Again, thanks for all the responses.
I think because tuitions are so high (even our state flagship is around $40k instate cost of attendance without merit), all these questions around gpa, rigor, and merit are important for me to try to understand. For ex, several of the NPCs included grades and SATs (which he hasnt even taken yet) in their calculation. Obviously, you can do without, but its less accurate. So it can make a difference between not ruling out the possibly/likely $43,000 school vs pretty much ruling out that same school for a visit if it looks like it won’t come in below $58,000, for example. We won’t get financial aid for $58,000…but that is just not feasible for us to actually pay that much for 4 years for one child.
Beyond that, it really is interesting to hear how it is done at other schools and to hear everyone’s experiences. Thank you all!