<p>If you find that most schools’ net price calculators say that the net cost is substantially more than $20,000 per year after financial aid, you and he may want to look for large merit scholarships. Examples:</p>
<p>Reach level:</p>
<p>Duke and UNC Chapel Hill Robertson Scholarship (full ride)</p>
<p>Safety level:</p>
<p>Texas A&M if he makes National Merit Finalist and lists Texas A&M as his first choice (includes waiver of additional out of state tuition)
University of Alabama Presidential Scholarship (full out of state tuition)</p>
<p>It’s unusual to have taken it, but diff. eqn. is easier than calculus anyway. It’s not necessary.<br>
CS is hard to distinguish oneself in; coursework in it is not necessary. Not every STEM person is interested in CS, anyway.</p>
<p>Caltech has a nice thread on what an admittee looks like; you should check it out.</p>
It’s not really bragging when it is necessary information to make recommendations.
It’s only annoying when people manage to work it into every single post.</p>
<p>If he could wrangle a USC Trustee scholarship which would be renewable for full tuition for 4 years (reach), the cost to you would be probably about $20K or less for all other expenses.</p>
<p>Where you decide to apply and where he goes will be good lessons that will be good to have posted here. In summary, you are looking for
availability of high level math courses and research
solid variety of other majors available as well
school with access to a city, not the countryside, not a college town
and either
meets full need without loans
or
very likely to leave your family less than $20,000/year left to pay after merit and need-based aid are factored in.</p>
<p>Your list has plenty of the schools that are “a reach for anyone” and he has a reasonable chance of getting into several of these. He is truly a top student.</p>
<p>He needs one or two safety schools he really likes. I suggest you consider the other USC, the University of South Carolina. It is in the capital of SC, a very nice city. His tuition would be covered there. Based on our visits, we felt it did not have the “You are in the South” cultural feel of, say, Alabama or Clemson. (I suggest you consider Alabama as well.)</p>
<p>The University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities is also definitely worth considering.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and UNC for the Morehouse scholie.</p>
<p>Vandy. I(think) they might also have a merit scholarship. And a heads up about the medicine possibility. Son also did not know what he wanted to major in or do. Loved math/science but not as a major. In at the schools you listed, ended up at p’ton as an econ major. Many of his buddies are in IB and PE now making a disgusting amount of money. He interviewed, got some offers but and a BIG but had also completed his pre-med reqs along the way. </p>
<p>He turned down the IB/PE stuff took a glide year, during that year acquired 2 more BS in STEM and applied to med school. Accepted and is done with MS1. So even though he didn’t know what he wanted he kept his options open. He is looking to an MD/MBA/MPH.</p>
<p>Another possibility is Penn’s M & T (Jerome Fisher) program, 2 BS in bio eng & econ from wharton. And their financial aid offer initially was better than p’tons.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that an EA acceptance makes a great safety. :)</p>
<p>When looking for a safety look for something that would make your son happy - great location, great film program, maybe even something more obscure that provides a draw for top students in that field.</p>
<p>MIT has a very strong music program- I think Music is a very common minor with one of the STEM majors. Econ/Music sounds fun!</p>
<p>Your son is more typical (albeit with much higher stats) than a-typical. I laugh when I hear 16 and 17 year old stating with confidence what they plan to major in. Really-- you’re majoring in English? You don’t even know what linguistics or urban planning or anthropology is all about, but since you liked HS English that’s what you’re going to do?</p>
<p>My point is that I think you get to help him pick a school which meets his other criteria, pretty much ignore the Major/Field of study issue since he’ll find himself at some point Freshman or Sophomore year, and just make sure you can afford it and that it’s not so small that he’ll run out of runway in a year or two.</p>
<p>Brown? Perfect for the undecided!</p>
<p>There are a lot of fields which are great for kids who are strong in math but don’t want to be math majors. The whole field of informatics, econometrics, financial engineering, demography, lots of areas of public health (need very strong statistical and theoretical training for modeling disease transmission, genetics etc.). So if your S doesn’t want to “do math” as many kids on the competitive math scene want to do, I wouldn’t rule out a math oriented program of study. Anything Development oriented (think of all the problems of the developing world… agronomy, agricultural productivity, climate change and forest management, population control/management, monetary policy) require both an interest in lots of humanties type subjects and strong math skills.</p>
<p>And yes, investment banks love kids with any strong quant major. Especially with good programming skills. And coupled with a team sport? Fantastic!</p>
<p>Your S would be a contender for merit aid at Wash U which might be a great place for him- but those $'s are in very high demand.</p>
<p>No need for kids to know their major at this point. In fact, being too sure can close off opportunities, and many, even most, change their ideas about majors anyway once on campus.</p>
<p>Crew will help an already good record, for some schools, though it is nice he does things for genuine interest, and if he doesn’t like crew anymore, then it’s fine if he doesn’t do it.</p>
