What did you say to your son about what you would pay? Where does he say he wants to go? Were the cost constraints laid out before the applications went out? Was he told he could go to Georgia Tech if he got accepted, regardless of cost? Your son doesn’t really need to commit to IE at the time of application at some schools. NC State has IE. Virginia Tech has IE ( only ranked # 6 in 2014 so well below GT but well respected) . Frankly, I believe you have been asking similar questions for months and am curious as to why you /and or your son feel the need to box yourselves in so early . Once your son gets to school and explores more math, science, engineering classes, he may very well figure out what is most appealing to him. He seems very focused for a high schooler on OM and IE, but that could change as he gets to college. You never know.