<p>There are too many choices and my visibility is quite limited. I had it easy, there was one great in-state school(Michigan), I applied, I went.</p>
<p>My D is good at many things and doesn't know what she wants to do, but her favorite subjects are math and hard sciences. She has already started to think about the features she wants, but they aren't easily translated into the 'select a school for me' apps. I'm looking for good FITs, I'm also looking for some that may provide merit money.</p>
<p>She doesn't like either of the in-state schools.(big schools, lame towns) The community must have vibrant music/food scene. She wants a high quality orchestra to play in/music minor. She would rather be in the middle of the peer group than top of the food chain. School must be great in science and have a high quality orchestra available for non-majors. I'm making some educated guesses on some stats</p>
<p>I know the big engineering schools well(and I'm not paying out of state tuition for a state school), I'm pretty clueless on the relative merits of the private schools.</p>
<p>Examples of schools that are no's:
Rice - Great music school but only for majors
Rochester - Unacceptable town</p>
<p>Stats:
Expect unweighted GPA ~3.9 (school doesn't weight, but it would be about 4.3)
Expect National Merit Finalist - any suggestions from the FREE NMF school list PLEASE!!!
SAT2 Math 2: 800; Physics: 740
Adored by her teachers, they know her very well and many good recommendation choices
As Sophmore taking AP French and BC Calc</p>
<p>Wonderful engineering mind (but not sure she wants to narrow her focus so early in college)
2nd place Physics project in Regional ISEF fair(9th grade) will continue project
Fluent in French (french immersion elementary school and continued studying)
Passionate gourmet chef
Strong business accumen- always points out how a restaurant/shop should do things differently
Conservatory calliber(2nd tier) violist - but not continuing professionally</p>
<p>Sometimes, there are discount agreements between neighboring states’ public universities, so that those OOS publics are substantially less expensive than other OOS publics.</p>
<p>Among both public and private schools, need and merit financial aid generosity varies considerably.</p>
<p>With AP Calculus BC in sophomore year (three years ahead in math) and an interest in math, your daughter should consider the existence of a good graduate program in math to be a criterion, since she will likely “use up” the undergraduate level math offerings and want to take graduate courses if she majors in math. So undergraduate-only schools are unlikely to be suitable for her.</p>
<p>The same can apply to physics if she goes to a local community college or university to take university level physics for scientists and engineers courses before she graduates from high school.</p>
<p>Oregon. There is a consortium of Western Schools but other than the understandable appeal of University of Hawaii - Kona, the heavy hitters are left off the exchange list. I randomly hear about schools that give instate tuition to top OOS candidates. I’m aware of the NMF offers from Auburn, Alabama, Arizona and Arizona St. </p>
<p>I don’t think she will choose to major in math, most likely a science that is not biology</p>
<p>Be aware that, out of the sciences, biology and chemistry generally tend to have poor job and career prospects, compared to math, statistics, and physics (though mainly because well paying jobs in finance seek out people who are strong in math). A student interested in chemistry may want to consider chemical engineering instead.</p>
<p>How about USC? They give merit scholarships for NMF and have a wide range of majors, both in engineering and sciences that might work. Have you looked at Reed? Not sure of their financial aid policy, but it is in a great city. Good luck, Jackuk</p>
<p>Well, I’m going to Illinois Wesleyan University this fall, which is known for music and science. Non-majors can get into the orchestras, bands, and choirs by audition. I’m a music major by the way. You could check into that. It’s a small school of 2100 students in Bloomington, IL (2 hours from Chicago).</p>
<p>Another similar small LAC would be St. Olaf College, which also has great science and music programs. Music programs are available to non-majors as well here. It’s a small LAC of 3000 students in Northfield, MN, which is about 45 minutes from Minneapolis/St. Paul.</p>
<p>Others with the music/science combo…maybe check into Lawrence University. It has a Conservatory of Music and if I remember right, I think they have good science stuff too, not sure. Very high quality music program though. Small LAC, very small- 1500 students in Appleton, WI. </p>
<p>Another- Northwestern University. Great academics, including science programs and great music programs. A bit larger university, maybe 18,000, Evanston, IL (right by Chicago).</p>
<p>I’ll let you know if I think of anymore of them that are good music & science schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’d want to hear the reaction of someone who’s turned up her nose at Rochester to a suggestion of spending four years in Bloomington!</p>
<p>^If you’re referring to me “turning up my nose at Rochester,” I didn’t saying anything against that school. I was only allowed to look at midwestern schools; parents wouldn’t allow anything further. I have nothing against Rochester.</p>
<p>No, iluvpiano, I think he means that the OP’s daughter turned up her nose at the town of Rochester (see the first post), and he figures that if she rejected that town, Bloomington won’t be a place she’d like, either.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where Oregon is but if she’s interested in coming to the northeast she can take a look at SUNY purchase. Obviously in state tuition is cheaper but out of state tuition is under 15k it’s Roughly 13. They are like a liberal arts college and they are very artsy. If this intrests you, you cAn also try The other SUNY schools. There are over 30 campuses with over 160 majors. You could look into those</p>
<p>FWIW, I <em>like</em> Bloomington - it’s the “big city” for me (I live in a town of 1,400 an hour and a half north). It’s the OP whose D wants the real bright lights and the big city.</p>
<p>Not sure if this is a possibility, but I go to Smith College and it fits many of your criteria. Northampton is a fantastic music town. I have a close friend who’s a music major. She thought about going to conservatory but is happy with the Smith orchestra. The Smith engineering program is excellent!
Best of luck!</p>
<p>@annasdad, ok, well not sure quite how big OP’s daughter needed. Bloomington’s not that tiny, but of course it’s nothing compared to, say, the size of Chicago or something like that.</p>
<p>OP, this might be too exotic for you but there is a girl here on cc this year who turned down Harvard to accept a full ride (tuition, room, board) plus stipends at Baylor in Waco, TX. She’s a NMF.</p>
<p>Great responses, keep them coming. Let me address some of the questions.</p>
<p>RE: Reed - Love Reed, Love Portland(live in Portland), would be perfect except ZERO merit aid and no music. </p>
<p>RE: Rochester - Her brother attends and she may not have seen the better parts of town while they were apartment hunting.</p>
<p>Big city vs. small town - She could go either way, but the campus has to feel right and the town has to be pretty vibrant. A small rural campus could be fine if the campus is very beautiful and the community is very strong. But…I don’t think Bloomington would fit. </p>
<p>Cost - Tricky question, she will not be eligible for need based aid, just because we could pay 50K a year doesn’t mean I want to. Just like anything, relative value will be compared, but I’ve suggested a 25k year budget which. </p>
<p>Smith: Good idea, I will check it out. I have a HS friend that is a professor there.</p>
<p>Cornell: Do they give much merit aid? </p>
<p>St. Olaf: Definately something to look at. She has two friends from her orchestra go there now and it looks like merit aid is possible. </p>
<p>Where is Oregon?: Funny, I got that response from people when I lived in Syracuse and told them where I was moving. I think it might be a NY thing. (Oregon is that big state between California and Washington)</p>