<p>vballmom, I think there's an untested assumption in what you're helping your son plan, namely that engineering is the right career for him. It's unfortunate that while budding lawyers and doctors have the college years to figure out if its really what they want to do, for some fields (engineering, nursing, etc) you have to decide at 17. Now its true that a lot of the people who go into engineering have an interest in building things and understanding how things work. However the daily life of an engineer is not very much like what he's been doing so far, connecting circuit blocks and snapping components into computers. That's what technicians do. And not that its a bad thing; perhaps a job as a technician would be a better fit for him than becoming an EE. </p>
<p>And ignoring for a moment the job, to become an EE you first need to get the degree. EE education is college is pretty much 4 years of applied calculus, outside of the digital-design classes. But those are largely senior-year electives; first you have to get thru all the required courses that are heavily based in calculus. The part you wrote about motivation worries me a bit; it takes a tremendous amount of effort and dedication to get thru the courseload in engineering; nationwide between 1/2 and 2/3rds of all those who enter college intending to become engineers switch out (see, for example, EETimes.com</a> - Undergrad brain drain imperils U.S. industry ). So I'd urge you to have him talk to current EE college students so he understands what he'll be doing for 4 years in college, and to actual engineers (or read career books) so he knows what the working life of an engineer is like. Of course since you say he's quiet and shy this may be a big step for him, don't have much advice for you there.</p>
<p>Since you're in CA the UC and CSU schools are a great deal compared to the privates. However these are big schools, all of them. Unless your son is willing to take some steps to build a circle of friends and make contact with his profs it may be an unsatisfying experience for him. You've already identified a small/midsize college as what he wants. Engineering is most often taught in larger U's that support an engineering college, or in stand-alone engineering colleges like Caltech. So his desire for a small/mid-size college will bump up against the reality of where the programs exist. 2 smaller West-coast schools that offer engineering are Santa Clara or Stanford; but SCU is religiously-affiliated and he's unlikely to get into Stanford. So something has to give (smaller school on West coast, or engineering).</p>