If you get great SAT scores paired with good-enough grades (admissions officers understand that sometimes the brilliant don't want to be bothered with schoolwork below their level, and the valedictorian often isn't the brightest kid at the school,) there are going to be several good schools that want to give your child a completely free ride. The trick is, it depends on who needs to recruit what type of student that year to fill out which programs, and you have to be flexible rather than starting out with your heart deadset on one particular school. But I hear sometimes it's hard to convince teenagers to be flexible.
