<p>cghen: ihateCA=futurenyustudent. :)</p>
<p>Consider HYPS + Columbia, Cornell, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, top LACs</p>
<p>As a safety (and a place where you most definetely could compete for merit scholarships): Southern Methodist. The only thing about SMU that doesn't fit into what you are looking for is the weather. They have a beautiful campus, and Dallas is a nice city. Their engineering program isn't on the level of some of the schools mentioned in this thread, but I think you will find that SMU is worth a look.</p>
<p>I definetely think you should apply to at least one or two Ivies of your choice as well.</p>
<p>You'd probably be in w/ full tuition at BU.</p>