<p>For the sun (warmth) worshipper: </p>
<p>Out west, 2nd Harvey Mudd along with the obvious Caltech and Stanford. Would probably avoid UCLA, UCSD, and Berkeley with Cal state financial crisis. Duke, Emory and Vanderbilt in the southeast. Rice and UT (Honors) if you’re willing to leave the country.</p>
<p>If you can handle colder weather, the ivys and Northwestern fit the bill. I’d also strongly consider Carnegie Mellon if CS is important in your engineering - math - science continuum. I’ll admit Pittsburgh’s UV index is not quite at the level of SoCal.</p>
<p>Remember, if you’re truly low income, merit aid may be moot - so long as school guarantees to meet need you may be surprised at the generousity that greets you.</p>
<p>And don’t sell yourself short - your stats and an Okie drivers license may be just the ticket to multiple admission and merit aid offers.</p>