<p>My S is a rising senior and is putting together a list of colleges to apply to. He is not sure of his major yet, but is sure it will be in a STEM field. He has been leaning away from engineering lately, thinking more about math, physics, chemistry, and / or CS. We have run net price calculators for several schools and despite saving since the kiddos were born, will not be able to afford most need only schools (with the possible exception of the most generous) due to a high EFC (~ 1/3 of our gross income with 2 in college). Consequently, H and I are advising S to cast a wide net seeking merit scholarships. I have read all of the guaranteed merit threads and S plans to apply to a couple of these as financial safeties. He is also planning to apply to several tech schools, many of which give merit. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to round out his list with some LACs that have strong ST(-E)M majors and if so, which would you recommend? I have read that several LACs in the Midwest are generous with merit but I am not familiar enough with them to know which have strong math and science departments. </p>
<p>Here are his stats: ranked 2 of 330; SAT 1590 (CR +M), 2290 (CR, M, W); ACT 35; should qualify as NMSF; several APs with one 4 (English comp) and the rest 5s (Calc BC, both physics C exams, chem, stats). Has challenged himself with several courses over and above the offerings of his HS – Physics C, Multi Variable, Diff Eq, and is doing independent studies in Mandarin and material science senior year. ECs include an internship doing research in a lab as well as FRC, SO, etc. </p>
<p>FWIW, as of now he plans to pursue a (funded) graduate degree in his chosen field after UG. Yeah, I know a lot can change in 4 years!</p>
<p>Well, it never hurts to apply. A LAC might throw money at him, just to improve their stats. That said, I don’t know why a STEM (or STM) kid would want to be at a LAC. I suspect he’s more likely to “find his tribe” at a STEM school. My husband and I are both engineers, there’s a lot to be said for being with a group of people who “get” science, math, and engineering. I also think it would be easier to switch from, say, physics to math major at a more technical school.</p>
<p>Some to consider in New England would be UNH, UMASS, ULowell, WPI, Northeastern. Northeastern has a co-op program that might help defray the costs and provide soem good job experience.</p>
<p>Oberlin also has strong natural sciences departments. Knew a few Physics, Chem, and bio/neuroscience majors who ended up going into science PhD programs or did the 3/2 LAC/engineering program.</p>
<p>JRCL - Great suggestions - Northeastern is a definite. If he is a NMSF as expected and makes it to NMF, he should qualify for a full tuition scholarship. He will also likely apply to WPI (H is an alum and his sister goes there so S is familiar with the school and likes it) and RPI. UNH is an option, but based on D1’s experience with good, but not as good, stats, it ended up being more expensive than many private schools. His sister was very focused on engineering, so it was pretty easy for her to put together a list. While I agree that he would find his tribe easily at a tech school, I posed the question because I suspect that there may be other options out there that would be a good fit.</p>
<p>Given how advanced he is in math, if he majors in math, he could easily hit a ceiling in math at a LAC. LACs’ main advantages are small lower division courses, but he will be skipping those in math anyway, and upper division math courses are mostly small even at big research universities. Students as advanced as he is in math and who major in math tend to want to take graduate level math courses as undergraduates, and do graduate level research as undergraduates.</p>
<p>If he does want to major in math and go to a LAC, he may want to consider one with a cross registration agreement with a conveniently near research university with a strong math department. Be sure that graduate level courses can be taken in cross registration.</p>
<p>The existence of a convenient cross registration agreement with a research university can also be useful in other subjects like CS, which tends to be limited at many LACs.</p>
<p>Physics and chemistry tend to be more readily available as “complete” majors at LACs, as their major curricula tend to be very well defined, and students are less likely to enter super-advanced like in math. For chemistry, you can check the ACS approval lists as well.</p>
<p>Thanks BurkeSt and momrath. Will have him investigate those schools. Thanks Cobrat, I was hoping you would chime in. Suspected Oberlin might have strong programs. I was accepted to the conservatory “back in the day” but went elsewhere. Couldn’t remember the strength of the math and science programs (which I’m sure have changed from the dark ages of my application!).</p>
<p>The math major I knew from there also attended my HS and is now a math teacher at a public HS that’s comparable to the public STEM magnet we attended in NYC. </p>
