If he wants something “like” an Ivy in “feel”, URichmond would be the closest. Since it’s a top college nationally (something like ranked in the top 2-3%?) there is a sense of feeling lucky, humbled and privileged for students who are there - it was no one’s default choice ‘because it’s what’s nearby’. Many students are strong enough to have hoped for Ivies and there’s a wealth of connections and opportunities.
I do believe that UR and Alabama are the strong contenders - if he wants a larger university with a real football presence and more “public” feel, while keeping the personalized attention he’d get at URichmond, 'Bama is a better choice for him than either ASU or UArizona, first because he has CBH which is a game-changer in terms of Honors College opportunities, and second because he’ll get to “go away” to college like he’d wanted, rub elbows with bright students who come all over the country (often from CA and the East Coast), and discover another part of the country.
The overall academics and “prestige” are stronger at URichmond, the “large SEC university” and CBHP are for UAlabama. There’s no wrong choice between these two in my opinion.
Have a great visit to URichmond, and don’t forget to report back 
That thing Psata82 said. Free ride at a respectable school trumps a possibly stronger program that costs more than about $1000 a year. You can always go to grad school at a strong school.
As for the number of courses…better to have a few well-taught rigorous courses than to have a plethora of choices without individual rigor or meaning.
I’d probably offer to by him a Spyder if he graduates with honors from Richmond.
@MYOS1634 - I think Barrett will tell you they are as good as an Ivy. They actually do tell you that and it is one my D’s final two to choose from.
Now as far as the original question, I am going to be contrarian - do not study computer science unless you are going to get a dual degree in business, or plan to go for an MBA. Why? Because the programming jobs are just not there for US grads. They are being sent overseas (just ask anybody who was on IBM payroll). But by mixing with business, he makes himself much more marketable because that is the skillset combination in demand. And that is really the only reason to go to college for a CS degree.
IBM has changed itself from a computer systems company to a consulting and outsourcing company, so it is not representative of the CS job market.
It may be the case that high densities of CS jobs are region specific.
Thanks everyone! These comments are very helpful! I think he’s actually got some very good choices.
Richmond is a wonderful option and I think he’s leaning that direction…But Bama, U of A and ASU are all good choices, especially CBHP and Barrett. He doesn’t seem as interested in Miami, and that is probably a good thing for me, since it’s the most expensive option.
He’s still really upset about his ivy rejections though, and I think it’s just going to be a few more days before he gets over it and starts making a sensible decision. I hate to see that…lots of kids on this forum are feeling exactly the same way, and I feel bad for all of them. But oh well, that’s life.
@collegedadof2: I agree, Barrett is great, but Chris lives in Arizona (he wanted to go out of state), and it’s more expensive than the two out of state choices. I think college is the perfect time to discover another area of the country without any risk. (I say the same to kids who hesitate between, say, their in-state college and Barrett if both are the same cost.)
A friend got his B.A. from Richmond and later earned his law degree from one of the elite law schools.
Kids that love programming love CS; however some will do electrical and computer engineering. At UA both are in the college of engineering.
Our nephew realized this about CS (he attended TN Tech) and stayed in CS once he looked at the EE/ECE course track. He is not as high in his stats as your son but high enough to get the in-state Hope scholarship for 4 years; he spread out his courses to take the 5 year plan so he could do better/keep higher grades - however he also did both a paid co-op program and paid summer internship (both were fabulous work opportunities and they money earned helped him also pay some of his educational expenses) so he graduated in 6 years Summa Cum Laude and got a job where he wanted (he stayed in TN). Very good salary.
The CBHP is a very high honors program at UA - very selective. I think there is a great opportunity to be among the CBHP students. STEM at UA has gotten a lot of attention with new facilities and faculty, as you have seen on your previous times on campus. The honors college at UA offers great opportunities. My DD is studying civil eng and is in the STEM MBA honors program. She loves the school and is happy there. With your son’s AP credits, he can also take ‘more’ with his college coursework (w/o taking the HS, english, etc that he has credits for). That was nice for DD and will help her finish in four.
Sunny and mild/moderate temp on UA campus is more of the norm. It also doesn’t rain a lot, but rain does come up - so a rainstorm when you have to go between buildings, so some students do carry rain protection in their back pack on rain forecast days. DD got caught the other day, so I think after experiencing that once she is going to pay more attention. I live in N AL and carry an umbrella in my car - when it rains it is handy, because you can have a heavy downpour for a few minutes and don’t have the ability to ‘wait it out’…
I really think a hard look between Richmond and UA will have him focused on what is better for him. If he has wider horizons, he may want to explore those possibilities with UA. He has to decide what feels ‘right’ to him.
Good luck with the process. Let us know where he does end up going. He will do well where he is planted by continuing to work to his abilities. Kudos to your parent participation - I know you are very proud of his accomplishments and his future potential.
