We’re in the same boat. Full pay at top schools but not financially realistic so S20 will probably go to good public school with merit and honors program or go to private school in the T40-100 range with significant merit. That’s just the reality of being a donut hole unless you want debt or to push out retirement.
What about Va Tech? It doesn’t matter where you start if you’re thinking PhD. Our friend’s son is at VT and likes it. Our neighbor’s son is working on his PhD at Georgia Tech in CS. He went to NC State for undergrad.
If he’s thinking MD then cheapest undergraduate route he can tolerate. Medical school is very expensive and they don’t really care where you went for undergrad, just GPA and MCAT score.
Read more posts on CC but I don’t think the T20 schools offer very many if any merit scholarships. If they do it’s super competitive so wouldn’t count on it. Mostly need.