Having been on CC for a couple of years, read thousand of threads, and going through the college process with D20, one of the biggest issues is parents not thinking about how they are going to pay for college until their kids are in high school when it’s too late.
Invest early and often in a college savings plan and much of the stress of how to pay for college will be resolved as the stock market gains over 18-21 years will have greatly outpaced the increased cost of college tuition. Thinking your kid will be NMF or get a 35 ACT is not realistic. Chasing big merit, is a reactive not a proactive way to plan and afford college.
So my advice for parents with young kids, have a college saving plan and I guarantee you will have many more college options come senior year.