Making an initial college list for S24 (homeschooled, undecided major, few strong preferences)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Clarkson in New York with about 2900 undergrads offers some of these majors which may be of interest to your son:

Business Studies | Clarkson University (this is what business majors start out with, but there are several majors like Business Intelligence & Data Analytics and Global Supply Chain Management) that might be of interest.

The major in Communication, Media, and Design also incorporates User/Experience Design and Virtual/Augmented Reality: Communication, Media and Design | Clarkson University

Digital Arts & Sciences seems even more heavily focused on the technical aspects than the Communication, Media, and Design Major: Digital Arts and Sciences | Clarkson University

Engineering & Management: Engineering and Management | Clarkson University

There’s also a major in Data Science, but I don’t know if that’s more technical/one-subject than your son is interested in: Data Science - Undergraduate | Clarkson University

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Quinnipiac in Connecticut with about 6300 undergrads offers some of these majors which may be of interest to your son:

https://www.qu.edu/schools/business/programs/bachelors-degree/business-analytics/

https://www.qu.edu/schools/business/programs/bachelors-degree/computer-information-systems/

https://www.qu.edu/schools/business/programs/bachelors-degree/supply-chain-management/

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Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York with about 5600 undergrads offers these majors which may be of interest to your son:

https://science.rpi.edu/biology/programs/undergrad/bs-biological-neuroscience

https://science.rpi.edu/biology/programs/undergrad/bs-computational-biology

https://science.rpi.edu/itws/programs/undergrad/bs

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You are awesome @AustenNut !

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I’d look into University of Rochester. It is the rare research university which has an open curriculum, meaning that it provides ultimate flexibility and room to explore. As a full research university, it also has a wide range of majors.

Closer to home, a couple of colleges which take a highly individualized approach to student planning and construction of majors are Connecticut College in New London and Union College in Schenectady, NY.

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It does have a requirement of a major, minor, or cluster of three courses in each of humanities, social science, and science+engineering, so it is far from “open curriculum” in a Brown, Amherst, or Evergreen State sense.

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Rather than engage a back & forth about terminology, I’ll let the university speak for itself. Here’s what the University of Rochester says on its website and here’s the link to the specifics:

“There’s only one required course. With the Rochester Curriculum, undergraduate students in Arts, Sciences, and Engineering build their own program of study. There are no general education requirements and no traditional “core” curriculum.”

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As a MA resident I certainly understand the appeal of UMass-Amherst, but it is not a good fit for everyone. A lot of colleges provide “an absolutely wonderful education,” but that doesn’t mean any and every kid will thrive there. While many students from our HS love it, there have also been several that got lost in the large size and social atmosphere and were miserable. It may not be “Zoo Mass” anymore, but it is still a particular fit—especially outside of the Honors program.

There are plenty of options between UMass and 80k/yr for a private college. I wouldn’t chide OP for looking outside of our state flagship.

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Can you expand on this ‘particular fit’, for those of us not in-state? I assume you mean there are still students who party and/or aren’t highly focused on academics? But I don’t want to make assumptions, so I’m asking. With around 23K undergrads, UMass isn’t all that large either, compared to many other flagships….certainly larger than some might want, but still different than schools with 30K or 40K or 50K.

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UMass is very much a tale of two cities. The kids that thrive outside of the honors college tend to be very social and independent. While it may not be the “zoo” it’s nicknamed, there is still a lot of partying in and outside the dorms. It can be difficult for introverts or more studious kids to find their niche. If you land outside one of the quieter dorms for housing, it may be impossible to get work done in your room even during the week. You also need to be comfortable navigating course work, extracurriculars, and internship searches on your own because there is not a lot of administrative support on that end. They expect their students to be engaged and successful without needing guidance.

To be clear, I like the fact they believe students should be independent. I also think they have a student body that generally believes college should be a lot of fun. (And not fun through clubs, extracurricular pursuits, and hanging out, but in the stereotypical Hollywood movie way.) There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you are not into partying and you have difficulty making friends, it can be a lonely place.