<p>From what she and others told me, it’s good for pure math…but may not be as great for those interested in Applied math.</p>
<p>The natural science departments are strong and well-known to topflight grad departments. </p>
<p>Several MIT grad student friends in Physics have mentioned having a few Oberlin grads as grad classmates and one friend is currently doing/about to finish his PhD in Biology at Harvard after doing a double degree program at Oberlin(Conservatory & College).</p>
<p>There is essentially no merit aid at Carleton (other than a small amount for NMF, but it is tiny in comparison with the overall cost). Lawrence offers very good merit and is strong in physics.</p>
<p>Other schools to consider include Lehigh and Case Western-- but they’re not LACs but rather private universities that are smaller than your typical state flagship.</p>
<p>My son recently graduated from Swarthmore with a double major in Physics and Math. Swarthmore is consistently rated as one of the most generous with financial aid (it is 100% need based though). It is possible for students to to take courses at Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Penn. He is getting ready to start a PhD program in Physics. He was a STEM kid who only considered LACs. In addition to his Physics and Math courses he took philosophy, music theory and Taiko Drumming. He enjoyed having friends from a variety of disciplines. I can’t imagine a better place for him.</p>
<p>My S was a math/physics major. He took multivariable calc and linear algebra in hs, analysis and physics at our local uni by the time he graduated from hs. The experience at the uni convinced him that he wanted to be at a smaller school where the focus was on undergrad teaching and close relationships with profs, i.e. a LAC. It took some research to find LACs that would have enough upper-level math classes. He considered Grinnell and Carleton and ended up at Haverford. Swarthmore would have been a great choice, but he fell on the Haverford side of that divide! He also applied to two smaller unis, WUStL and Rice, which he really liked. If he’d been considering engineering, he would have probably chosen Rice.</p>
<p>Most of the schools mentioned are need only. Good schools for merit for STEM are University of Rochester and Case. Rochester has a website that can give you some idea of what you might get. Case is very generous too. </p>
<p>How much can you afford if you have to pay list price?</p>
<p>Trinity College in Hartford, CT is one of the few LACs with a full Engineering program AND that college has also been on the list of colleges that meet full need. With those stats you’ll prob. get a nice merit pkg. People seem to be concerned about the safety surrounding the school since it borders a rough area, but the college can address that issue with you, I’m sure. The campus itself is supposed to be beautiful. Not sure how the Sciences/CS programs are but a quick visit to their website can tell you.</p>
<p>Also, was Haverford mentioned? No Engineering but supposed to be strong in the Sciences and CS. There’s also Carnegie Mellon, which, although not an LAC is still a pretty small school with a renown CS Dept.</p>
<p>PS: (Didn’t our S’s do Frontiers last summer? :))</p>
<p>Trinity College doesn’t only have a campus safety issue, there’s also been serious issues of heavy drinking on campus. </p>
<p>I don’t know about the STEM strengths as everyone I knew who went there was a humanities/social science major. </p>
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<p>Keep in mind that for STEM…especially engineering/CS, CMU is ranked up there with Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc. </p>
<p>However, it isn’t a very good place for someone wanting a more rounded LAC type experience. Engineering/STEM students tend not to mix very much with those in social sciences/humanities or the Dramatic Arts. </p>
<p>Also, there is a dramatic difference in academic level of students in Engineering/STEM and Dramatic Arts and the rest of the school from what my GC and several CMU alums have noted.</p>
<p>I vote for St. Olaf!!! Generous merit aid (especially with your son’s stats) and fantastic math and science departments, including overseas opportunities in math,science and medicine. Plus the most beautiful science building I have yet to see, and I’ve seen many!</p>
<p>Since someone mentioned case I figured I’d throw in RPI. I think your other child may have been torn between RPI and another school, but I could be confused. My son decided to be a math major at RPI before he started, and he likes it. I think they have pretty good physics and CS programs too. The most merit I head for class of 2016 was either 30or 35K, which still leaves a fairly hefty amount to pay out ofocket.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is an LAC, and if the money is offered it sounds like it would be a great choice. Aside from the very techy environment students can also take classes on one of the other 4 very fine LACs in the Claremont Consortium that share the same campus.</p>
And they do have merit scholarships: [Merit-Based</a> Scholarships | Harvey Mudd College Admission](<a href=“