And for the northern/northeastern part of the country, Brandeis and BU are good for biology, although BU might be off the list because of its size.
He does sound like UChicago material but he would have to apply ED1 or ED2 to have a real shot.
He’s planning early action to U Chicago, although I don’t think that improves his chances at all.
He might want to move to ED2 for Uchicago if rejected at Swarthmore. But I have to say after reading your post #38 he sure sounds like a Haverford kid.
@MyrtleD You haven’t mentioned if your son has visited Swat or Chicago. Make sure he does so before you apply ED anywhere. See if he can spend the night at each college and attend classes. My daughter thought she loved one college, until she spent a night and attended classes. After that, she completely crossed it off her list. Chicago and Swat are very different in size and location (suburban vs urban). Make sure he is ok with both.
agree 100% with @Hippo21. Each of my collegekids found that at least one college that they had thought was a perfect fit changed their minds completely on a visit. Overnight & sitting in on a class really helps. Also, even if he imagines that elements (say urban & suburban) are both fine, theory and reality are sometimes worlds apart. Remember, also, that most of the school year is Nov-March, not May-Sept.
I will add another voice for University of Rochester. I would also suggest Brandeis which fits his needs in many ways with the exception of language requirement as he would not likely place out.
Obviously a reach, but you should look at Yale. Your son sounds a lot like my son who is on PhD biochem track there and very involved in music. When we researched schools Yale was the best option we found for that intellectual vibe and really strong music for non music majors. We toured Swat and my son was not impressed with the music opportunities. Their orchestra is from all three consortium schools and they told him they can have trouble filling all the seats. At Yale there is a very selective orchestra but if you don’t get in there are several other very high quality groups. They seem to value kids with strengths in music and we know several kids who chose it over Julliard. If your son is used to honors bands and all-state level just make sure he is happy with the level of play wherever he decides to go. Some college orchestras take everyone which is nice but may not be what he is looking for. Good luck!
I am going to throw Franklin and Marshall into the mix. My son is about to start his sophmore year there in chemisty/biochemistry and he couldn’t be happier. He is already doing his own research with a professor.(no graduate students to compete with). He has also been playing with the orchestra and a jazz band and this year will do chamber jazz. Because of the small size if you want to play music you can without majoring in it and to my ears they are really excellant. Also, they have the opportunity for credit lessons from professional musicians. For bass, they have someone from the Philadelphia Symphony orchestra. In addition Lancaster is often ranked as one of the top up and coming cities and it has a good music scene