The honors college is completely different. Those are students that were accepted (or had the stats to be accepted) to elite privates but decided on the great perks and in state tuition. The university pours a lot of resources into them, and they have admin and faculty support and engagement. It’s a smaller group and I’ve known introverted kids that have had no trouble finding friends and having a social life that doesn’t revolve around partying. Every year there are kids from our HS that turn down local universities like Tufts, BC, and Northeastern because they got into the honors college at UMass. Honors students and parents are quick to point out that their kid is in the honors college—not UMass in general. As @parentologist noted, it’s intellectually rigorous and offers great opportunities and perks for top students at a terrific in-state price. But, it’s a classic case of “how the other half lives.”

I’m not down on UMass. I agree that we’re lucky to have such a great option in state. As I said, I know lots of adults and more recent HS students that have gone there and absolutely loved it. (I grew up in MA and then left for college and grad school before coming back, so I’m very familiar with the university.) It’s one of the popular choices for kids from our HS, and some of my kids’ friends are there and thriving. But you really can’t use the honors college as a representation of the larger university. The contrast is VERY stark.

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I read your first two paragraphs. You can employ them to most every school in the country - public, private, large and small. This is not specific to UMASS.

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Someone asked me what I meant and I responded. Whether that description can be applied elsewhere is irrelevant. It doesn’t change the fact that it is great for some kids and not others. THAT was my point.

I wasn’t saying it is unique. I was explaining why the OP wanted suggestions for other schools because another poster seemed incredulous the OP wouldn’t simply start and stop at UMass.

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We’ve researched what feels like every college within 6 hours of us, as well as a few others that got on our radar. I’ve grouped the schools into how good a fit they are for S24’s possible academic interests. After getting rid of all the schools that the NPC indicated would be too expensive…

Best Academic Program Fit (these have all the academic programs S24 thinks he might be interested in: some kind of Industrial/Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology with a Cognitive focus, and either Cognitive Science or Linguistics major):

RPI (bad reputation for student happiness?)
Rochester (NPC puts it on the edge of affordable, so possibly too expensive)
F&M (too Greek/party?)
Lehigh (too Greek/party?)
RIT (hard to change major, big)
UT Dallas (big, far away)
UMass Amherst (big, need honors to be a social fit?)

<These 5 are probably too selective for him to get into>
Rice (far)
Tufts
Northeastern (big)
CWRU (far)
CMU (far, too intense?)

Schools that are an Okay Fit (have access to engineering, Computer Science, Psychology with a Cognitive focus, and at least a minor in either Cognitive Science or Linguistics):

Gordon (maybe too narrow)
Connecticut College (only enviro engineering)
Vassar (selective)
Middlebury (selective)
Lafayette
U of Southern Maine (many commuters)
Hofstra (NYC)
Fordham (NYC)

(these are bigger)
Syracuse
SUNY Stony Brook (not sure anything makes it stand out from UMass Amherst)
BU
UConn (not sure anything makes it stand out from UMass Amherst)
U Alabama

And the last set of schools have fewer of the programs he is interested in, but have something (cost, location near family, a specific program) about them that is attractive that have kept them on the list:

Le Moyne
Tulsa
Clarkson
Endicott
College of the Holy Cross
Quinnipiac

Neither he nor I feel like any of the 31 schools on this list are perfect for him. And he can’t visit many of them to try to narrow down. Even if he forgets about the super-selective schools on the list, there are still over 20. I’m feeling stuck with how to help him move forward with making a list and deciding which places to visit.

Some questions we need to answer, but I’m not sure how to get better info are:
Are F&M and Lehigh too “party school” for him to be happy there?
Is the student experience at RPI as bad as I keep hearing?

And questions that would be helpful to have answers to, but are probably impossible to answer:
How far away will be too far?
How important is the school size?
Is it more important to pick schools with more of the majors he might be interested in, or more important to pick schools for other fit factors?

