@thumper1 I stand corrected, Purdue would probably be too expensive. Public OOS Universities are often not a very good deal.
Engineering and CS do not require to be in any supposedly “good” UG. Attending ANY UG and doing your best there will do. Engineering firms and IT departments mostly hire locally anyway. My H. is engineer and most of our friends and amny of their kds (who used to be either straight A or close) went to local college and in-state publics and are very successful and nobody cared where they graudated from. After saying that, I do not think that being all As is required, however, a survival rate in engineering programs is low, american HSs do NOT prepare for enigneering field and even the top caliber kids fall off if they do not realize that they have to adjust their efforts upward in order to survive. I know case of top kdis from private HS who even seek tutors and any rememdial type of activities to bring themselves up to the level required in engineering programs. While it is not the case with the CS (I am in a field, coming from engineering), a very persistant character and certain way of thinking is required there. These characteristics as far as I see could be developed in lots of math classes, we are talking about hihg degree of analytical skills (not the math itself) which is developed thru doing lots of math problems.
Someone who used to glide thru in HS, will have to adjust to a higher level of effort or face falling off the original track. And engineering require a great math / science background, “B” in HS (HS level of math and science in American schools is very low) will indicate slacking in this area.
Aiming at some selective programs is a very small part and absolutely not necessary. Surviving in engineering or CS program at ANY UG is a real goal that will require a high level of effort from most, this will include the lowest of the lowset ranked. In fact, I started in CS at CC. The surviving rate in the first programming class that I took was 30%, 70% of students fell off CS track after this class. I also happened to take another classe while working full time. It was also at CC and I took it only because employer was paying, I did not need it. At the end of the class, there were 3 students left. I can tell you from the prospective of the Computer programmer, the other 2 young kdis had no clue what they were doing, none, they just complaince that prof was too hard. He was not.
@vmt Purdue was one that came up under supermatch. I will also add the others you mention to my list of schools to research. RIT might be a stretch financially, but with so many recommendations, it’s worth looking into. Thank you!
@sevmom You would think that instate applicants would be chosen over OOS, but I understand the schools make more money from OOS students. Maybe that’s not even a factor. Just gets me thinking…
@2014novamom we hope to do another road trip in the summer, but I wonder if he’ll get a true feel for the school when they might only have summer classes running. Thank you for your info!
@greeninohio my co-worker is a big Michigan State fan and her sons all went to engineering school, some at VT. I will ask her about it. Also, WV is not too far and worth looking into. Boy, the list is growing! It’s great to have so many options. THank you!
@intparent Very, very interesting! What a great idea. If he attended something like the OC, he could really decide if it’s eng or CS. Thanks for the tip!
@thumper1 I work most Saturdays, which breaks up the time we can visit. I’m taking some annual leave for some of the trips. Some of the schools aren’t too far.
@mathprof63 Excellent points! Good luck with your son and his quest to find the right match.
@MIAMIDAP This may be my son: “Someone who used to glide thru in HS, will have to adjust to a higher level of effort or face falling off the original track” 30% left-scary stats! I hope his GC can give him some useful advice. Also, waiting to hear back from his Adv Prog teacher. Thanks you! Excellent points and a little scary.
@ThreeRedheads - @MiamiDAP frequently derides the lack of preparation of American high schoolers. I think if you go to any American university, you will find plenty of hard working and well-prepared students. All is not gloom and doom. Perhaps a B in math means he is slacking, though that sounds judgmental given we don’t know your son or the rigor of the class. It is really up to him to recognize he is slacking. At my very good state flagship (which I attended 30 years ago), the drop out rate in engineering was about 30% - so the reverse of MiamiDAP’s drop out rate from her CC.
No doubt it is hard and requires smarts, determination, organization, and nose to the grindstone. But, I knew many kids who grew into it and ended up successful, including me.
And I agree with blossom and mathprof that it’s most important to stay in school and complete the degree, and the likelihood of staying in is directly related to finding the right environment.
Blossom’s post #41 should be a must read for every kid going off to college. That said, there are also many kids who blossom in college because they are taking far more courses that interest them and even with gen eds they generally have a lot more choice about what they take and when they take it.
