I would be another to recommend Iowa State if engineering. We visited there and I have had an intern from there. The school sounds like it would have a lot he is looking for. They do have in person visits available now so you could go visit. If he wants to do some practice visits to see what he is really looking for I know that Kansas State is also doing in person visits and had a very nice new engineering building and new makerspace that just opened. You might be able to do both in one trip. Not sure about Iowa or Kansas but they might be options to visit in person also. These may not make his list but visiting in person could give him the skills to see what he needs to ask at other schools and what he likes and doesn’t.
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@momocarly Thanks! Heading to over to google maps to locate these schools 
A large state school would really be contingent on entry to honors college. I think Iowa (not State) doesn’t take applications to honors until after acceptance. For a large state school, which could be a safety for him, the ideal scenario would be rolling admission or EA with simultaneous admission evaluation for honors. Not sure if this exists!
University of Pittsburgh has rolling admissions, with a Dec. 1 deadline for honors.
ASU has rolling admissions, and their honors college (Barrett, which is often written up as being amongst the best) has various, staggered deadlines.
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I know for us they weren’t simultaneous but were close (Kansas State and Iowa State). We had our rolling admissions from both early and then the Honors college admissions followed a little later. When you visit you can ask to meet with the honors college during the visit. He would get great merit scholarships at both. Our cost was similar to our in-state plus the cost of living was cheaper! Could be good safeties. K-State is 18,000 with engineering its own little community. It even has an honors Engineering living community were the engineering honors students can choose to live on a floor in a dorm together and all take the first year honors classes together. Of course there is also the honors house as an option, or any other dorm. I’m sure the other schools have similar options. (My son wasn’t engineering but a lot of his close friends were).
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@momocarly That living community sounds awesome!
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CPSLO is best known for strength in engineering, though regionally it is also known for agriculture programs. It is one of two public universities in California with a BArch program. It has the usual liberal arts programs and business as well. It is more pre-professionally oriented in most majors; relatively few go on to PhD programs, except in physics.
SCU is a small-to-medium size Catholic university that is becoming better known for CS and engineering due to its location in an area with lots of computer companies.
Note that a given university is not necessarily strong in all of various engineering majors, CS, math, and the various sciences. If the student is undecided between several majors, check for strength in all of the possible majors as well as whether any of them are difficult to change into because they are “full”.
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Olin’s candidate weekend is more like a “get to know others building a very complex lego bridge that must also include toothpicks and a rotor” then “form a team and complete a creative/technical challenge together”. The second task is evaluated.
Olin is all engineering though. Some interaction with nearby colleges Babson and Wellesley.
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@MYOS1634 Really?! If this kid is being evaluated on his ability to build with legos, he will shine! Legos are his A-game 
Thank you, this helps clarify the intent of the Olin weekend.
Well, could be other types of building bricks 
or … Meccano…?
I think there’s some sort of interview/debrief about the evaluated challenge.
Can’t find a link because 2021 was different due to Covid.
Here’s a video
They create team challenges to make sure one kid doesn’t hog all the legos 
Hi! I’ve created another thread to try to find some LACs with CS programs. Would love your thoughts!
I have cut in and out of this thread, so apologies if I have missed it, but: don’t forget the gift that is maturity. Collegekid2 sounds a lot like your son, OP, and chose an LAC with a very academic ethos (though it is considered artsy by many, it has a very old-school yankee kind of vibe- very understated). She bloomed in ways that I never imagined possible. She made a group of friends(!) with whom she has stayed in touch now that they are all out or (like her) in grad school. She’s now the most senior grad student in her lab, and is still blooming, as she has taken on the responsibilities that come with the role (including things like mentoring, welcoming admitted students, helping to shortlist at the interview stage, project managing, etc). She will never be the extrovert that the other Collegekids are, but she is comfortable in her own skin, and can now not only create but present the research team presentation to the project funders- something that was unimaginable when she was a junior in HS.
I get your mama bear instincts! but remember that he is not static. The jump even in the 1st 2 months of college can be breathtaking. More than anything, trust his response to the school visits (which will hopefully resume this summer/autumn). I knew the day she visited her UG school that it was the place for her- she was the most relaxed and herself there!
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@collegemom3717 Thank you for this. Maturation happens imperceptibly slow at times! The “memories” photo function on my phone often reminds me of the leaps and bounds that my late bloomer has made, even in the last two years. Hopefully I’ll be able to revisit this board a couple years from now with a happy story to share
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