Thanks for sharing! It helps to learn about the nuances of the schools! 
Sounds good! I will check out their medical sciences program! 
Why just medical sciences?
Your student can major in ANYTHING as an undergrad premed as long as they take the required courses for medical school applicants…which can happen at almost every four year college in this country…arts conservatories excluded. They don’t have to major in something related to medical sciences.
Not just medical sciences. I mentioned that program because the poster took the time to link to it and because I was genuinely curious if it might be a good match for my son.
I do realize that you can major in anything for medicine. My SIL is an anesthesiologist and she majored in philosophy, which is super cool. 
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Your kid is in a fun position. Because he will be an NMSF/NMF make sure you follow all the National Merit threads here on CC if you aren’t already. If it were me, I would make a list that consisted of 2 (or possibly 3) buckets:
- The big merit NMF schools where he can get a full ride or close to it. These are his admission and financial safeties. They allow him to save money for med school/grad school. Having a full scholarship is prestigious in itself, and many of these schools provide excellent opportunities for honors students. One of these is where my own kid ended up.
- The big reach elite schools that give out excellent financial aid (Ivys, “little Ivys” etc.) But as an unhooked applicant, his chances are still low. To make himself stand out, he needs to package himself in an interesting way. As an example, his job as a janitor is probably more interesting than any of his honor societies or whatnot.
- (optional) the rare big merit scholarships from places like W&L, Duke etc. places that have Stamps. Truthfully, these may be bigger reaches even than the Ivys. So maybe add these on only if he has extra energy, unless a certain school really calls to him.
Personally, I would be very reluctant to add schools that aren’t in 1 of these 3 categories. For example, why add a flagship that isn’t at least a full tuition scholarship when as a NMF he will have full ride offers from flagships? In other words (speaking for myself only) I would be of the mindset “Go big or go free.”
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This is a super helpful way to frame our search. Thank you so much. I’ve had some of these thoughts but couldn’t really articulate them in a clear, cohesive way.
I will go find and follow the National Merit posts on here! Thanks again for the help!
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My D21 at Miami of Ohio with similar 4.0UW and 35ACT got a big merit award at such that I am only paying room and board. Or about 16K a year.
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Congrats to her! That’s awesome! 
Has she had a good experience there?
So just to maybe clarify something . . .
My understand is the OP is seeing NPCs in the low 20s to low 40s range, and needs to get down to the bottom of that range.
But if a college offers stackable merit, then it could start in the low 40s range with need and get down to budget with a merit offer in the 20+ range.
My understanding is this is quite possible for kids with such numbers at a variety of colleges. Of course in the end the kid might still choose a public with big NM, or a private which gets on budget just with need. But personally I would not discourage the OP from exploring some options like that, because options are nice.
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NPCs for Harvard, Notre Dame and Rice are worthwhile to try if Princeton’s came in budget.
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Will do! Thank you!
Yes great experience. Changed majors 3 time in first 3 semesters. Started nursing went engineering and finally she is a data science major. All the AP credits Miami gave allowed her that flexibility. Spent January term this year in Australia. Has a paid internship this summer in her major.
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Someone already mentioned the U Maine tuition match – it may be worth exploring what other “matching” programs your son may be eligible for, and it’s a quickly changing landscape as different states and private institutions (like Oglethorpe in GA that is doing tuition match for 50 flagships) are trying it out. SUNY has very recently started doing it for some states, although not for your state, but I think it’s an indicator that more and more state systems are exploring this.
As you are a Kentucky resident, see if there is anything here that is of interest, under “current agreements”. I see that two of the regional Miami U campuses in Ohio are listed, for example, as offering in-state rates for specific Kentucky counties.
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Thank you so much for the tip! I’ll look into this!
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