<p>Yes I am a Swarthmore student and I absolutely love it. I think your son and I have similar personalities (though I’m more on the social sciences side of things). Here are the safeties I applied to:
<p>Some schools he might also like:
<p>Take a look at the book “Cool Colleges.”</p>
<p>Carleton has excellent FA but is certainly not a safety, nor does it have engineering. Nor does Macalester nor Oberlin. Not sure about the others but if the OP is not hard over on engineering they should be considered.</p>
<p>Thanks, Swattie and Erin’s Dad- Yes, I think my son is pretty set on engineering in a liberal arts environment.</p>
<p>By “liberal arts environment”, do you mean:</p>
<p>a. Lots of liberal arts (science, social studies, humanities, arts) offerings (i.e. not an engineering focused school with just enough for commonly taken breadth courses), or</p>
<p>b. A smaller school with smaller class sizes and closer interaction with faculty, especially at the freshman and sophomore level (what “liberal arts colleges” typically offer), or</p>
<p>c. Both?</p>
<p>Definitely Lawrence in Wisconsin - my daughter received a large merit scholarship-like 18k</p>
<p>Denison (though a little more “preppy/mainstream”)</p>
<p>Kenyon (only school she received need based aid from (a tremendous amount) and we have a good income, plus a great merit scholarship, although it is known more for English/writing</p>
<p>I would say Lawrence and Denison are obvious safeties, not sure if Kenyon is an absolute safety for anyone…but he has tremendous stats!</p>
<p>Would he consider a public university with a good honors program?</p>
<p>Thanks mspearl yes would probably
consider a public with honors - Thanks UCB for the distinction. I think he will be interested in exploring both types of schools. I know he really likes small classes, which is more important to him than the size of the school. I’m pretty sure he will at least want to have a range of languages available, ie Latin and Japanese. A Fencing club would also be a plus!</p>
<p>Might want to add Earlham then - it is a “hippie” type college. Quirky. Good program in Japanese studies, linguistics. From how you describe your son - this would be an awesome place. It would be a safety and he would get fabulous merit aid with those states. They also love to see community service.</p>
<p>Here is a thread discussing liberal arts colleges with engineering major degree programs:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/957914-liberal-arts-colleges-engineering-programs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/957914-liberal-arts-colleges-engineering-programs.html</a></p>
<p>But you need to check each school on cost, admission selectivity, and offerings like Japanese and Latin languages, as well as which specific engineering majors are offered.</p>
<p>USC needs to be near the top if his list AND he needs to complete his application there BEFORE Dec 1 for 2 reasons-
1- they offer 150 FULL tuition scholarships each year to tippy-top students like your son- but only to those who do apply before Dec 1.
He WOULD receive, at the very least, an automatic 1/2 Tuition NMF scholarship if accepted, which is highly likely. USC enrolls more National Merit Finalists than any college except Harvard.</p>
<p>2- they have everything he wants- a great - [top 10] Engineering program, a Fantastic Liberal Arts program including Honors Freshman Science and Humanities programs, as well as 20 other college programs- including a top rated Music, Theater, and Cinematic Arts programs. At USC, students can take Graduate level courses when ready[ which cant happen at a LAC] and USC also encourages students to major and minor in diverse areas, should they desire to do so, through their Renaissance Scholars program.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Southern California](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/]University”>http://www.usc.edu/)
<a href=“http://dornsife.usc.edu/undergraduate-academics/[/url]”>http://dornsife.usc.edu/undergraduate-academics/</a></p>
<p>Caltech has a very small Humanities program- it is not a good UG college for someone who wants breadth and depth in the Liberal Arts as well as Engineering. </p>
<p>DS , who had stats similar to your son, was accepted at many top colleges but went to USC on a Full Tuition Scholarship- where he was able to take a wide range of LA classes, and is now at CalTech doing his PhD.</p>
<p>to add to menlo.'s rec</p>
<p>My LAC loving, east coast kid, really loved USC after a tour last year. The Engineering students really do take a wide range of courses from other disciplines. It was unlike any other large school he has looked at. More enclosed campus than many other urban schools.</p>
<p>Thanks so much mspearl, ucb, longhaul and menlopark- This is all extremely helpful and appreciated!
Ive noticed that several kids from my S’s school go to USC every year. Now I am very intrigued to say the least.</p>