Is the goal to get under the 50K budget or shoot for full tuition/full ride merit? I think he is fine as is to meet your budget.
Edit: Is he most interested in large public schools (based on your mention of UGA, FSU, etc)? Any other preferences he has deigned to share? 
Based on S20’s experience I definitely think an extra 20 points could help for some schools. He had a 1480. At SMU he got the second highest scholarship. The higher tier was another $5k/year. The kids that posted stats and awards were in-line with the 1500/34 cutoff.
When you’re a donut hole family the key is to set a budget and stick to it during the process. Then reevaluate when all offers are in. Pick your schools wisely. I always recommend to apply to at least one state school.
Just my unsolicited two cents, but if your son hits a 1500 or above on this most recent SAT
I see no reason for him to take the ACT.
Staying inside out budget is important. If he is close to having a shot at full tuition/full ride, yes, i’d like for him to try harder.
He goes to a very large high school, almost 4K kids, and seems to be doing fine, academically and socially. Now when I tell him Illinois or Indiana U’s are over 30,000 kids, he does not look all that excited…he did add College of Charleston to his Naviance schools list, but I do not think he did it because of its size. The few schools we have visited so far have been large publics plus USC. I keep nagging him to take a drive to see Miami of Ohio and Denison, both within a reasonable drive from Chicago.
In that case I’m in agreement with @chmcnm. Breaking 1500/34 may lead to additional merit (not necessarily full tuition/full ride but more $ is more $ 
). If he is willing. Fingers crossed the state required SAT went well! (edited tense after realizing he already took the test)
Thank you! The high school SAT score will be his third time taking the test. If he were to get 1500+, will the score be somehow less valuable because this is his third try?
It really does sound like my son (who ended up at a top school, but I truly would have been fine if he had just gotten a job and he knew it!). I would tell him that it is all up to him and you will drive him or help him in any way when asked. Let him know it is still early and you know that the end of school is busy and you are there when he decides to focus on college applications.
As a side note, and I always say this so I am not pathologizing at all , and don’t know enough etc. etc. but if there are any causes for concern about ADHD, depression, executive function issues etc. etc. now is the time to figure that out and address them.
But it sounds like head in the sand syndrome which is frustrating for us but completely normal. And he may not like to think about change, leaving family and friends. It is really important for some kids to own the process, at least initiate it, and he knows you are there.
I would just say explicitly, here to help but let me know when you want it.
My kids only sent in their top scores.
I would need to check individual schools, but many allow self-reported super scores. You don’t send official reports until after acceptance. So those schools would have no idea how many times it was taken.
There are exceptions to that… off the top of my head UGA requires official score reports as part of the application but they will super score, Georgetown requires all test reports,…
There are only a few colleges in the entire country that require students to submit all their scores. Georgetown is one there may be a couple of others. No one will know or care how many times he took it. Keep in mind that most colleges superscore, so he may want to submit more than one of his scores.
I feel like if he doesn’t get cracking on researching schools and related due diligence, I will be the one with executive functions issues…
Good to know, thank you
And that’s why the first app should be your state school as soon as the portal opens.
I made my sons apply to at least one of our flagships. It helped with motivation. I could pull out the “you can just go to Pitt” phrase anytime they seemed disinterested in an application.
I don’t remember if this was already suggested so apologies if a repeat. These admissions blogs are extremely informative and much of the information can be applied to any school.
UGA blog - David Graves (scan the comments too)
Ga Tech blog - Rick Clark
UVA blog - Dean J
I was just typing a suggestion of Pitt since it is a rolling admission school and it’s nice to have that in hand early on. 
I’m not sure merit will get it under $50k.
He knows I want him to apply to UIUC and IU, both great overall U’s and have well regarded business schools. They both get the most applicants and admits from his hs.
Thank you for sharing the blog links.
What’s the deadline for a state school you know he will get into. You can leave him to it until then!
Reverse psychology actually works. The less you care the more he might. The more you chase the more he will withdraw.
It’s his experience and he needs to realize that.
Hey, tell him it’s okay if he isn’t ready. He can stay home and get a job!! That worked for me! But I will say, I meant it and he knew it.
Good plan!
I don’t know if he is interested in U Alabama, but he would qualify for their highest auto-merit with his current stats. I’ve read on CC that many IL kids end up there due to the generous merit and warm weather. They have rolling admissions (notified a couple weeks after submitting… he could have an acceptance by mid-August) so that would be an early acceptance in hand with guaranteed affordability. I understand it is a simple application with no essays (unless going for one of the competitive scholarships).
I have read a ton about Alabama. It is a good option to keep in mind .