Wow, what a great list of acceptances, congratulations!
My son ED’ed to Virginia Tech, but had gotten into Colorado School of Mines before he found out. He also really liked the access to mountains for skiing and the engineering focus, but he had Virginia Tech higher because of costs and the feel of the campus was great.
To me though, based on what you just laid out - it sounds to me like W&M or CSM would be the right place for you. As others have said, I’d check the upper level course offerings at the schools to see if they sound like what you want.
And prestige for CS is not the same as overall prestige. If you do well at any of these schools you’ll have very good prospects coming out of college.
If you decide to go to VT, send a message and I’ll give you my son’s instagram/snap - he’ll need to find a roommate.
I don’t know a ton about UVA specifically, but my in laws live in Charlottesville and there is plenty of outdoor activity to be had in that area — mountain biking, hiking, paddling, cycling, etc .
My husband and I both went to W&M and one of our friends from college is a pretty well-known video game designer, so I obviously think W&M is great for game design. It sounds like a great fit for you - and there is great biking around. Not a ton of mountains and snow, but it’s not far to get to those.
Even in the stone age when CSM was 90% male, they found people to date. I went to school in Boulder and three sorority sisters married guys from Mines. I went to quite a few parties in Golden as it is only about 45 minutes away from Boulder.
My daughter went to Florida Tech which has a smaller percentage of women (30%?) but it seemed to work out. Many of the international students were married (and brought their spouses), some are gay (both the men and women), some have partners from high schools at other colleges, etc. But yes, women have a lot of choices.
Mom here of introverted nerdy techy outdoorsy computer science major son at Co School of Mines from Northern VA!! He just finished his freshman year. The school is full of kids like you/him. You will find your people all around. CS is one of the more popular majors at Mines in a sea of engineers. Both his freshman roommates are also CS. Look at a flowchart of the courses required for the CS degree at Mines as compared to the other universities you are looking at. He also got into VT, broader options, but he liked the vibe at Mines immensely better and hands down Golden over Blacksburg for him. Not all CS degree tracks are created equal. You may find the path at Mines is more narrow than you want or it may be just what you want. That’s why it’s good to compare the actual classes you will take at each of the schools. As Mines is a STEM school, even CS is very math and science heavy, very little humanities classes and zero liberal arts. No game design focus but PLENTY of opportunities to connect and program with like minded students. My son is interested in programming and software development. A degree from Mines says a lot and we’ll respected. The school is very rigorous. Mines is no joke. Full of top tier kids from their high schools. Very supportive community and lots of resources. Golden, Denver and surrounding areas offers so many great opportunities. Tons of outdoor clubs and things to do from caving to biking to hiking to skiing. Red Rocks amphitheater minutes away always something going on and outdoor festivals everywhere. No shortage of things to do outside or at the local game shop where my son spends a lot of time with other students playing D&D and MTG.
One other thing to add to your criteria list if it’s important to you is housing beyond freshman year. Mines does not guarantee housing and it’s short on off-campus options in Golden. Most students scramble to find off campus housing for the next year in Jan. of freshman year. Sophomore on campus housing is very extremely limited. And non-existent for upperclassman.