We are located on the East Coast and we are looking for colleges with good STEM programs. So far we have looked at Kean University in NJ. My daughter would like to dorm her freshman year and Kean is too close for dorming. We have no restrictions on how far she can go. Any ideas for a starting point are great!
That doesn’t narrow it down very much.
Any specific major in STEM?
Prefer larger or smaller school experience?
Grades/test scores/desire for highly competitive schools?
Do you have a budget? Are you using a need or merit aid strategy?
understand that to get a STEM job other than one along the lines of lab technician your D will need a PhD. The exception is engineering. There is a glut of PhD’s (as you can see with a little online searching) so that alone is no guarantee of a good job after one tires of postdocs.
So now we’ve established your D wants a PhD. Just about any college in the country is capable of providing the education and opportunities for research one needs to apply to a PhD program. What makes the difference in the end is what the student does; does she get to know some profs, find research positions, look for summer jobs at a place like NIH? This isn’t to say all colleges are identical; you’ll find differences in advising, class size, strength of fellow students,etc. Picking the right set of colleges to apply is a matter of figuring out what is a fit for your D. A kid that thrives at a small LAC might not be as happy at a large research U and vice-versa.
Agree that questions in Post #2 need to be answered before you can get any meaningful suggestions.
I’d also recommend that you get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review, Insiders Guide) and start reading up on different options. These books can often be found in the HS guidance office or library.