<p>Kelowna…I came over from the HS class of 13 thread…my son is at CMU as an art/robotics student and it is, perhaps, the ideal place for a kid with many interests and no single “passion”. As a freshman, you apply to one or more schools within the university and you can be in engineering/music or engineering/business or engineering/art etc from the get go or you can add a second major or minor later. My S liked it precisely because he had such varied interests. Kids are quirky and interesting but not one dimensional and the profs too…S is working in the robotics lab this summer with grads and undergrads and is perfectly welcome as the art student who is actually doing more matlab programming in the lab than web design at this point. Great music program…oh, and my son’s roommate (bio/engineer majors) does crew and is wildly happy. I don’t know how good they are but remember there are 3 rivers in Pittsburgh. The business school and finance programs are among the top in the nation along with the top-flight computer/math/engineering on par with MIT and CalTech. Excellent movie making opportunities within CMU but also a very strong program at Pitt…my s is taking a cross registration film class there next semester. They do not have the endowment of an Ivy but top students get better financial aid packages and, this is unique to CMU, they encourage applicants to show them aid package from an Ivy or Caltech or whatever and they will try to match or better it! We faxed over my son’s offers and received a counteroffer. I like their open approach to this and this is why several of my s’s friends turned down MIT, stanford, etc. to go to CMU.</p>
<p>I haven’t read much of this thread but my initial thought when I read your post was Plan2 at UT Austin. It is a highly selective honors program that is designed around kids strong in everything who doen’t necessarily know which way they want to go. It has flexibility of a large university. I haven’t read through this whole thread but I did see that MidwesternMom2kids posted and she knows everything about UT Austin so I’m not sure if I’m missing something with this suggestion since it wasn’t on her list. I have heard that after the first year it is not too difficult to establish residency in Texas.</p>
<p>Depending on how you come out on the FA calculators you should focus on the list of schools that guarantee to meet full financial need without loans. Also it may not have the status that you are looking for but I was impressed with the Barrett Honors program at ASU. With NM that will probably be at or close to a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>Yeah, the Jerome Fisher program at Penn is incredibly prestigious among business types, and if your S is sure he wants business, he’d be virtually guaranteed a great job at the end. BUT, the course requirements are massive, so there’s virtually no room to take courses outside of what’s required, uless he also goes to school during the summers (which they encourage) – at extra expense, of course.</p>
<p>With those stats and wide interests, there are so many options, it can truly be overwhelming! Maybe you should use crew to help shape a list and even jump fast into the competition for crew scholarships? </p>
<p>I have a similar, although not as tipppy top, kid who decided an urban medium-sized undergrad with strong grad presence was the best fit for supporting interdisciplinary explorations and out-of-class pursuits. YMMV</p>
<p>“Most likely a science major with an economy/psychology/cinematic arts major. But he does not know!
He is a strong math student (AP Calc BC as freshman) and very good problem solver (he was on state Mathcounts team) but is not crazy about math.
So the challenge is to pick a college and possible majors/minors that will give him the most choices when he graduates. He is not thinking about going into medicine, but who knows 5 years down the road? Today I think medicine will be too boring, he needs something more creative.”</p>
<p>Well based on his stats, USC is the best match for ALL of the areas he is interested in, as well as the parameters you first posted. Caltech has weak Humanites offerings and really is best for students who are passionate about STEM subjects above all else. CT is a great place for grad school should he decide to concentrate on a STEM area after UG [ DS is there now and loves it!], but I would not recommend it for anyone who is NOT sure he wants to be around only STEM geeks all the time during his UG years. </p>
<p>Your DS stats are very similar to my DS’s. He also was not sure WHAT he wanted to study or major in, as he was very good at lots of things. He was very happy at USC because of the large pool of very smart students he found in the Honors Science and Humanities classes, the talented musicians in the music school, the engineering school, the incredible support from profs there, the small class sizes, the vibe that USC has now, the diversity of students, the weather, the scholarship he won, etc, etc. USC encourages top students to go for multiple majors and minors, unlike a lot of other colleges. they even have the Renaissance Scholars program that honors students who have challenged themselves by studying multiple majors/ minors in diverse ares of study. I think I have mentioned that your DS would win a 1/2 tuition scholarship at USC, if accepted, and possibly a full tuition scholarship[ but only oif he completes his app before Dec 1] That does not preclude him applying SCEA to other tops colleges . USC a great place to go to college these days. And it has the #1 ranked School of Cinematic Arts.</p>
<p>A contender for top scholarships at all of the schools that offer them. Has all of the stats, leadership, EC’s etc. to get them. Doesn’t mean he will get them – but qualified for all (like Duke & UNC, Emory, Wash U etc.) </p>