<p>Consider Elon University? It has a 3-2 Engineering program with several schools, and your D may be eligible for some merit aid (Fellows program). It’s a beautiful campus and she would have the college experience there.
I would caution about combining a sports scholarship with physics/engineering as the major is competitive and time consuming. If finances were based on sports she would not have the option of stopping if she needed the extra time.</p>
<p>I like the suggestion of URochester. Great school for STEM and DIII track and field.</p>
<p>U Rochester, but also RIT? Also not a safety school, but what about Carleton, Davidson, Grinnell?
Safety, good for physics and research (with the R1 project): Lawrence university (WI).
You may want to check out Truman State (merit aid) and University of Maryland- Baltimore County.</p>
<p>RIT? R1 project? Yes, I just looked at Lawrence and info about it. Apparently good physics dept. Am trying to locate a chart I had seen and about the top schools for moving students on to PhD programs and it was broken down into sub areas and even a specific category for women. Cannot recall where I saw it but it was in a chart form?</p>
<p>If you find this chart, please link it. :)</p>
<p>I also have a child (son–junior) interested in studying physics and finding good match schools is proving challenging.</p>
<p>I can’t speak specifically about physics, but make sure that you look at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. My daughter is very happy there. Strong in STEM and engineering, good merit money.</p>
<p>Hello Saismom:
R1 at Lawrence: [LU-R1</a> | Lawrence University](<a href=“http://www.lawrence.edu/academics/programs/lu-r1]LU-R1”>http://www.lawrence.edu/academics/programs/lu-r1)
RIT: [Rochester</a> Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.rit.edu/]Rochester”>http://www.rit.edu/)</p>
<p>I think you need to clarify your financial situation as that will greatly impact your daughter’s list. Run the net price calculators at a few privates to determine how much need based aid you may be eligible for. If that works for you, she can proceed with a wide list. If it doesn’t she should be concentrating on schools that offer merit aid, which would eliminate several on her initial list.</p>
<p>Back to the women’s college discussion: I would suggest that she take a serious look at Smith, which believe it would be a safety for your daughter. Very good sciences, very good merit aid, especially in sciences. It’s part of a larger – coed – consortium.</p>
<p>Not a safety, but another good option for physics/astrophysics would be Williams. Your daughter’s athletic involvement would be a plus in admissions whether she intends to participate on the varsity level or just club sports. They like scholar/athletes. Only need based aid, though the packages are generous.</p>
<p>I would also second Grinnell. More of a match than a safety, but excellent sciences and excellent merit aid.</p>
<p>Trinity University in San Antonio has an incredible new science center on the beautiful campus. It offers special STEM scholarships in addition to general merit. Also has track and field. There are about 2500 UG students.</p>
<p>[50</a> Schools That Produce the Most Science and Engineering PhD’s | The College Solution](<a href=“http://www.thecollegesolution.com/50-schools-that-produce-the-most-science-and-engineering-phds-2/]50”>50 Schools That Produce the Most Science and Engineering PhD's)</p>
<p>[The</a> Colleges Where PhD’s Get Their Start | The College Solution](<a href=“http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-colleges-where-phds-get-their-start/]The”>The Colleges Where PhD's Get Their Start)</p>
<p>Found them!!!</p>
<p>I will need to find out the exact amount we will collect from FL pre-paid which we can use toward the tuition as well as the local fees ( insurance, health fees) and dorm costs for 2 years. (we only paid for two years thinking D might want options when she is a junior.) Once I have those numbers, I can use one of the fee calculators with a degree of accuracy. :)</p>
<p>Thank you for posting the links.
Hope all goes well for your DD and her college search. :)</p>
<p>@Trilliums Yes I am glad I found those links too. Very interesting to see the breakdown. Hope this helps your student as well. Mine is just now taking physics honors because her school would not allow the students to take AP Chem and AP Physics at the same time and required physics honors as a pre-requisite. The AP Physics course is redesigned for next year so if your student was lucky enough to take it this year, he can go onto the more advanced AP Physics offerings next year. DD school doesn’t even offer them. 
