@Fishnlines29 Miami OH comes to mind also. Beautiful, rural campus. Strong engineering. Focus on undergraduates. Good merit aid for high scores. But a 9 hour drive from Philly - yikes!
@Fishnlines29 what kind of engineering? Maybe Embry Riddle? Florida Institute of Technology? That 1200 SAT, whatās the breakdown math/english there?
What state is in-state for him?
@Fishnlines29 the Clarkson campus borders the Adirondak National Forest with a bazillion acres of woods, lakes,rivers, mountains. Clarkson has a lodge on campus and the outing club has all sorts of equipment and take lots of adventures. If you like this type of environment itās perfect. If you donāt like it you will not like the school/area.
I like nature so I felt comfortable there.
@mamaedefamilia thatās wonderful! Congratulations!!! What an exciting choice.
Congrats on your decision @mamaedefamilia! Happy outcome for you all! <:-P
@Fishnlines29 We were looking mostly for merit and created our list around NMF. We didnāt look Phillyās way at all. That being said, S liked the engineering facilities and overall feel at Alabama and Oklahoma on the large state university side. He liked Oklahoma Stateās engineering program but wasnāt crazy about the campus feel, but your nephew may like it as Stillwater feels rural once youāre off campus. Sās other top choice was South Dakota School of Mines, so not a typical CC list. All of these were direct admit. Iām not sure how helpful that is for you.
Rose Hulman might be one to look at but we didnāt delve too deeply and S didnāt apply there. @STEM2017, didnāt your S look at Rose Hulman?
@mamaedefamilia Congrats! I had a feeling it was going to be Oberlin 
What schools were the finalists?
Finally, done with taxes :!! and catching upā¦
Congratulations @moonpie @srk2017 @BigPapiofthree @mamaedefamilia <:-P <:-P <:-P
Congratulations on SLO and the end of saga @socalmom007 :x <:-P =D>
I could not find decline button on NEU portal so DS may have to write an email.
Declined Texas A&M but still getting daily postcards.
We are not declining any colleges. I donāt see a purpose for that. They all know their yield and admit accordingly. If they call, we will inform.
@srk2017 the schools that your DC isnāt going to attend are other peopleās dream schools. By your DC telling them they arenāt going it speeds the process of figuring out waitlists and merit aid they can offer to other kids.
@Dolemite Case Western - the campus visit could not have gone better - and Mac.
So DD got a much better impression of WashU today at her sleepover.
Hereās what I think. As I mentioned previously, the admitted students on Saturday, and the people we saw walking around, were āput togetherā, so to speak.
It turns out that if one looks at students on a Monday morning, and also looks in libraries and lounges for studying, they are - whatās the opposite of put together - comfortable? 
DD doesnāt really understand put together (I shudder at the thought of her going on a job interview) - but she definitely gets comfortableā¦
Anyway, the bottom line is that now she definitely thinks she can be comfortable here. I think the remaining question is just academics. She definitely likes smaller classes, like what you have at Rose Hulman. With her ADHD, it might be more important than others for the classes to be small and interactive. And most of the sophomore classes she went to were big and not as interactive as she would likeā¦
To be continuedā¦
Yes, S applied to Rose Hulman and was accepted. It could definitely fit in to Fishnās nephewās criteria. He didnāt get enough merit aid so it was too expensive.
@thshadow is the authority on Rose Hulman.
@Fishnlines29, has he taken physics and honors precalc and done well in them?
Maybe look at some OOS public schools like U Toledo, U Cincinnati, U Akron, Cleveland State, Youngstown State, WVU for merit.
Maybe Drexel and U Dayton, but not sure they would be affordable.
@srk2017 how about the BS/MD programs your son was accepted to? Arenāt they really competitive for admission? Maybe declining now will open up a spot for a student, before they commit somewhere else?
@mommdc - One of the BS/MD programs (Albany) releases in 2 batches and he was selected in their first batch and he notified them quickly that he is not accepting so that they can invite more people. Most programs release decisions only once and they go by their previous year yield. For example BU likes to take 20-25 so they offer to close to 40 and no WL. If we think it helps others, we act accordingly, but I donāt think it helps at school like U Penn or UCB.
@ibf - I donāt think any of the schools DS got in will dip into WL before May 1st.
I agree with @srk2017. I may be wrong but I think that schools are currently working their yield with calls, emails, overnights, etc. They are not focused on the waitlist.
On May 2 they will know their initial numbers and none of them want to dip into the wait list. After calculations and meetings, kids will start to get notified from the waitlist after May 3 or 4.
Weāll see.
Yes, some.schools reach out. UCSB contacted DS and he told them that he is not accepting and gave them the reason. I am not sure UCSB calls everyone or called him because he got Regentsā. He also refused Case Western WL even though they said he will be eligible for 27.5K MAC.
My son finally officially decided last week, and will be attending Michigan State. His decision came down to Alabama or MSU, which were similar in price with National Merit scholarships and both way under his budget. We felt the engineering programs at the two were very comparable, so it came down to fit and vibe for him. He hates hot, humid weather so that ended up being one of the biggest factors for him. He also wants to participate in collegiate sailing, and although it seems counter intuitive that will be easier at MSU. MSU is exactly where I expected heād end up last August, and probably where he expected to end up too, he just dragged out the process of deciding on the obvious choice.