Older S would not have gone to his school (W&L) had it not been for one of his teachers. Sad to say I had never heard of it, despite living in VA for 30+ years and driving by the exit to/from college in my day.
That teacher was an alum who took his best/favorite (?) 1-3 students each year for an overnight visit. They’d meet with administration, teachers, went to a football game, and hung out with (spent the night with) former students from our area.
He came back loving the school, but still had his sights on others. He was invited to the Johnson scholars weekend - I’m sure the teacher’s rec helped! - and while he wasn’t offered that, he got a full tuition scholarship that was guaranteed for 4 years that increased with tuition increases. When he was waitlisted at UPenn and the final 1693 recipient at W&M accepted (S was first alternate), he chose W&L. It wound up being a perfect fit for him. He did really well there and was very happy.
And he never would have gone if not for that teacher! Unfortunately, he retired before younger S could have him.
Edit: I will add the support didn’t stop there. He would visit campus every so often and take the local students out to lunch. He is a good person. And a good recruiter for the school lol