My younger son was one of those late bloomers who blossomed and did much better in college than he did in high school. I agree that it is not all " gloom and doom." Sure, some kids do drop out of engineering but many also succeed.
Any decent CS major will have both theory and practice. IT and MIS are usually more business-based majors.
A few schools do offer both engineering and engineering technology, such as Rochester Institute of Technology.
I found it really helpful (if time consuming) to actually look at the classes that are required for each program. I found all those, then showed them to my S, who was really able to visualize the curriculum he preferred. He immediately eliminated the ones that are more theoretical - which also tended to require more high level math.
If you do continue to look at RIT, I highly recommend the Colleges and Careers event in July/August for rising Seniors. It gives kids a chance to explore 4 different majors - including meeting with professors - and spend the night on campus. My D ended up changing her major based on the program! We’re planning on going, and my S is going to check out the Cybersecurity, Networking & System Administration, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science programs. http://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/careers/
@ucbalumnus : Some CS programs have all sorts of tracks, including IT , within the CS dept. (SUNY Stony Brook, for example) Some have “professional” vs. “grad school” tracks. Possibly the very top tier programs are similar in scope, but there are quite a number of variations among the mid-tier CS programs.
A school to consider is the University of Toledo in Toledo Ohio. He would be given a minimum of a $5000 scholarship bringing the cost to around $25000/yr. before financial aid. There are likely other scholarships he would be eligible for. They have a mandatory co-op program. UT has a very nice campus. The main campus is rather gothic looking, the engineering campus which is within walking distance looks more like labs. Their engineering program is better than the rest of their school along with their pre dental and pharmacy programs. It is a Division 1 school athletically, it’s engineering program has around 2700 students and I think your son would be much closer to the average student in their engineering program. It was my D’s instate safety if things hadn’t of worked out that she could go to her first choice.
With his grades and potential scores I don’t believe acceptance would be an issue. I think compared to an instate university it might end up being affordable. They are ABET accredited and have a broad variety of engineering degrees including Computer Science and engineering.
http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/
http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/coe/admissions/prospective_students/index.htm
http://www.utoledo.edu/admission/freshman/scholarships/scholarship-grid.html
http://www.utoledo.edu/admission/freshman/scholarships/out-of-state.html
@VMT thank you for the encouragement!
@mathmom and @ Agree completely!
@ucbalumnus I heard back from his Adv Prog teacher. He said anything in the Computer/Computer Science field would be an excellent match.
@mamaduck What a great idea having him look at the curriculum. THe Career and College event is very inexpensive and he may be available for the August event. Thank you! eta: He said he’s interested so I’m off to figure out the logistics. THANK YOU!
@lvvcsf I am going to do some research and add this school to the supersearch. Thank you for providing so much useful info!
We liked RIT too but the winters are harsh. The campus is very nice and immaculate. It is 47K and not sure how much merit they give. My son is interested in their Game Design and Development major- he is also a current HS junior. We are planning on going to the Career and College event in the summer. My son also loved Towson University in MD for Computer Science. Not sure if they have Engineering. Good luck on this journey!
@carly135 After my last post, I looked at the tuition at RIT. Out of our price range. 
Haven’t heard too much about Towson. Will have to look it up. Thanks!
Don’t look at the tuition - look at the Net Price Calculator. Almost no one pays “sticker price” 
https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/rit
Here are some scholarships available at RIT. They do give out money:
@MYOS1634 Net price, without my son getting a job or loan is $34k, but @dadinator posted some great info on scholarships! THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH! There’s even a Robotics scholarship.
You do realize that if your DS does get one of the scholarships listed, it would decrease your financial need, you would get less in financial aid, and would then still end up at a Net Price of 34k?
@dadinator I did not realize that. I have so much to learn. Thank goodness for this site and all the helpful people.
Adding merit scholarships on top of financial aid awards is called “stacking” and most schools do not do that.
Usually the merit scholarship just replaces some of the grant money in the financial aid package. If the merit scholarship is bigger than the grant money in the financial aid package, then usually the grant money is eliminated and some of the loan award would be reduced.
Does that make sense?
Robotics scholarship = right up your son’s alley, right? 
You can keep it on the table, explaining to your son that if scholarships/FA don’t work out, he must be psychologically ready to “walk away” from an admission offer…