<p>I am researching college choices for my son, who will graduate from high-school this year.</p>
<p>He is very bright, but his stats are just OK: 3.0 GPA, with hopefully an upward trend in the first semester; some medium-level ECs, and 32 on ACT; some AP classes (with 5's on the exams).</p>
<p>He is currently taking classes at a local community college through a Running Start program, and will have a year of classes under his belt at the end of the year.</p>
<p>He is set on colleges on the West Coast, and his interests are engineering, math and science. He has very low chances of getting into our state flagship.</p>
<p>We are not looking for any merit or need aid -- just information about good colleges that will provide good opportunities to smart yet low-performing students. We did some research, but we were not impressed with private colleges that we found: expensive, yet lacking in good science and math programs. We don't want to pay for just a B.A. in a small liberal-life college. He needs a structured environment with many choices while he is working on the motivation part of the equation. </p>
<p>He might try Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, nd University of Portland. maybe Santa Clara, although thats a bigger reachYou should check out the Parents of 3.0, western addition.</p>
<p>Hmmm, perhaps another year or two at CC after graduating from high school, followed by transfer to UW, assuming that his grades in CC courses (both before and after graduating from high school) are good, may be a way to transfer into UW as a junior?</p>
<p>i agree with applying to some of the Jesuits and other Catholic Univ…LMU, Santa Clara (reach because of GPA), Gonzaga, U San Diego, Seattle, Portland, etc.</p>
<p>If not limited to the West, then try Saint Louis Univ, UDayton, Creighton, Fordham, Loyola-Chicago, and Loyola-Maryland. Since Creighton, St. Louis, and Loyola-Chicago have med schools, they certainly would be strong in sciences.</p>
<p>I agree with Jesuit schools. If his SAT scores are high enough he might even be offered some money, if deadline for scholarships hasn’t already passed. I know you said he was set on west coast, but I suggest he look at Marquette in Milwaukee. New engineering building with good internship opportunities.</p>
<p>Does it have to be West Coast? How about mid-range Midwest publics where admission is easier and you are looking at tuition generally around $25k rather than private tuition which probably is closer to $40k.</p>
<p>Univ Iowa – OOS tuition is about $25k, so lower than a lot of privates, though they don’t give financial aid to OOS students Advantage with Iowa is that you can determine whether you will get in with an on-line calculator, based on GPA, testing, class rank and core curriculum classes. Iowa City is a nice college town, a lot of Chicago area kids come down to Iowa City. </p>
<p>Univ of Kansas also happy to take 3.0 students, about an hour from Kansas City, another great college town. </p>
<p>Not sure about whether their Engineering are separate admissions or not, sorry I cannot recall. And, it is possible that Iowa engineering is at Iowa State rather than at Univ Iowa. </p>
<p>if you can get him to look further east…uab (university of alabama birmingham)would give him automatic merit of 15K per year against total cost of 25K. strong science school, excellent sci/tech honors program… easy app, no essay…(short essay for honors college and possible interview if moves forward in selection process) deadline coming up fast though </p>
<p>Iowa State and Iowa both offer engineering and are solid in many sciences. Iowa State is about $7000 per year cheaper than Iowa for OOS students and a stronger engineering program. About 50% of U Iowa’s Frosh class is from OOS while about 40% of ISU’s Frosh class is from OOS.</p>
<p>Look at Cal Poly Pomona. Good engineering programs, and not too hard to get into. You won’t have that many options that fit your criteria on the West Coast.</p>
<p>University of New Mexico–not quite the west coast, but closer than say St. Louis or Omaha. ABET accredited Engineering school.</p>
<p>OOS COA ~$28,000</p>
<p>He would be eligible for the AMIGO scholarship for OOS students (3.0 GPA + 26 ACT required) which would bring costs down to in-state or ~$18,000/year. Amigo winners also get a $500 cash award toward transportation costs.</p>
<p>In New Mexico, there is also New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, a small low cost engineering-focused school. WUE tuition scholarships / discounts are available.</p>