I’m just catching up today, but I’ve got a lot of off topic comments on the college stuff.
One thing I’d really recommend is cast a wide, wide net. My daughter ended up at a great school that she loved, but I wish she had applied to twice as many schools. The aid packages varied so much.
One of the things that helped us was we found a book (unfortunately I forget the name....think maybe it was a Petersen’s Best Colleges in the northeast?) that listed the % of need met by each of the schools. I think you can also find out this info at the individual school websites, but it would be a bit time consuming. The school she ended up at met 100% of their calculated need (it no longer does, but it still meets a very high %). This is really, really important if you’re on a tight budget. In the end, one of the schools she was accepted to expected me to contribute over $20000 a year, in addition to loans, because loans are considered aid. And our state flagship, which gave her free tuition due to her class rank, would have cost about the same or even a little more than where she ended up due to their high fees, room, And board. So my point is, I guess, you just never know how things are going to play out.
Be aware that a good many of the schools that tend to meet a high % of need require the CSS, which drills down a lot deeper into your finances. And if you’re divorced, as is the case with me, and your ex refuses to fill out the paperwork, those schools will be off the table.
And I second or third the advice to take both the ACT and the SAT. My daughter did significantly better on the ACT, which is not as commonly taken as the SAT around here. Just double check that your guidance dept. does not put both on transcripts if you request them not to! (Yeah, I’m a little bitter. Found out after the fact that my daughters high school, despite assuring me they’d only use her ACT scores, put both on her transcripts.)
And look into the profiles of which students get merit scholarships. Your student might be in the running at one school, but not another. Another real life example: My daughter just finished a three year grad program that would have been $90000 plus (yikes! No way!) just for tuition in state. We did a lot of research and knew she had an excellent shot at getting an in state tuition scholarship at Texas schools. She did, and even though she had to keep her fingers crossed the last two years that the Texas legislature would re-approve the program, it would have been a good amount of savings even if she had had to pay out of state tuition her last two years. The total tuition cost of her program ended up being $30000 for three years. That just astounded me! Most people just assume that their in-state school will be the cheaper option, but that’s clearly not always the case. And neither is public vs private school, because public schools don’t always have money for scholarships.
Gosh, sorry I wrote a book here. Just one more thing—— you people to the south of me can KEEP your
down there. Not ready for another storm here just yet.
Also not sure on 2. 
Fortunately more and more are-I keep rooting (if she doesn't go in state for free) for an out of state state school since they tend to accept credit cards vice her top choice which does not. Of course I could always learn how to use Plastiq...
