One of the most unpleasant surprises I had when researching colleges for my kids was how little merit aid is offered by not just "top tier" but good colleges in general.
Our state school does not have much merit scholarships (and I'm not talking about $500 per year for 4.0 GPA/1500+ SAT, which is not even available to all applicants, that's just insulting). There are colleges which are definitely in the bottom of the rankings where you can get in with 0 tuition or even full ride (no tuition+free room and board) AND you can get some stipend thrown on top. I now have a choice: pay $45K (tuition with room and board) per year for my very academically strong kids at my (reasonably good) state school or $0 at the likes of Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, and to a smaller extent Arizona and Texas (well the last ones would not be free, but at least less than half of the state uni). What do you think I will encourage my kids to do???
For what it's worth, I went to University of Arizona (math) and I've done great in life. They and Rochester are the two main schools that specialize in optics (e.g. lasers and photonics and complex lens systems, not eyeglasses) as far as I know if that's an interest. Otherwise, if you have some time left to plan, see if you can reduce your income (e.g. by moving to part time work, planning to do a sabbatical, or retiring if possible) to avoid the shakedown.
My oldest wants to do aerospace, my understanding is that Arizona is fairly good and has some connections to the industry. They slashed their merit aid last year though due to financial problems and the advice I read is to steer clear for at least couple years until they get the house in order.
We're looking at Alabama at this point, either Tuscaloosa or Huntsville, I think they're even less known/lower ranked but not that bad for aerospace. That'd likely be full ride (national merit semifinalist or finalist).
The advice about lowering income is valid. I don't even have to do anything the shitty IT jobs market took care of that for me :(
4.0 GPA isn't what they are looking for. Rich kids have the money, but not talent. Poor kids have talent, but not money. MIT and the like is a place where the two can meet and work together. They don't need a high GPA, they need a seriously gifted student.
Can you clarify what you mean by "gifted" student? How is the "giftedness" measured, aside from GPA, SAT/ACT? I mean there's also extracurriculars, but there's usually a strong correlation between high GPA/SAT and strong extracurriculars. Or maybe I misunderstood your point.
GPA/SAT tell how good you are at following instructions: learning mildly complex material and applying it to a variant of a well known problem. It's a measure of fitness for white collar workers. What MIT is looking for is outstanding ability to create something new, something that those white collar workers with good GPAs cannot come up with. This kind of talent shows in various hobby projects that have a potential to become something big.
Our state school does not have much merit scholarships (and I'm not talking about $500 per year for 4.0 GPA/1500+ SAT, which is not even available to all applicants, that's just insulting). There are colleges which are definitely in the bottom of the rankings where you can get in with 0 tuition or even full ride (no tuition+free room and board) AND you can get some stipend thrown on top. I now have a choice: pay $45K (tuition with room and board) per year for my very academically strong kids at my (reasonably good) state school or $0 at the likes of Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, and to a smaller extent Arizona and Texas (well the last ones would not be free, but at least less than half of the state uni). What do you think I will encourage my kids to do???