@sevmom Thats a good question. When we visited Rice they mentioned roughly 20% of the students receive merit based Scholarships. Figured go ahead and see what what happens. The acceptance rate is higher for ED so that played into the decision as well. Also location was a factor, roughly 4 hours away.
Notre Dame.
A little late to the thread, but I just came across one of those handy little rankings. We don’t often see them for undergraduate majors, so I thought I’d share it:
25 Best Bachelor’s in Physics for 2021 – Bachelors Degree Center
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That has colleges “ranked according to practical concerns for the student who wants a degree that will pay off: tuition cost, student satisfaction, and potential salary.” No mention of the quality of the physics curriculum and courses.
You’re not suggesting the list is counterintuitive, are you? Physics is a fairly ubiquitous u/g major. Why not begin one’s search with the best all-round colleges and universities?
If so, then the list should be called “(what they consider to be the) best all-round colleges that offer a physics major”, since there seems no indication that anything physics-specific (other than the existence of the major) is used in that ranking.
That list is also made up of colleges that are not too likely to be matches or safeties for that many students (as the title of this thread is looking for).
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@Ladadof3 - since there isn’t a Materials Engineering program in LA, your son would be eligible for tuition reciprocity at U of Tennessee Knoxville. Southern Regional Education Board Downside is he couldn’t switch to a major that’s available in LA without losing the discount. But it could be a nice option if he likes the major. (The other reciprocity majors at UTK include nuclear engineering, aerospace engineering, forensic anthropology, and medieval studies, fwiw!)
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Not sure I’m understanding the logic here. A list of the 25 best all-round colleges that offer physics would seem better than a list of 25 mediocre colleges that offer physics.
And, as for the lack of matches and safeties, the OP specifically mentioned LACs which, as a group, tend to be overlooked for STEM subjects and where someone with a 1590 SAT would be an outstanding candidate for admission. The OP should use this ranking as a jumping off point only:
Colgate (#12)
Wesleyan (#15)
Haverford (#18)
Davidson (#20)
Vassar (#21)
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However, that is still different from a list of the “best colleges for a physics major”. The “best” (however defined) all-round colleges are not uniformly in the same rank for every major.
As you can see from Should I transfer out of WashU? , a student at one of the colleges in the ranking you promote (WUStL #16) is disappointed by the content of physics and math courses (compared to a college not ranked in that ranking) and posted wanting to transfer away for that reason.
Yeah, but you forgot to mention that virtually, every college or university the poor guy wants to transfer to is also on the list:
As a wise man once posted, “Don’t leave out data just because it doesn’t support your argument” 
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Does Rice admit by major?
No, they do not.
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