@intparent - no small business and no rental property - straight up single income - with hardly anything saved for the kid - so while I am not exactly panicking, I am desperately trying to get my wife and kid to lean on this site and treat it more than just a casual web browsing experience. All these tips that you and the others have provided provide a great starting point for work to be done moving forward. Still trying to get a command of all the acronyms on here. 
@BelknapPoint - agree that most of the colleges on my kidsās list are generous - the first hurdle is actually getting in. Once that bridge has been crossed, then yes - those are very generous schools by nature of their huge endowments.
Honestly, I think most students who get into the schools he is looking at test more than once to improve their scores. Also, check the websites if each to see if they require subject tests (my kids also took a couple shots at those to get the scores they wanted). So keep that in mind. I assume he took the PSAT in the new format this fall, so he has at least seen it.
@intparent - the PSAT was administered last month - I believe - in the new format and scores are expected next week. So yes - he has seen the new format - but seems to be quite sure that his SAT attempts on Dec 5th and Jan 23 will be his last SAT attempts. - letās hope so.
Oh and one more thing - his GC is absolutely clueless - and that is an understatement.
He can spend winter break cramming Not sure when Dec 5 scores get released, but you should show him the score ranges for his target colleges ASAP. If subject tests are required, he will have more testing dates, too. The PSAT score will be in the new scoring format, but I recently Googled and found a translation to the old score format, so that could give you some info on whether he is in the ballpark from his PSAT.
@intparent - four wisdom teeth are coming out Dec 28th 
- so I doubt any serious cramming is going to get done this winter break. I think Dec 5 scores get released Dec 22 - one day before the deadline for registering for the Jan 23 SAT. I believe he has seen the score ranges for U Penn and Columbia - and while he has made the āaverageā for U Penn, he falls about 200 points short for all other target colleges.
Cross NYU off the list.
My D got out impacted wisdom teeth in the summer and was down for at least a week.
That is a lot of points. Just saying. Admission to those top colleges isnāt a lottery, in spite of what some people say. The students who get in usually have great grades, very strong test scores, and exceptional ECs. And then they get consideredā¦ weakness in any of those areas really reduces his chances.
@Madison85 - you will not believe how many people have told me to cross off NYU from his list. Apparently, theyāre not as generous as most other private schools
@mommdc - same case here - impacted wisdom teeth - discovered just as he was finishing his braces treatment in July. So probably after the Christmas holiday, the rest of the break will be spent recovering from this.
@intparent - ECās are still a WIP - he started out with getting on the Freshman and Sophomore Basketball teams - has joined numerous clubs in his junior year, was admitted to the NHS just two weeks ago, has coordinated about 4 volunteer/community service activities for the homeless in downtown Austin over the past 4 months - and will continue to do so - every other month - with the help of the community. So while EC was not at the top of his list of things āto doā, heās slowly realizing that grades are NOT everything.
Uh, no. Read around on the FA forum here. NYU has awful aid except for those students they REALLY want to draw in. Their endowment is really not very large for their size.
You might want to have your S take a shot at the ACT. Different type of test from the SAT and some students just do better on it.
@āErinās Dadā - yes understand. His intent is to first obtain the best possible SAT score and then move on to prepping for and taking the ACT. Hopefully, by the beginning of FALL 2016, he will be done with the ACT.
My daughter recovered from the wisdom teeth surgery in about 3 days. She even returned to playing lacrosse, and certainly could have studied after a day or two.
@twoinanddone - I hope he doesnāt sit and mop about the pain heās going through - so I am expecting that he will get back to hitting the books and have about a week to spare before they get back to school from winter break.
Look at the ECs for schools like Stanford and Columbia. They tend to be very high levels of accomplishment. School based ECs arenāt usually enough, unless he competes at a very high level (state or national recognition).
@intparent - where would I be able to look up ECās for the Ivyās?
I think the accepted student threads from last year in CC are good. Remember to see if a student has a hook if they have more pedestrian ECs.
The only private schools that ar extremely generous to families with $100,000 or so a year incomesā¦are those extremely competitive and well endowed schools with generous need based aid policies.
Saying that NYU is nit as generous as MOST private schools is not accurate. NYU doesnāt meet full need, and neither do the vast majority of other private schools.
Stanford, UPenn, Dartmouth, and Northwestern are very generous with need based aid. Duke is as well,M but not as generous as the others. All of these school guarantee to meet full need as THEY calculate it to be. All also use the CSS Profile which asks for more detailed information than the FAFSA. Many families find that the family contribution is calculated to be higher for Profile schools than the FAFSA EFC.
If you own real estate in addition to your primary residence, own a business, and/or are self employed the net proce calculators will not be accurate.
UT Austin is a great school. You are fortunate to have an affordable choice in the mix with an assured acceptance.
The othersā¦acceptance rates are less than 10%. This means that 90% or so are rejected by these schools. In that 90% are some very well qualified candidatesā¦very well qualified. What Iām saying isā¦none should be viewed as a slam dunk. But your student will need a tippy top SAT score, and tippy top grades for acceptance. The generous need based aid does you no good without an acceptance.
If he turns out to be a comoetitve applicant for,the Ivies,and the likeā¦you might want to look at some other schools that award merit aid. But that is totally jumping the gun without knowing his SAT. He might also,want to take the ACT.