Pay attention to where your student lies in relation to the rest of the student body

To increase your chances of getting the best possible financial aid packages, it is imperative that you pick schools where your child lies in the top 10% of the incoming freshman class with respect to their GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Although schools give financial aid based on your calculation of "need" at their school, they will definitely give preferential packaging (i.e., more FREE money, less loans) to students who lie in the top 10% of the incoming class.

The reason they do this is to attract the better students to their school. Use this to your advantage and apply only to those schools where your child would fit into the top 10% category.