Making an initial college list for S24 (homeschooled, undecided major, few strong preferences)

In reading your most recent posts on the Class of '24 thread (Parents of the HS Class of 2024 - #3641 by MAmomto4 and a few comments below), I’ve put my thinking cap back on:

In post #73 I see you mention Lehigh and Lafayette, but I don’t see Bucknell (PA, about 3700 undergrads). Did you consider it? It offers several ABET-accredited engineering fields and a major in linguistics. I know that you have concerns about Greek life at Lehigh, which may also be a factor at Bucknell, but it might at least be researching to see if it’s worth an app.

Trinity (CT, about 2200 undergrads) also offers an ABET-accredited engineering degree. Its B.S. is ABET-accredited, but it also offers a B.A. In addition to CS, there’s an Interdisciplinary Computing Major which he could likely combine with psychology, neuroscience, etc.

Fairfield (CT, about 4600 undergrads) offers ABET-accredited majors in biomedical, CS, electrical, and mechanical engineering. It offers majors in behavioral neuroscience as well as business analytics. It also offers minors in both applied statistics and mathematical statistics.

Have you looked into Babson and/or Olin? As part of the consortium along with Wellesley, they have cross-registration opportunities and seem to have an emphasis on a liberal arts grounding within their various areas. Of course, Babson is more business and Olin is engineering, but I’d explore to see if something might be a good fit within those (these are the Babson concentrations). There’s also a certificate in engineering offered from Olin for students from Babson or Brandeis. Perhaps @Bill_Marsh might have something to add?

U. of Hartford (CT, about 4k undergrads) is ABET-accredited in multiple engineering fields. There are a number of majors that seem as though they might interest your son, like Business Analytics & Managerial Economics, Data Science, Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies, Human-Computer Interaction Design, Risk Management and Insurance, and there’s also an accelerated path for a Master’s in Organizational Psychology for those who realize by their junior year that’s what they want. And if a low cost is one of his primary values now, I suspect that he’d receive excellent merit aid from Hartford.

U. of Maine is ABET-accredited in many fields, and as a National Merit Semi-Finalist he would still qualify for tuition (15 credit hours/semester) plus room & board. With only about 10k undergrads, this is definitely a smaller flagship. And costs don’t get lower than…free.

Merrimack has about 4100 undergrads and is ABET-accredited in many fields.

U. of New Hampshire has fewer than 12k undergrads, many ABET-accredited fields, a major in linguistics, and I suspect that the honors college would be easier to get into here than at U. Mass, should he not get in at U. Mass. Students in the Analytics & Data Science major can concentrate in either field, there’s a major in linguistics, and an array of other opportunities I’m too tired to link.

The College of New Jersey has about 7k undergrads, many ABET-accredited fields, and offers a minor in linguistics.

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