<p>OP,</p>
<p>I agree with the others that say cast a wide net. But you also want to listen to your child. Since you have the luxury of a high income and good savings, allow your son to get a feel for all possible schools as you travel. </p>
<p>I love that he’s so sensible and mature. Do you get the feeling that he’d do well anywhere? Or does he need to be with intellectual peers?</p>
<p>For the record, my oldest son is 1/2 Puerto Rican, 1/2 Caucasian and he was accepted to all 10 of his schools including two Ivies, three tech schools, and three safeties, one with a full ride +. (That was UT Dallas’ McDermott Scholars Program) He chose the best fit, MIT, and it was a great choice.</p>
<p>We are also from Ca. and he didn’t apply to any UCs. We would qualify for the blue/gold program but it would still be more expensive to attend one of them than to attend MIT.</p>
<p>At the time he chose, we didn’t know about his NM Corporate scholarship and that caused some stress until we knew the amount.</p>
<p>Since your son plans to do graduate school and beyond, it makes sense to have some excellent full ride options. After all the visits are done, he will probably have more of a sense what he likes/dislikes.</p>
<p>Keep us posted!</p>