@NateandAllisMom – the top 25 is mostly a merit money free zone. Even for perfect stat kids. You just have to assume it ain’t gonna happen with your kid.
Merit money goes up as you go down the USNWR ladder. The money zone generally is where your kid is a 75% or better applicant at that particular school.
If your kid has really high stats (by which I mean a 35, not a 33), you could see some merit money in the top 50-75. Think Santa Clara or Villanova.
Do not think Notre Dame. My 35 ACT, 4.0 uw, 4.7w kid got into ND but wasn’t even nominated to interview for a merit schollie there. And the top ND award is $25k – nice but not so big when the COA is about $75k a year. That’s generally how the top 25 is.
I highly recommend the long running thread on merit for 1% applicants from fellow Californian @KevinFromOC. That will give you a feel for how it all works.
Good luck!