<p>OP here.
I am resurrecting this thread after almost a year to thank you guys and to let you know how the process wrapped up for DS.
He has applied to 15 schools. Applied to some EA, but no SCEA or ED. Here are the results:</p>
<p>Accepted at : Caltech, University of Chicago (full ride - Stamps scholarship), UNC Chapel Hill (full ride - col. Robinson scholarship), Yale (likely letter), Dartmouth (likely letter), USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, state flagship (full ride to honors college), Duke (full ride - Robertson scholarship)</p>
<p>Waitlisted at : Harvard, Princeton, Wharton, Columbia</p>
<p>Rejected at : MIT (deferred EA then rejected RD), Stanford.</p>
<p>He chose not to pursue waitlists. In the end it came down to a decision between Yale, U Chicago and Duke. He chose Duke for the fit of the college and for the opportunities offered by the Roberston scholarship. A big shoutout to ucbalumnus who mentioned this amazing opportunity over a year ago on this very thread - come over for champagne , please ! :)</p>
<p>I am posting this to thank you all for helping us in this process. Maybe others will learn from this thread as well. One big lesson for our family - we never realized that full ride merit scholarships are offered at top schools. Lesson learned :)</p>
<p>Thanks again ! :)</p>