Nice work on the MCAT. I was late to the decision to apply so I had only 3.5 weeks of prep and hadn't taken a college class since 1998. I still pulled out a 30 so I think I'm in good shape.
I have checked out thenewX.org as well, but I'm limiting my exposure so I don't start buying things I can't afford yet. Today I did a trail that confirmed for me that I probably won't go up in tire size. Last weekend I went off roading with my girlfriend and it was mostly dirt roads with a few technical sections. Today was passable, but very technical, no more than 5 mph over the entire stretch it seemed. The dogs were just getting tossed around in the back and because we were going so slow, we weren't "exploring" as much because it was limiting our total distance travelled. Meanwhile the X handled it great, but we are more into less technical exploring and the stock OR tire size was just fine for today even.
I wheeled once when it was muddy on the stock tires with an OR. It worked out reasonably well. However, once those tires needed replacing I moved up slightly - 285-75/16 BFG AT KO tires. I did need to do the melt mod, but that's pretty minor. It made an absolutely huge difference when things got sloppy. You could easily stay with the 265 tires, no problem, though. But better tread is definitely a given.
For minor suspension lift stuff, All Day Fab and PRG are a few options. Spacers up front, extended shackles in the rear is the least expensive option.
Getting adjustable coilovers up front and an AAL kit is a much more expensive, but more capable option. Without that, and any weight in the back, the suspension will definitely bottom out while off-roading. No hurries on doing that, though.
