<p>He built his own computer, which he has upgraded several times (changing out video cards or adding a second, upgrading motherboard etc) and he built one for his brother (who got the hand me down video card and motherboard). He runs our network and has a small server. He will also be able to describe his internships (retail, non-profit, computer repair)</p>
<p>Engineering schools like people who like to build stuff, so your son should definitely check out Olin.</p>
<p>The school is very project based, which might really appeal to him.</p>
<p>For example, each first year has to figure out how to build a swimming toy (I think it was).</p>
<p>When I visited, the work rooms had kiddie pools filled with water so that the students could test their projects. Several were happy to show me their models – they were pleased with their efforts.</p>
<p>I was feeling guilty about saying that Bard might be overbalanced to the humanities side compared to Reed, so I looked up some information. At Bard, a third of the students major in Visual and Performing Arts, and a quarter in English or some other literature. No science or math major attracts as much as 5% of the students. At Reed, a quarter of the students have lab science or math majors. So now I don’t fee guilty anymore.</p>
<p>One college that immediately came to mind, aside from the ones already mentioned, was University Of Rochester. They have an interesting curriculum that is very broad and flexible. There are plenty of science and math focused students on campus. Another college that it is often compared with, Case Western is also another possibility. These are “outside the box” possibilities that attract a large number of brilliant math and science oriented students. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>the problem with a lot of the ‘less wealthy’ progressive schools is that they tend to be very, very weak in their natural science and math offerings. as far as i can tell, only five math courses were taught at hampshire this fall: calculus in context, statistics, statistics for the behavioral sciences, linear algebra and a seminar. period.</p>
<p>there are lots of things these schools do really well and highly motivated students can be successful by spending years in independent study, but at the end of the day a somewhat more mainstream option (like bard, which has a small but sufficient math department) is probably a much better academic option. of course, a place like oberlin that takes the natural sciences and mathematics very seriously is probably a better option yet.</p>
<p>To be fair re Hampshire, the college was designed to take advantage of the offerings at the other colleges in the Amherst area. Its home faculty is not large, and I think there are not a whole lot of courses in any field actually offered at Hampshire. But Hampshire, like Bard, seems to attract many more humanities students than science, math, or social sciences.</p>
<p>Hampshire does have the Five College Consortium, which enables students to take courses at Smith, Mt. Holyoke, UMass and Amherst.</p>
<p>But I agree it might be an uphill battle to major in math or science at Hampshire and that it would require some further investigation.</p>
<p>[cross-posted with JHS]</p>
<p>JHS, I know Bard is trying to beef up their science side (hence the new building), but it will take time. The good news is that I think they might take more of a risk with a kid interested in science.</p>
<p>I am also wondering if this student would like one of those take one course at a time schools like Colorado College or even Deep Springs.</p>
<p>I doubt a kid who doesn’t like interviews or leaving his room is likely to get picked for Deep Springs. Colorado College is really worth investigating, but (like Swarthmore) it may be a little too elite.</p>
<p>Rochester Institute of Technology.</p>
<p>I think the “not to hard to get in to” part may take a number of the schools mentioned off of the list–certainly Swarthmore, WesU, Tufts, Olin, less certain but I would also say Grinnell, Bard (Bard has gotten very competitive), Colorado College, Smith, Rochester. Also, although the student bodies of some of these schools have a rep for being pretty alternative, the curriculum is maybe less so, many of them do have requirements–WesU comes to mind. Bennington and Hampshire are both places with essentially no requirements, both are full of pretty engaged, intellectual kids. I would not say they are easy to get into, but certainly easier than the above or Reed. Agree with others about Hampshire and the 5 colleges–it does seem really easy to take classes at the other schools, there are something like 5,000 classes to choose from, it seems that many of the students take advantage. Marlboro is a whole other story–no requirements, extremely intellectual and rigorous, opportunity to do graduate level research and writing as an undergrad, but must be very independent and self-motivated, able to be OK with having no place to hide ever, tiny campus and student body 10 miles from the nearest town. Easier to get into.</p>