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Poor gender balance at RPI

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FYI family members were able to negotiate with U Rochester so I’d keep it on the list. This was about 7-9 years ago though so may have changed. The couple of people I know who went there had a great experience. What about Union?

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RPI has a summer requirement that many don’t like (expensive, hot dorms, interrupts internships and family plans). Make sure you are okay with it.

Big schools are usually able to be broken down into smaller pieces. The engineering program is probably a group of buildings at one end of the university with its own library, labs, and classrooms. Often there are dorms that ‘all’ the engineers use. The engineers get the benefits of the large school’s gyms, events, sports but are also a tighter group for academics. Too much partying? Well, a big school is going to have more students who, like your son (or like who your son is now but who might change) don’t want to party. Easy to find a group who want to play games on a Friday night, who want to go to a jazz concert, who want to go to a professional sports event at a big school.

Too far? If he goes to a school that is four hours from home by plane or four hours by car, he’s still four hours away. My daughter was about 2.5 hours away so pretty close. However, if I had to go get her and return her at the end of a weekend, it was 5 hours for ME each way (really more like 6), so a long long weekend for me. She didn’t come home that much! She did make friends who were often coming this way so after freshman year it was more likely she’d come by for a day or an event (concert, museum visit, on the way to the airport) than it was freshman year.

At a bigger school, most of the majors can be adjusted for what he needs. Wants some kind of environmental science? It may not be exactly environmental engineering but may be civil engineering with a lot of classes in water or land development or something. My daughter is a traditional civil engineer (traffic) and my nephew’s gf is an environmental engineer with concentration on water. Both took the same PE exam.

At a smaller school, I think most of the majors are going to be more general with a few specific classes. Linguistics? He may have to take the courses offered that year, not a very specific one he wanted but that wasn’t offered because the professor was away.

Party schools? I think that smaller, remote schools often become party schools because the students don’t have anywhere to go. They don’t go home on the weekend, they don’t have a huge football game for 8 Saturdays a year, so they throw parties every Saturday. Greek life becomes the core of the campus because those groups are organized and that organization continues from year to year (whereas a dorm changes every year). Not good or bad, just how things are.

Your son should pick a style of school (big, small, remote, urban) and than can eliminate from there. Doesn’t have to eliminate all the others, but if he doesn’t like ‘big’ UMass, why look at big SUNYs or U of Conn? If he likes Vassar, look for others that size. Likes some things about RPI but can’t afford? Look at WPI or other engineering schools.

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WPI has fallen off the list? Of the RPI/WPI/RIT triad (lots of applicant-pool overlap), WPI has a “happier” vibe than RPI and a smaller size than RIT… so it may hit the sweet spot, vibe-wise, in addition to being close to home. There are a few subject areas missing (i.e. Linguistics), but there’s cross-registration with Holy Cross, Clark, and others.

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You will find out in early Sept whether he is National Merit or not. If he does get it, then do apply to UT Dallas, Fordham, and Tulsa. They each have something very appealing. My own nerdy, non-party kid is at Fordham, and loving it. One of his good high school friends (also a nerdy, friendly, non-partier NMS) is at UT-Dallas and loving it. UT-Dallas is a big school in total numbers, but the honors kids get a “school within a school” situation, and also great dorms! Dallas is a flight hub, so plenty of reasonably priced flights. I don’t know anyone personally at Tulsa, but they are aiming for 15% National Merit Scholars, and if they reach that, your kid will have lots of high stats kids surrounding him. Tulsa is a fun city, but probably not a direct flight though…

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And that is ok right now. Both my son and his friend were pretty “blah” about their schools after visits and in the summer prior to starting, feeling that their schools were only “so-so” fits and chosen just mainly due to the big scholarships, but now they are very enthused.

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It looks like S23 will probably end up at WPI, and as much as he and S24 love each other, after being homeschooled together their entire lives they are ready for some distance. If S23 ends up at one of his other choices, we will reconsider WPI for S24.

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