Good luck!</p>
<p>Have you considered Michigan State? They have one of the best physics departments in the country and have a ton of research opportunities with a vast amount of resources.</p>
<p>I was just looking at the Michigan State web site and saw an awesome summer program for high school students and teachers. Going to ask some physics friends if they know anything about it. D seems interested!
Thanks for the suggestion!</p>
<p>And if they want a smaller experience at MSU, there is always the Briggs residential college. It offers much smaller class sizes and closer relationships with professors, which can come in handy if they are in need of recommendations.</p>
<p>A friend’s daughter graduated from Moravian College in PA as physics major and went on to receive her PhD in physics. Received lots of merit scholarship all four years and had a wonderful experience there.</p>
<p>Not a safety but Wesleyan has a graduate astronomy program and DIII track. Vassar and Hamilton also are non-safety possibilities if you want to go the LAC route. Visit the facilities and contact some coaches (track/swimming) when you visit. Excellent sciences at both. Vassar has several upper level astrophysics courses that S1 enjoyed.</p>
<p>Another ‘safety’ could be Bard College - their track roster is small and sciences strong. But it definitely has its own vibe. If interested, apply through their Immediate Decision plan if they still have it.</p>
<p>I second the University of Rochester for both sciences and track.</p>
<p>I’d be somewhat skeptical of Bard College. Many of the physics courses offered in the fall appear geared towards non majors and there are only 4 physics professors on staff, many of whom only teach intro physics courses. </p>
<p>If we’re naming LACs strong in physics, Oberlin College is excellent. My physics professor, who researches physics lecture class pedagogy, received his BS from there. The department is still very strong. </p>
<p>Grinnell also has a robust physics department and strong sciences overall. </p>
<p>Again I’ll say, I think you underestimate UF and FSU’s strength in physics, as well as their UG focuses. Here’s a brochure from the University of Florida that might be of interest to you:
<a href=“http://www.phys.ufl.edu/academics/downloads/undergradbroc.pdf[/url]”>http://www.phys.ufl.edu/academics/downloads/undergradbroc.pdf</a>
Relevant points from the brochure:
Given my experience at a flagship university, these quoted numbers do not seem off base for physics majors.
Basically UGs at UF not only get to research with faculty but they also get to choose which subspecialty they’d like to investigate. At many LACs, you’re limited by what the professor is interested in which could range from condensed matter physics (not likely given the limited equipment at all but the best liberal arts colleges) to theoretical physics. UF and FSU have all fields covered by individual professors making the choice of research specialty much greater. </p>
<p>If you’re curious here’s the list of physics faculty at UF [Department</a> of Physics at UF](<a href=“http://www.phys.ufl.edu/faculty/index.shtml]Department”>Faculty - Department of Physics)
Now here’s the list of physics faculty at Bard College:
[Bard</a> College | Physics Program | Faculty](<a href=“http://physics.bard.edu/faculty/]Bard”>Physics Faculty)
Note that at Bard College there are only 5 physics faculty (assuming one doesn’t leave for sabbatical) and a few associated faculty who seem to teach courses only tangentially related to physics. </p>
<p>Also, UF and FSU both offer UG thesis options
UF’s option [Honors</a> Theses - University of Florida Honors Program](<a href=“http://www.honors.ufl.edu/Thesis.aspx]Honors”>http://www.honors.ufl.edu/Thesis.aspx)
FSU’s option: [The</a> Florida State University | FSU Honors Program](<a href=“http://honorsinthemajor.fsu.edu/tutorial/prospectus_thesis_defense.html]The”>http://honorsinthemajor.fsu.edu/tutorial/prospectus_thesis_defense.html)</p>
<p>Maybe not a safety school, but consider Caltech. Admit rate for women is 3x that for men.</p>