Maybe take her to visit a few schools. My S started the process with a similar outlook thinking that any college would be fine but once we started visiting some different types of schools he developed very strong opinions very quickly (too big, too small, don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere etc.) and he ended up at Fordham!
Just looked up Carleton - but they don’t have an engineering program. I’m hesitant to have her seriously look at schools where engineering is not at least an option.
@happy1 Go Fordham!
@socalmom3 
He had a fantastic four years there.
I don’t know about how “elite” the soccer team is or anything about financial aid, but I know several people who attended Saint Louis University, including my step-nephew, who went there on a full soccer scholarship. I think he liked it a lot (and met his now-wife there).
Note that Fordham does not have any ABET accredited engineering majors.
Check out the University of Puget Sound. A friend’s daughter has had a very positive experience there, including generous aid (not sure if that was merit or sports). They have a dual degree program for engineering that is connected to some great schools. “Currently the University has entered into agreements with the engineering schools at Washington University (St. Louis), Columbia University, and the University of Southern California.”
Very few students actually complete dual degree 3+2 programs by transferring, for various reasons like not wanting to leave their “3” school, not getting admitted to the “2” school, not getting enough financial aid at the “2”, or otherwise not being able to afford the fifth year.
If engineering is a strong possibility, it is best to choose a school which offers it natively.
I was wondering about those 3+2 programs. And Fordham is sort of a convenient option, not a best fit option. When we feel especially lazy, we say Fordham that way both girls can be together and we don’t have to think about it. She visited her sister for a week in November and loved the big city and being with her sister (they are very close) but didn’t get the same “this is it” feeling that sister definitely got on her first visit.
Obviously this would be a reach (as it is for everyone) and not necessarily the best fit, but what about applying for engineering at Columbia? Your daughters would be a subway ride away from each other.
I’ll secomd Santa Clara. My DD got an engineering degree there. The school is terrific. As noted, their soccer is D1, but they do have club and intramural sports too.
And as noted, very similar in some ways to Fordham…but with much nicer weather 
SCU great engineering and location but historically they give the least in merit aid of all the schools in their west coast circle (LMU, Gonzaga). Their priority for money seems to be need based rather than merit based. Not sure what Gonzaga offers in terms of soccer…they have a lot of spirit with that great basketball team they have and their engineering is set up similar to SCU. Also are you locked on engineering or might she consider computer science? My daughter is majoring in that looking at schools where CS falls within the engineering school. Agree with avoiding the 3+ programs. Find a good program in one place, there will be more like minds at those schools as well. While mine is committed to CS, she loves theater and history - and is strong in liberal arts in general (36 ACT English type). So for us private is preferred (although UCLA/UCB certainly tempting if she gets in) so she has flexibility should she decide to switch or at least have the option of “easily” double majoring or minor in a liberal art field that interests her. Also, you can do engineering in the other Claremont schools, not just Harvey Mudd, it’s just a little more complicated to figure out how it works, but they work between the schools there. Just super competitive obviously. Good luck!
My daughter, also looking for engineering and sports, looked at a variety of schools in both size, NCAA divisions and geography. She looked at a very small D-1 school that is always ranked at the bottom of the D1 schools (so a lot of losing), a wonderful coach who is very nice. Daughter didn’t like the school at all because of the size. It showed us we didn’t want a 3+2 engineering because at the ‘3’ school, there were FIVE (5) math professors total. Their physics dept was okay, but it was just too small. Looked at a D3 school, Smith, with general engineering. Okay, but I don’t think I could have afforded it anyway. Again, daughter didn’t like the school, and didn’t like that only general engineering was offered. We looked at several D2 schools and she found a perfect one. New program, some athletic money, some merit money. There is going to be a lot of losing (new program).
One big advantage is that there isn’t going to be much school missed. They have two out of state games, but on Saturdays. They have 2 away instate games, both about 3 hours away so not days missed. A lot of the programs interested in her were not strong STEM schools so she wasn’t that interested in them. That is something to consider when picking a level of play and location. Mine is in Florida so her first 10 or so games are at home, where the weather is good.
If your daughter wants to play D3, she’ll have a ton of schools looking at her. They love top students who can get good merit aid because they can’t give any athletic aid, but many D3 schools don’t have engineering and many of them are in very very small towns.
If soccer is secondary, just look at academics as most schools do have club level sports to join once you get there. D1 and D2 have money, D3 has help getting accepted, and club is just for a good time once you are there. My other daughter plays club level and loves it, but it didn’t help her get into college and costs us a little in participation fees, although not as much as I expected because they do travel, get food when they are away, and coaching; it is less than I’ve ever paid for her to participate in this sport.
If your D wants eng’g, then it’s a bad idea to choose a 3-2 school. How would those last 2 years get paid?
Does Fordham give the big merit to NHRP?
The 3-2 program at Claremont McKenna/Harvey Mudd solves most of the problems mentioned above, as there is virtually no campus change, financial aid carries over, and they share the soccer team. There is a small amount of merit aid available at CMC, although it is pretty competitive to win an award. She can end up with an econ AND engineering degree, both from top schools.
@mom2collegekids Yes, Fordham is very generous to NHRP students. I will look again at SCU. Never heard of Gonzaga. Will also look that up. Harvey Mudd/Claremont McKenna might be a good option, but I’m worried about the intensity. We just need to go check out the campus and talk with some students.
Yes, Gonzaga is another Jesuit univ…very well respected. Don’t know how good their aid/merit is, though.
However, it still takes five years, so consider an extra year of cost (net of financial aid and scholarships) for it, like with any 3+2 program.
Check out Cal Poly Pomona - Div2 + Engineering
Three other DIII schools to consider: Carnegie-Mellon (my D’s friend played soccer there and was in engineering and had a wonderful experience); Case Western (my D considered playing there - good athletic facilities for soccer, excellent engineering programs); St. Thomas University in St. Paul (wonderful school in the twin cities) - Good luck!