S is a rising junior and we’re starting to plan college tours. We’re in the middle of the country so I’m thinking about visiting California in Nov and East Coast in spring or summer, and the rest might have to wait until he’s actually accepted.
Now the list so far is very top-heavy. He’s a really good student, especially in STEM (including ECs), and without going into all the details I feel he has a decent chance at the best of them. Of course much depends on his junior year. His school sends 2-3 kids to almost each of the top colleges every year.
Our state flagship is a safety school, it’s good but not great. It’s in our hometown and S said he’ll be happy to go there if he doesn’t get into his reaches. I still think we need some matches in between, meaning probably 20-40% admission rates (and I’m ready to have him out of the house :)).
He’s planning to study math and maybe minor/double major in CS, looking for schools with good undergrad research opportunities and nerdy kind of atmosphere, not too much Greek life, partying, or activism. Money is not an issue, but a merit scholarship would be welcome.
So far on the list: MIT, Caltech (clear top choices), Harvey Mudd, Stanford, UCB, UChicago, probably UCLA and UMich. Looking into Georgia Tech, CMU, Cornell, Rice, JHU…anything else? Should we visit more UCs in November or they’re not really worth it compared to other possible choices?
RPI. He should take a look and see if he is interested in applying. As a rising junior, he could ask his counselor to recommend him for the Rensselaer Medal that comes with a $25,000/year scholarship.
Most of the private schools on your list (MIT, Caltech, Mudd, CMU, Rice) are current or former members of AITU. For similar schools, some of which are not as well known and easier to get into, check the AITU member list. http://www.theaitu.org
Would agree with the recommendation for RPI; you also might also consider WPI, Stevens, Olin, Lehigh, or Case Western. All of these are current or former AITU members, and are solid but typically less selective alternatives to the schools on your list.
Keep in mind that out-of-staters get zero financial aid at UCs, and housing costs at most UCs are relatively high, so these could be very expensive options.
Spend a fair amount of time finding and visiting those middling & safety schools. He doesn’t want to end up without choices in the spring, and it can be hard to find ones he genuinely likes.
Maybe. At full sticker price, virtually any state university will cost less than a top private school (possibly by a greater amount than you’d get from a competitive merit scholarship). The UC schools offer high quality and great weather, but also some of the highest OOS costs in the country. If you want a good public alternative for STEM with lower OOS sticker prices, consider Wisconsin, UIUC, or the University of Md (College Park).
Olin and Cooper Union give 1/2 tuition merit scholarships to all entering students.
Either one might work if your son has more of an engineering than theoretical bent. However, they’re both reaches.
St. Olaf College is a small liberal arts college with a good math department reputation. It would be an admission match and might offer some merit money. https://wp.stolaf.edu/math/
Many of the private schools mentioned above (CMU, JHU, Chicago, Case Western, Rochester) are current or former members of the University Athletic Association, a Division III sports league oriented towards nerdy universities (in fact, the UAA was once nicknamed the “nerdy nine”, although this changed to the “egghead eight” after JHU left). This suggests that other UAA schools might also be worth considering. They include Brandeis, NYU, Emory, and Washington U in St Louis.
@gearmom He might go for a doctorate. he’s now doing research applying math and CS to physical problems, and this is what he likes. So I think he should get a chance to try different sciences and he might end up doing applied math, or maybe pure math or physics. Likely not engineering. So a school that will allow him to cast a wide net in this sense would be great.
You’ve picked some great engineering schools but the following schools don’t really fall into the “nerdy” category.
“Stanford, UCB, UChicago, probably UCLA and UMich. Cornell, JHU, Rice”
These schools have great engineering depts however they hover somewhere in the 30% STEM area. UCB has this highest STEM% of this lower stem group.
Whereas the others are 60% STEM or higher. MIT, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Gatech, CMU
UCSD is a good one, but UC schools are expensive for OOS. I don’t think they are worth it.
Maryland and NCST should be considered as well and are higher stem than your low stem group.
No offense intended, I guess I’m going by the second definition of nerdy… “characterized by an obsessive interest in something, especially technology.”
True that UChicago isn’t that heavily STEM as some on the OP’s list. But it is the college of Enrico Fermi, and was near the top of D2’s list because of it’s egghead reputation in the past. She ended up at another of the colleges on the OP’s list (and is now in a Physics PhD program). But she had a very hard time turning down UChicago – it really spoke to her nerdy little heart.
She ended up at another of the colleges on the OP’s list (and is now in a Physics PhD program). But she had a very hard time turning down UChicago – it really spoke to her nerdy little heart.