College Suggestions for Tech-y, Quirky Son

College Search & Selection
1

Hi
I am assisting my son in a college search.
He is very tech-y, into computers, and esports, but is still somewhat outgoing.
He is smart, he scored a 1520 on SAT and has a good GPA, 4.4 weighted and has taken 10 AP classes, so from a stats standpoint he has done well.

We have decided a smaller school is likely best for him, we now live inTexas but he grew up in Northern California.

He is applying to UT Austin (great CS program) and UT-Dallas (also very good)and Austin College (a small LAC in Texas) but are looking to identify smaller schools with strong STEM programs that embrace more of the nerd-y, quirky types.

We are visiting Grinnell (I know little about the school, other than it’s reputation) and Carleton, but wondering if others may have suggestions.

Thank You

2

Maybe Colorado School of Mines. It’s not a LAC, but it’s small, a bit nerdy, and is in a fun outdoorsy area.

3

@AlwaysMoving he has actually gotten some proactive communication from Colorado School of Mines, thanks for suggestion

4

RPI
Rose Hulman

5

WPI, Olin, Clarkson, Stevens Institute?

6

Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. 888 full time students. Part of the Claremont College consortium.

7

For a sampling of different, but generally tech-oriented, environments, look into RPI, Harvey Mudd and the likely familiar Rice.

8

Class rank and unweighted GPA will be important. Does the 4.4 weighted GPA correspond to about 3.4 unweighted GPA?

9

Not a LAC but URochester has about 11,000 students so is smaller than some of the schools on your list.

10

You are in Texas so I assume you’ve checked out Rice?

11

Although not small, Carnegie Mellon University

12

@ucbalumnus I’ll check about the GPA, he is in all honors and AP classes, and we are at a very well regarded high school (70 merit finalists in this one school!) It’s all A’s but some are low A’s. Class rank is top 5% but I am not sure what number.

13

@PrdMomto1 yes we have toured Rice and he is applying there. It’s difficult to get merit there though, and it is very expensive without it, so it’s likely that will not be an option. But Rice is a great school!

14

raikes.unl.edu

University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Lincoln is the state capitol & a growing high tech community with affordable housing.

Combines CS & business. Most or all get really high paying job offers (above 6 figures ). Lots of internships.

Small, ultra select community. Merit scholarships.

Need to check on dorms / living accommodations for students in this program. Might provide an instant tight knit group of high achieving like-minded friends.

You can make a big school small, but you cannot make a small school big.

15

Are you looking for merit or need-based aid (likely to qualify for need-based?)

16

@Techno13 merit. Will not qualify for need

17

@Publisher thanks for the suggestion. I’m not sure we would have thought of Nebraska but I checked out the link and will forward you my son.
UT-Austin is our in state school and a top 10 CS program but perhaps another state school comparison would be good.

18

UT-Austin is the best ! But, as you noted, comparisons are helpful for a better understanding of both academic & professional options.

Internships seem to be the key to getting the best opportunities professionally. This should be an area to investigate school by school.

19

For a range of state school ideas, look into Texas A&M, UWashington, UIUC, UMichigan, UMaryland, SUNY–Binghamton, UMassachusetts.

Regarding available rankings, note that they commonly evaluate graduate school departments. For those seeking an undergraduate education, they can be counter-informative in some cases.

20

@merc81: I think that a primary concern is about merit scholarship awards. Do these schools offer merit money ?