Need help with college list for possible high stat student

College Search & Selection
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We would really welcome any suggestions for our DS16, currently a junior. Both parents are not college educated. Father is foreign born with high school completed, mother dropped out of high school with HS equivalency Exam (GED).

DS attends a very rigorous high school. High school humanities courses are beyond intro level college courses, and although school does not offer APs, the courses are considered more rigorous than the the university equivalent courses. High school is located on a university, so many are duall enrolled once they exhaust HS options.

The reason for the possible high stat: school is filled with very high achieving and impressive students, most with amazing ECs. Our DS does not have any significant ECs, due to intense workload and us not understanding the importance of these earlier on (we are clueless). Student is very independent and does not involve himself in activities for the sake of resume padding.
In addition, COVID situation caused a dip in GPA. Our school does not weight grades. Previous 4.0 UW, but appears to be heading to 3.7 due bad remote learning fit.

We are not low income, but would really appreciate merit aid if at all possible.

The challenge is that DS prefers a small to mid size school in rural location, thinks he will major in CS or Engineering (not sure what discipline yet), but also loves philosophy, public policy and political science. This is why he is attracted to LACs but most we looked at very little merit or seem out of reach for his stats. He is open to 3+2, but I’m not sure what the stats on these programs are, as far as graduation rates and job placement.

In summary, looking for LAC or non LAC with perhaps a honors component that makes it like a LAC experience, with a strong CS or engineering program. Needs to have a collaborative, nuturing environment. Close relationships with faculty a huge plus since current school is tiny and he likes that.

We have quite a few as safeties but pretty much non as reaches since we don’t know how strong he is as a student.

Stats:
First Gen, not an URM or low income
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank
Unweighted GPA: 3.73 (sophomore year is horrible, but back to straight As) Will complete Lin. Alg and Diff Eq by graduation.
ACT: 36 single sitting
SAT: only took it in 8th grade, 1550 - will not take again
PSAT: will not make cutoff
AP: 4 taken so far, all 5s except Physics E&M - got a 4 which was a miracle since he had a rough school year). 9th grade Calc BC, and AP Chem, 10th grade Physics C, both exams. Will take Lang and Lit and Computer science.

TA for writing center, leads one minor club that is his interest area, XC and track and field but not impressive, music 10 years plus.

Cold you please help me find some suitable matches and reaches? Merit is a priority but not a deal breaker if it’s a great school.

Right now we have:

University of Alabama (hoping for decent merit)
UTD (same comment as above)
Rose Hulman (not sure if good fit for kid who also likes humanities)
WPI (same comment as above)

Reaches:
Grinnell (seems it would be a great fit if he decides on CS)
Olin

Thank you for your help!

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Do you qualify for any need-based aid? Or are you pretty much full pay but looking for merit to ease the burden?

This year was really challenging for high stat students. My recommendation is to build the list from the bottom up, meaning start at affordable options that are likely to offer admittance. Make sure it is something your student loves and would be thrilled to attend. After that, you can certainly find other exciting options. Too many families start at the exciting “top” end and wind up having their only acceptance being one they don’t love.

LACs with engineering - look at Lafayette, Union College or Bucknell.

For CS, look at Hamilton or Colgate.

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Yes, we are pretty much full pay. Thank you for the advice, that’s actually how we are approaching it and had crossed out Lafayette, Bucknell and Swathmore because they seemed out of his reach, but my friends are telling us that we are reaching too low because we only seriously considering the auto merit schools. But they don’t have a first gen kid, so our situation is different from the circle of people we know.

WIll look into Hamilotn and Colgate. Thanks so much.

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What $/yr do you feel comfortable paying out of pocket? That will help greatly in offering suggestions. A $65K/yr cash budget is a lot different than a $45K/yr budget is a lot different than a $25K/yr budget. And each level will result in different schools to target because different schools are more/less likely to offer various amounts of merit aid to an applicant with your son’s stats/ECs/Financial Situation/Overall Profile.

I like the schools suggested by @helpingmom40 , and I’ll suggest a few more that are perhaps more likely to end up <$45K/yr for a student with a profile similar to your son’s.