<p>I would suggest Goucher (Baltimore) and maybe Bates (ME). Both solid small schools with a little quirckiness thrown in.</p>
<p>My daughter went to Reed. She also applied to Lewis and Clark, Swarthmore, Bard, and Wesleyan. Her top choices were Bard and Reed. I agree with the commenter who said that Reed on the east coast would be Swarthmore. (In fact, the Reed prez, Colin Diver, came from Swarthmore.) However, I think Swarthmore would actually be a pretty good fit, as would Haverford. Both schools come from the Quaker tradition, which is quite nurturing.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose quirky math-genius son (who just finished a PhD in Tokyo, and yes, he’s a gaijin, not Asian) went to, and loved, Lehigh.</p>
<p>A good safety might be UMBC. It is medium sized, but has a reputation for smaller classes and more personal attention than UMCP. It has strong program in the sciences and computer science. Students tend to be bright and somewhat nerdy.</p>
<p>(Vossron was kind enough to send me a private message rather than correct me publicly, but Colin Diver, Reed’s prez, went to Amherst, not Swarthmore. I regret the error.)</p>
<p>Thank you, I have added all to my first level list to consider. We lived in the Rochester area for many years before coming to DC/MD so we are very familiar with RIT and Uof R, so thanks for mentioning.</p>
<p>UMBC would be wonderful from a Mom’s point of view, 45 minutes away and pre-paid; my UMCP son looks way down on UMBC, but he is not the boss of the world!</p>
<p>I am going to soon converse with his school about how colleges view his school/transcript. I looked at his transcript yesterday, and figured out his GPA… which mathematically was not so bad… not counting English, unweighted it is 3.75, and even with an F in 9th grade english, C in 10th grade English it is still 3.5something because all his other grades are A’s and B’s, and I have no idea how the one or two “no credit” classes will be considered or if they will show up on the final transcript. Also, his b’s were mostly in 9th grade, A’s mostly in 10th and 11th, and even in Spanish he went from B in Sapnish !A to an A in Spanish 1B.</p>
<p>So perhaps I should not be as pessimistic as I am? Please consider that at least mostly rhetorical, because mostly I think it can’t be answered without someone knowing about his HS or similar ones… and I think I should start a new thread!</p>
<p>Many, Many Thanks! Great list of schools! </p>
<p>And I think over winter break (February) we will visit Goucher and maybe Johns Hopkins (might be too competitive for him to get in, but it is nearby, and give him a flavor for a school of that type.)</p>
<p>A little more light on why Reed is unique- from the minds of Fred Armesein & Carrie Brownstein
[Portland- is still in the 90’s](<a href=“http://www.ifc.com/videos/portlandia-portland-dream-of-the-90s.php?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d0c1b04835dc1e9%2C0”>http://www.ifc.com/videos/portlandia-portland-dream-of-the-90s.php?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d0c1b04835dc1e9%2C0</a>)
“Where young people go to retire”
;)</p>
<p>I thought that you had found a community college nearby, from your previous thread. Have you changed your mind?
I continue to have the same concerns that I voiced on your previous thread.</p>
<p>levirm, it is way way too early to know where this son will wind up! Your points are all well taken, and I’m using the feedback of folks here to ground me in the more complete process.</p>
<p>I kicked myself the other day and reminded myself that my pre-college son is NOT the same son, entirely, as the one I’ve been sending to school since K… so to figure out what is realistic for him at least one thing I’m going to do is at least one consult with the parent of a friend of mine who is a college counselor forever and we used for S1 and after 11th grade have her review S2’s record fresh so we are not just getting school’s opinion. I’m also planning on really getting a full pic from school of how he is as a student now, big pic, as pt conferences are usually a review of class by class and very in the weeds.</p>
<p>I chose Reed for its culture and spirit, not for its competitiveness, and just to get ideas. So CC remains in the mix, but a year out from applications being due… I feel is time to widen my search and thinking, before focusing and helping S come up with list.</p>
<p>I think a key question for you should be whether your son needs the constant support to be successful in classes. If so, his list will be entirely different than if he just wants an accepting atmosphere. </p>
<p>Based on what I read here and on your other thread, I think RIT and UMBC are great options.</p>