@PokeyJoe, Respectfully your S does NOT know what he wants. Medicine or law? chemical engineering? If it’s law it’s IP or trial law?
I know you may not like someone saying so…but you are going about this the wrong way. Forget about law or medical school. Think about COLLEGE. If you couldn’t afford it, then you’d have to consider the cost of UG if he was likely to need money for law or med school. But since you don’t have to take cost into account, focus on college and picking one that’s the right “fit.” “Fit” is not going to be determined by the quality of prelaw advising and/or med school placement. I’d agree that the quality of those should be taken into account if you were comparing SUNY Cobleskill and CalTech, but it’s unlikely that you’ll be looking at that sort of choice. (Cobleskill is a fine school; it’s just not a great place to be premed or prelaw).And excuse me again for being blunt, but unless he’s a top 5 finisher in the chemistry Olympiad, the idea that a pure chemistry major won’t be challenging enough is probably wildly inaccurate.
So, put on the thinking cap. What does he want in COLLEGE? If he knows he’s unlikely to be able to decide his future career path for the first 2 years, then, as others have said, he should look at college where engineering is not a separate school. Does he want to be “King of the Hill?” If he does, then he might want to think long and hard about going to a college like CalTech. Does he want a college where a lot of social life revolves around spectator sports? How does he feel about Greek life? Would he feel comfortable going to college in the inner city…or not? Does weather matter? Are there any ECs he’d like to continue? Which colleges offer them? How much time do those ECs demand? What are the barriers to participation?
How does he like his education “delivered,” to use Greene’s phrase? Would he be turned off by sitting in a lecture hall with 100+ students taking organic chemistry? Does he like “hands on” learning? A co-op oriented school might be worth checking out.
Since this is your 4th son, I’m sure you know the drill. It really doesn’t change because your S thinks he MIGHT want to go to med or law school.
I agree with those who say build your list from the bottom up. Most of the colleges at the tip-top of the ranking don’t care that much about expressed interest. Those a bit lower do. So, spend more time visiting them.
You don’t say where you live, but if you live in the US, spend some time visiting local colleges. Check out a small LAC, a larger LAC, a research university, a suburban college, inner city college, etc. to give yourselves a better idea of what he’s looking for.