St Louis University
Manhattan College
U of Dayton
Virginia Commonwealth U
Muhlenberg
Marquette
U of Scranton
Quinnipiac
U of Delaware
Elon

It’s hard to tell if you have any region preferences, so I generally stuck with east of the Mississippi River. Let us know if the entire country is an option or if you prefer certain regions and others will have an idea of where to focus their suggestions.

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Note that 3+2 programs involve an extra year of college costs, plus uncertainty about financial aid at the “2” school (financial aid and scholarships at the “3” school do not carry over). Also, admission to the “2” school may be competitive. The “2” school may also not be the kind of school the student wants (e.g. a student who wants a small rural LAC may not want to leave it for a big urban university). Relatively few 3+2 intending frosh actually do make the transfer to the “2” school.

State of residency?

Grinnell has CS but not engineering. Olin is engineering-focused, but CS is somewhat limited in course offerings (more of engineering with computing emphasis).

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are small engineering focused schools with relatively low out-of-state costs. They are not too difficult to get admitted to.

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Thank you, and apologies for the lack of details. In all honesty 25K is the most realistic since we don’t want to take out loans or dip into home equity. But I’m not sure how realistic this is and why we are having such a hard time with list building. I appreciate those additional suggestions!

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$25K is going to really tough at LACs with engineering. For a totally out of the box idea, what about University of Maine - it’s public flagship not a LAC, but smaller and definitely a rural feel. I think my son was down to about $15K cost of attendance after merit.

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Thank you. That’s what makes me hesitate about the 3+2 programs. Admittedly I don’t know a lot about them, with those additional points you made, they don’t seem like a good choice for him. Appreciate your input!

I am aware that Grinnell does not offer engineering, and Olin seems like a super reach. I also didn’t realize CS is limited there. Probably will cross that one off as well.
Will look into those other two. Should I be concerned about finding like-minded peers in places where it’s easier to get into? He’s a smart, introverted, driven but non-competitive gentle kid, who finds it hard to make friends as it is.

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Yes, really struggling here! That is why we started to look into honor colleges, but I’m not familiar with any of those and what their strenghths are.

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Because you need merit aid, I think there will be a number of schools where your son will be admitted but may not be affordable. IMO, you are smart to focus on affordability! Your son will be employable with a CS or engineering degree almost anywhere.

Clarkson has a very strong engineering program, is small, rural, and would give your son merit $.

There is no harm adding some reaches that give merit $ if you manage expectations and focus on targets and safeties.

I would also not discount a large school with an honors college. Purdue is strong in both CS and Engineering and has a wonderful honors college. Their OOS cost with no merit is $40K/year but there is some merit to be had.

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Going into CS in lieu of engineering is a possiblity as this what we thought he would major in for a few years.

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That’s exactly it - the merit aid is really limiting our choices. I also don’t know how strong of a student he would be compared to all the other strong CS/Engineering applicants.

I actually had Clarkson on the list, but saw that drinking and partying may be big there, and he does not want to go to a party school or where drinking is prevalent.

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What is your state of residence?

Did he take the PSAT? Seems like he would be NMSF material.

Bucknell, Lehigh and Lafayette came to mind immediately. Your son would be competitive but cost might be too much. Run the NPC.

I think you’re going to have to take a couple of flyers on apps to highly rated colleges. He might have some hooks depending on 1st gen, nationality and geography. Or maybe not but the only way you’ll know is to apply.

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Will look into Purdue honors - thanks so much.

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I would not classify Clarkson as a big party school. We had friends there and that wasn’t the case at all.

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You can find partying on any campus. Small LAC’s might have that rep because there’s just not much else to do. That said, most kids can find their niche anywhere.

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We are in NV. He won’t make the cutoff. I think he was tired, felt a ton of pressure (for automerit possiblitites) and forgot some of the math. We were really surprised as we were expecting he would qualify as he’s always test high without prep.

He was really interested in those three until we ran the numbers and only Bucknell seemed to give consistent aid, but not sure if he would get in…

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Thank you for the feedback regarding Clarkson! I’m putting it back on the list.

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I think your son will be plenty competitive for Bucknell.

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You should clearly look at some reaches to see if there is a potential windfall, but given your budget, you need to look at financial safety schools. I would recommend:

Alabama-Huntsville
Alabama
Texas-Dallas
Texas-Arlington
Texas Tech
New Mexico
Nevada-Reno
Iowa State
and…whatever your state flagship is/are.

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