Hear! Hear!
As I pointed out in my first post in this thread, it is obvious that some still cling to faulty assumptions and a romantic view of the college process. The answer, as the OP seems to have learned from this thread, is to replace such assumptions by solid facts and a smaller number of idle speculation.
To be clear, the choices made by gingeroo might be the very best he (or she) could have made. However, his individual choice might be far from different from the OP son, in terms of qualifications, financial status, and mostly in terms of personal objectives. Gingeroo mentioned the faith and social issues, yet we do NOT know what the objectives of the OP are. Is it med school? law school? Or a sting in a PhD program in social sciences? The reality is that he probably does not know any more than most naïve 17 years old who have followed a path paved from them for the past 12 years of education!
Further, some still seem to rely on faulty assumptions such as “I could have gone to an Ivy League school if I wanted to …” or “You could always go to a HYPMS graduate school later” The reality is that gingeroo CANNOT say that unless he applied and was … accepted. The "I: in “if I wanted to” is simply false. He decided to not apply (which for many is the right choice) but decided to pursue a school such as SLU that matched his qualifications better and rewarded him with a possible $80,000 for selecting them. For the record, my younger cousin made a similar “choice” and is a freshman in St Louis. Yet, he cannot claim he could have gone to an Ivy League if HE wanted to! He did, however, pick the school that offered the best combination of academics, social, and perhaps faith attributes. The same might happen at schools such as Notre Dame or perhaps Georgetown.
And that is why the issue of fit is paramount, A school has to be a good fit for the student, but also for the parents as the importance of financial aid and … meeting a certain level of ROI are not to be ignored.
In the end, there is little to be lost in compiling a list that is NOT restrictive. Many people are surprised by the financial aid component (both positively or negatively) but one cannot see the final packages until seeing an offer of admission, and one cannot be admitted without first … applying!
The story would be a LOT more compelling if it were shared in April next year with a title “My son got accepted by XXX but he wants to attend YYY” At this stage of the game, there are few reasons to think the “choice” made is brilliant, let alone applaud it. There is no downfall for the student to “honor” the wishes or expectations of the parents by, at least, give it a good shot.
And, fwiw, that is hardly a story of excessive parental or misguided expectations or a “Ivy or bust” dilemma. And surely not one that some have tried to characterize along racial or cultural lines. People of all races face similar situations.