<p>I’m actually pretty impressed that the kid is thinking about college during the summer between sophomore & junior year of high school! I don’t know too many boys among my sons’ peers who have seen that many schools at that point.</p>
<p>Since the son is a junior, he’s got plenty of time to narrow down his list. I’d encourage the parents to keep their opinions to themselves and continue to let the son cast a wide net. The colleges you’ve mentioned so far are varied - large/small, urban/rural, public/private, college towns/not college towns, religious/not religious, etc. They’re all good schools, and at least one will be a “fit” for the son. Once he gets his test scores, he’ll have a better idea of his chances for acceptance. If the scores are along the lines of his grades, then the CSUs will be his safeties along with the UCs such as UCM and UCR. Santa Clara is very competitive to get into.</p>
<p>What does he want to study? You mentioned strong in humanities, not so strong in math/science. A liberal arts college or one of the Jesuit schools you’d mentioned (USF, USD) might be a better fit than a CSU or UC. How about Pepperdine? There are many other options in SoCal although some are highly selective - the Claremonts, Occidental, Chapman, Redlands, Whittier, to name a few.</p>