Just an aside - while those colleges may not offer merit scholarships, there are organizations separate from colleges that do offer merit-based scholarships that can be used at whichever university or college a student enrolls in - my dh is on the board of one of those organizations that offers scholarships to graduating high school seniors in our area.
I don't know what it's like now, but in 1986, I tried to fund an education at MIT with those type of scholarships. I applied for dozens, and got four, I think. They were generally prestigious scholarships, but they didn't total as much as one semester's tuition. Then MIT just reduced my financial aid by the amount of the scholarships, so it really didn't help me at all.
I went to Berkeley for a year, then transferred. Once my parents had two kids in college, instead of one, they could afford the amount that MIT wanted them to contribute (also, they'd been able to observe me being miserable at Berkeley for a year).
