he could have been happy at any number of schools - including some of his safeties that offered him lots of merit $.
Keep in mind that both the Porsche and the Honda will get you where you need to go. My S17 chose to attend the honors college at Auburn. His freshman roommates were class Valedictorians and national merit scholars. One of them turned down Yale ( yes, that Yale lol) because of finances. They all had an amazing undergraduate experience and landed great jobs.
The college admissions process is a crazy and oftentimes unpredictable ride. In the end, your son will have some great options. No matter where he lands, he will be among peers who are smart and accomplished. As long as your son has an affordable safety or two that he is happy with, everything will work out just fine.
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Just excellent…nothing average about this!!! Congrats to your sons - plural - for finding great places.
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Help us to decide to visit either Davidson or Dickinson on a one day trip!
Do you want to tour a reach or a target/safety?
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Davidson! My DS fell in love with the school after visiting.
Dickinson is higher admit rate and solid reputation in IR/poli sci, but Davidson’s PPE major is the big attraction…so we are torn…
Both are excellent schools so hopefully you can tour one this time and the other one later. I know and like Dickinson a lot, as it’s local to me (17 miles away) and was even closer when I took classes there as a high school student.
What/who made him fall in love with the school?
What do you like about the school?
My kid loved Davidson. It was in her top 3 through the whole application process. She loved the campus, access to a city, the location on the lake, and of course, the academic reputation.
It will be more of an admissions reach than Dickinson, which is also an excellent school.
You can’t go wrong with these two. 
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I like that Carlisle is a diverse community and that Dickinson is on the edge of a walkable and vibrant downtown. I like that the student body is a good mix of artsy, intellectual, and preprofessional types, and that Greek life, while available, isn’t dominant. I like their international focus, with excellent foreign language offerings and robust study abroad programs. I like that it is close enough to the state capital (Harrisburg) for internship possibilities.
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Thank you @kidzncatz and @DramaMama2021
He really liked the campus and the location (not too far from an airport, weather not too cold, super cute town, etc.) But, the biggest factor for him was the students that he met. He meshed with the other kids and he loved the tour and presentation. Plus, he was able to eat lunch with a current first year – this gave him an opportunity to ask the tough questions.
Thank you @LisaMBA. Did you happen to overhear the tough questions he asked? 
I did not attend the lunch but I believe he asked about a multitude of topics including academic rigor, class accessibility, dorms, food, social life, etc. Basically, he wanted to know about all the things that they don’t tell you on the official tour.
Dickinson would be more of a safety/match school while Davidson would be a reasonable reach so if you already are heavy on reaches that might color your decision on which to visit.
My son visited both and eventually applied early to Davidson. He liked the Dickinson campus and the students he met and the curriculum in his areas of interest (econ and psych). He thought that the Carlisle area was nice enough but a bit isolated. He definitely would have applied had he not gotten into Davidson.
He loved his visit to Davidson–its pretty campus in a small but charming college town in the suburbs of Charlotte, the strong sense of community and school spirit (having D1 sports and especially basketball helps) and the A+ weather that makes the nearby Lake Campus beach on huge Lake Norman a unique Davidson feature. He felt the academic programs were comparable to what you’d find at the best New England SLACs and the access to cultural and internship opportunities especially in finance in nearby Charlotte were a huge plus as was the living Honor Code (plus self scheduled finals!). We just happened to visit Davidson on the day the first years were running in the traditional Cake Race. Hundreds of students and Davidson families lined the race course to cheer on the first years some who ran in costume. Town residents and members of the college community baked hundreds of cakes as prizes for the first years enough so none of the runners left empty handed with the fastest first years having the choice of the most elaborate cakes. It was such a fun and joyous event and from that point on my kiddo was 100% in on Davidson. Now as a student there, he loves it even more. It is a special place!
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Thank you @KnightsRidge, I am glad your son found the right school for him.
And now mia culpa…the schools I wanted to highlight were Dickinson and Denison, not Davidson…so sorry to those of you who took the time to write about Davidson…I owe you a write up about a college of your choice.
So, what can you tell me about Denison…
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