I interpreted that she is asking for small school recs with good STEM and merit aid. That’s not OOS public school s usually (neither small nor big on merit, though Mines is an exception.)
Colorado College (good merit but very very competitive)
Univ. Puget Sound (I hear has good STEM, no first hand info though)
Santa Clara Univ could be a really good bet.
My son sounds much like your son, maybe less quirky, and he’s interested in Mines and Santa Clara both.
@Techno13 yes you are correct small schools with STEM and merit.
While we are not ruling out State schools, he seems to enjoy smaller school environment much better.
Many reasons: smaller class sizes, easier to take on immediate leadership roles in clubs, etc., not that into sports so a larger school “spirit” environment isn’t as attractive.
He is now applying to Colorado College and we are planning a visit in early November. We are also going to visit Col Mines. Which I would love because I would love to visit Colorado more!
We lived in Northern California and know Santa Clara well.
He’s eligible for a full tuition scholarship at Baylor and TCU. Both are small schools with a population of 10-15k students.
So in case anyone is interested, here is our current list:
(Because we are in Texas)
Others:
-Carnegie Mellon (high in CS) may be too expensive
-Colorado College
-Colorado School of Mines (visiting these in November)
He will apply but can’t visit before applying (incidentally we received free application vouchers for most of these):
RIT, RPI, Rose-Hulman, Grinnell.
He is researching some of the other suggestions (WPI, etc)
I will keep anyone posted if interested or their child is in a similar search.
It’s easy to search on Google for colleges but reccos from other students and parents here have been helpful.
Mines has always been world renown for their geology/mining grad program, but the state has really invested in the rest of the school lately. Here is what it has going for it:
Grinnell. Quirky is the middle name there! And you cannot underestimate how wonderful the open curriculum is. My politically obsessed older daughter is a first year at Grinnell, and my STEM kid (hopes to be a doctor, 4.0 unweighted) is applying ED. One of the few top LACs that gives merit aid, too (up to $25/K) per year.
Pay attention to the fact that the CS major may be significantly more difficult to get into than the school overall at many schools.
@ucbalumnus great point, he is listing a 2nd option for major in case he does not get it.
UT-Austin CS is very difficult to get into, but his counselor thought his scores were high enough due to maximum credits in Math + AP Scholar with distinction + test scores + legacy.
That said, nothing is a guarantee,
Brandeis–small research uni near Boston; strong in sciences, Jordan Pollack there for robotics. Students proudly describe themselves as quirky. Low emphasis on sports, high emphasis on clubs, leadership. If you’re visiting WPI, you’re only 30 miles or so from Brandeis, so worth seeing. Our kid extremely happy there.