“Other schools on his list: Cornell, Carnegie Melon, MIT, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, U Md, Princeton, Stevens, Olin, WPI, Cal Tech, Columbia, Northeastern, RPI”
This is a good list though a reach-heavy, Cal Tech and Georgia Tech are not driving distance, so you could eliminate them. With the medal, RPI could be a safety along with Rutgers, and both could be affordable. I’m not totally sure either on fit with Princeton and Columbia if he didn’t like Duke, Harvey Mudd and Hopkins. The Purdue/UM/Northwestern suggestions are very good ones, if you’re ok opening up to other regions. good luck!
If a large competitive merit scholarship is necessary to be able to afford the college, it should be considered a “reach”, even if admission alone would be considered “match”, “likely”, or “safety”. Admission without affordability is effectively the same as rejection.