I think he should attend UR because of the scholarship. I assume he got Oldham (or Robins science)?I am an Artist scholar and there are many perks that come with the scholarship. You get priority course registration, which is helpful, especially if you are trying to get in advanced courses, a one time $3000 stipend, guaranteed housing all four years (this is important if you do study abroad), and free tickets to all concerts and performances hosted by the Modlin Center for the Arts.
Im a current math/CS student here (Im also a grader for the CS department) and we have all the courses necessary to get into grad school. The professors allow students to work in their labs and students can get internships, which helps build your resumé for grad school applications. Most of the CS courses are quite rigorous for most students, especially data structures, computer organization, and algorithms (along with any class taught by Dr. Shaw). With CS here, its all about what you put in here. I can tell you the rigor depends a lot on your background, but the courses are thorough.
@guineagirl96 Thanks, that is very helpful! We are visiting the University of Richmond this weekend for Realize Richmond, and we are very excited! Yes, he was named a Science Scholar, and it sounds like there are some great benefits. It sounds like the CS courses are good, and having the priority registration should help with getting the right courses at the right time.
Glad you got a little student input from UR.
Just have to chip in again that UA and CBHP is awesome. CBHP is the most selective honors program at UA. All honors kids get priority registration. Housing is not an issue at UA with the Presidential II opened this past year and so many nice and nearby new apts. My DD is renting a really nice place across the street from UA and has nice accommodations and a little cheaper than the suite housing at UA. Students that want to stay on campus have to put in a request in a timely manner, but since the growth of UA has seemed to slow a little, students that want to stay on campus seem to have that opportunity from what I hear from other parents.
It may come down to where your son believes he will thrive the best, where he really wants to go.
Maybe you can see where he stands once he has attended ‘Realize Richmond’ and what you think too. You are comparing two very different schools - one with under 3,000 student body and the other with 26,500 (FT UG according to US News Best Colleges data). I can tell you UA has a lot of student excitement, and allows the honors kids so many fabulous opportunities.
CS has been a very hot job field so internships and other opportunities are very plentiful right now.
Sounds like you have two great options at fairly low out-of-pocket. Congrats.
OP definitely let your son get over his bruises with expectations on college acceptances. These kids just don’t realize how fickle the process can be.
Good thing for level headed parent(s). GaTech totally off the table.
I have a friend that allowed her son to totally direct his college prospects, and instead of 3 ‘safeties’ he really only had one. So now he is on a couple of wait lists and is reeling with emotions. He also had better safeties available. I think the parents will handle differently for their younger DD.
Hope the weekend is a rewarding experience and has son thinking more clear-headed.
@SOSConcern Thanks, that is very helpful! Yes, I think after the upcoming Realize Richmond event he will make his final decision. He’s got good choices, including UA, so he really can’t go wrong!
Sorry to hear about your friend’s results…this is really such a hard process. If my son had been choosing all the schools himself, he would only have applied to ivy/ivy-equivalents and one or possibly two safety schools. And he’d be attending a safety now for sure. He was pretty certain he’d get into Stanford, so he didn’t have much interest in less-competitive schools. Fortunately I added a lot of middle-of-the-road schools to the list, looking for merit aid. Still, I wish he’d been more involved. Sigh…I’ll definitely do it differently with my next child!
Yes Stanford was one of this boy’s applications too (and they visited Stanford last summer, however the young man did not try to get his standardized test scores higher - they also didn’t believe me on that one where I said he needs to sharpen his pencil and score better for any chance). Your son had a better chance based on his other results. I kept telling the mom to put in the quick application to UA before Dec (she never would have to tell son if the other reaches worked out), but she also suffered from a bit of arrogance and blind-sightedness - then the kid would have had a ‘better’ safety - for environmental eng. He would have UA Presidential and Engineering scholarships. His state school is the only program he was admitted to with his desired major.
Any progress on the decisions front or any update?
Hi @MYOS1634 ! We visited the U of Richmond last weekend and my son loved it! It’s a great school and they really support their students, so I don’t think he can go wrong there. He happily turned in his acceptance form, so it’s done!!! Out of the five affordable schools (U of Alabama, U Miami, U Richmond, U of Arizona, Arizona State U), Richmond was his favorite, although he liked certain things about each of those schools, and any of them would have been a good choice, in my opinion. Fortunately for me, Richmond also gave him a fantastic financial package, so this will work out beautifully for my budget. So all in all, a big win! Yay! Thanks to everyone here, for all the advice and support. I never would have been able to navigate him to this great outcome without the information and feedback from all of you.
Congratulations, @chris17mom!
@chris17mom And he’ll have a new love for spiders.
@dodgersmom and @gearmom Thanks!!! I am very happy with this outcome!
Gotta love the end of this story, for who followed it from the beginning, since I vividly remember him writing about spiders not realizing they were UR’s mascot, and then learning he’d completely misunderstood the prompt…