College Suggestions for Tech-y, Quirky Son

@Publisher: At this stage of the thread, I interpreted the OP as having inquired about alternative public universities primarily for a general basis of comparison. With respect to my suggestions, they’d need to be researched individually for their financial aspects.

@kirkhaven if you are looking for merit, tech, quirky, e-sports I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better fit than UT Dallas. This is my third time down this road, 3 high stats STEM kids looking for fit and merit. DD16 ended up at OU which was a good fit for her (meteorology), but the boys both want Comp Sci and picked UT Dallas over UT Austin. All three are/were National Merit and auto admits to UT Austin, DS18 is in his second year and loving UT Dallas. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you!

Not sure about all the schools but merit is hard to come by at UIUC and Michigan.

If I recall correctly, lots of merit money at Texas A&M, not much, if any, at UW-Seattle.

Adding RIT, Rochester, and Tufts.

U Maryland (at College Park) offers merit scholarships, (even) for OOS. The CS at UMD has a top20 (?) ranking, but UMD is not small. November 1 is the deadline for priority admission; all (IS and OOS) who apply by this date will be considered for Honors College and the Banneker Key scholarships, with NO separate applications required.

The OP is also looking for smaller programs, so while Nebraska meets that requirement, Washington, UIUC, Michigan may not. Also those are likely to be more expensive.

Colorado School of MInes is public (and expensive) but there is some merit money. It has a very different feel than a large public university, Division 2 sports, lots of outdoor activity (mountain biking, hiking, kayaking).

I know a boy who sounds like your son’s doppelgänger and he is very happy at WPI.

I think U Rochester is definitely one to apply to. It’s a top-notch institution that is known for, among other things, a welcoming environment for smart and quirky kids. It’s tough to get into, though, even with stats like your sons, so I would have others on hand to apply to also. RPI is very well known for a quirky (read nerdy) student body. Many who apply to either of these also consider WPI. I would be careful about applying to state schools. Some are definitely worthwhile but many others are not havens for quirky kids. The SUNY system, for instance, seems it would be quite inhospitable to a kid like your son. SUNYs are stocked with bullies/followers from Long Island and other similar parts of NY state and offer only sub-par academics, with very little attention to the welfare of students. A typical smart, non-aggressive kid would not be at all healthfully challenged in such an environment.

Regarding Univ. of Rochester merit money: Recent complaints by some CC posters regarding loss of, or reduction in, merit award after matriculation & upon renewal. (However, I don’t recall the particulars. It may have involved failure to increase awards in line with increases in tuition & fees. But, I do recall, that it caused one longtime CC poster’s student to transfer out as tuition & fees rose.)

Note that Binghamton registers a standardized scoring profile that surpasses that of any other public university in the Northeast.

@merci81
Thanks
Yes the intent of the original post was to discover some “fits” for my son. Although a State University (larger school) might be fine, both my -and his- instinct is that he might do better at a smaller school. Which is why I was thinking maybe a LAC, that had some merit aid available.

Since his interests lie in STEM (CS major, robotics, eSports, etc) we were looking for academically strong schools that might be good for this student type. Although he did run track, sports are not a main driver. He is definitely a tech-y, slightly “nerdy” type.

Regarding finances merit aid would be great, do not qualify for need based, have some $ ready but merit aid would help tip the scales.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. This site has been helpful.

@3scoutsmom I appreciate the endorsement of UTD. We went to the campus and he loved the modern architecture. And of course the CS program is rising very fast there.
I did not sense much of community feel. Although we live in Texas now he would not know anyone there.

Did yours live on campus in dorms?

It seems you are referring to @taverngirl. I recall that her daughter unfortunately had to transfer from the University of Rochester based upon insufficient need-based aid beyond her first year of attendance. With respect to its general attributes, however, I think UR makes a nice suggestion for the OP’s son.

@Pubisher @merc81
Thanks for the suggestion: Texas A&M is a good state school but this would likely not be a good fit at all.
It’s really huge, and it’s rural. I’m sure one can find their “tribe” though.
We have been there before and it wasn’t a cultural fit, but respect it’s a good school for some.

DS18 lived in dorms freshman year and on campus appartments this year and until graduation DS20 plans to do the same. Have you toured the dorms yet? they are very nice!

DS has made great friends in the comp sci lab and through the honors college, he’s also very involved in a few social/gaming clubs. UTD has a little bit of everything when it comes to clubs he’s (okay, maybe my ;-)) biggest disapointment was not presuing fencing because the club meets very late and conflicts with other clubs. If you son is into e-sports he should check this out!

https://www.utdallas.edu/news/campus/esports-first-year-wrapup-2019/

UTD is still a ‘young’ school so they don’t have a long legacy of school school traditions but because the kids are more on the nerdy kerky side they tend to bond over others things link ERNAC (crane spelled backward instead of TEMOC) as an unofficial mascot .
Your son will have no problem making friends. My son knew one or two people that were a year ahead of him in high school but they had different majors so he’s only saw them once or twice in passing. UTD, as with all schools, is what the student makes of it, there are opprtunities to make friends: dorm mixrs, clubs, study groups but the student has to take advantage of those oppertunities.

UTD is very unique for STEM students as it was founded as a research insituite by the founders of Texas Instute. It’s graduates are sought after in by tecch companies and there are tons of internship oppertunities in the Dallas area. Even though my older son is only in his second year his was offered a part time paid position with fleexible hours at a local tech company there. He doesn’t really need the money but thinks it will be a good learning experience for him.

Another thing to keep in mind is UTD is very generous with AP and DE credit so your son could add a minor, double major, do Fast Track and graduate with a BS and Masters … The one tip I have for anyone that might go to ANY TX state school (UTD, A&M, UT Austin…) is to have them take TX Govrenment (GOVT 2306) DE becuse it’s REQUIRED at all TX schools and having it out of the way frees up time for classes that might be more interesting. My sons took it online at ACC senior year.

Washington’s OOS merit scholarship is the “Purple and Gold Scholarship.” The amount varies by recipient, but in past years, students on CC have reported awards of up to $8,500 per year for four years.

@kirkhaven For nerdy, quirky, tech, with good merit for high stats kids, maybe check out Texas Tech? It’s fairly large though. For small, you could also look at NM Tech - it offers some merit, maybe enough to bring tuition down to UT-Austin rates.

@publisher @merc81 my d was the one who transferred out of Roch, and Merc81 is correct that it was due to loss of need-based aid. D is reapplying and hoping for enough merit aid to return. Her stats are much higher now than when she applied as a freshman. Her original merit never changed, but it was a very small award.

Carleton won’t give Merit money, at least to any appreciable degree. Since you’re going up that way, you might drop in on Macalester, which does.