My son was accepted to a number of good universities and would like to get opinions. We live in Oregon so we will be subject to out-of-state tuition for many of these. He wants to major in Biomedical or Mechanical Engineering. Any input on these would be welcome. He does intend on going to graduate school. Thank you!
They are:
Cal Poly-Bio Medical Engineering
UCLA- Bioengineering
Loyola Marymount- Mechanical Engineerng
Gonzaga-Bio Medical Engineering
University of San Diego- Mechanical Engineering
Santa Clara University- Mechanical Engineering
Oregon State University-Honors College- Mechanical Engineering
Still waiting to hear from:
USC
Vanderbilt
He has received merit money from USD, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, small amount from Cal Poly and Oregon State.
Still waiting to hear from UCLA and Loyola Marymount on any merit $.
FYI…His stats are 4.0 GPA, 34 ACT, 1420 SAT, Student Government, (ASB Treasurer), Swim Team, Volunteer internships
Lots of AP classes should help him be close to sophomore status
What is the net cost of each? And if he wants premed?
Compare the net costs after all offers are in. Rule out any school you can’t afford or that doesn’t have the programs you want. Then rank the remainder according to the factors that matter to you. Nobody else can do that for you.
UCLA, USC, and Vanderbilt are more highly regarded than the rest (overall and for engineering). One of those 3 may be worth a reasonable net price premium over the others (but it’s up to you what “reasonable” means). As for the others, you have an interesting mix of in-state public, OOS public and small-/mid-sized Catholic universities. I’m inclined to think Oregon State (with in-state rates, FA/merit money, and the honors college) is the one to beat for engineering.
Thank you. We have a spreadsheet set up and he can go to Oregon State for probably about $4,000 a year with the money they have already offered and he gets priority registration and honors college housing.
He is applying for some scholarships so we will see how it all plays out.
Right now, I’d say the three top contenders would be Oregon State honors v. Loyola and Santa Clara. Best value v. Excellent private colleges that bring a ‘plus’ (which may or may not be worth paying for).
If USC and/or Vanderbilt, you add another contender. 
“Graduate school” is PhD program or medical school?
Also, compare the net prices after scholarships with the amount you can afford to pay without compromising your retirement or younger kids’ college money.
Oregon State seems like an excellent value here - a total cost of just $16K over four years, plus the honors program benefits. I don’t see the point in paying full OOS tuition for UCLA or Cal Poly (SLO or Pomona? Doesn’t matter) or full tuition at Loyola Marymount when you have this as an option.
Santa Clara is also a great school. How much merit money has he gotten there? Does he have a preference between OSU and Santa Clara (or preferences for any of the other schools). Gonzaga and USD are pretty good, too; I just think that out of the bunch Santa Clara stands out, but that would depend a lot on costs and comparisons.
USC and Vanderbilt are great and meet 100% of need, so that would just be down to how much the price differential is over and above OSU (and Santa Clara, Gonzaga, or USD).
I’m just chose my college and am in the same grade as your son. I also got accepted into UCLA, but ultimately chose to go to an in-state school where tuition is a lot cheaper considering that I have to do 8 years of college. In my own opinion, I would choose Oregon State since he’s going to be a freshman and doesn’t really need to go to the fancy schools just yet. I also happen to know that a lot of students (my cousin and half of their friends) ended up switching their majors half-way through sophomore year, therefore it would be better to consider all of this. Additionally, there is always a possibility that a mishap could happen during college and for a few students that would mean their scholarships getting revoked. In that case, I would hate my parents and I to pay 60k for it. It just isn’t worth it. I would prefer to do 2-4 years to get a solid foundation to know my major and mindset for college, then transfer or apply for graduate school after.