<p>My son is a Junior in HS and he is gathering a lot of information about college. He already has a lot of brochures and letters in his room :)</p>
<p>He is interested in chemical engineering, or maybe materials science. ABET Accreditation is important.</p>
<p>His brother goes to Stevens in Hoboken NJ and he doesn't like the fast pace of being near Manhattan. He would prefer a more rural or suburban area. And he would prefer a smaller school rather than a large university. He is a quiet person. His extracurriculars are theater (stage crew), National Honor Society, and marching band.</p>
<p>He hasn't taken any of the tests yet (other than the PSAT which hasn't sent the scores yet), so I don't have scores. He is in pre-calc this year. He is taking AP Chemistry and Regents Physics this year. He plans to take AP Physics and AP Bio next year, along with AP Calc. Math and science are easy for him and he easily gets A's.</p>
<p>We are not really wondering about being chanced, but trying to get some suggestions of schools we might visit in the next year before applications have to be in next November.</p>
<p>He has three schools so far that he has found that seem to meet his criteria.
1. Olin College - we visited last month and he really liked it
2. Cal Tech
3. Clarkson U</p>
<p>In advance, thanks for any suggestions you might have.</p>
<p>if you are looking at the caliber of schools like Olin or Caltech, Clarkson shouldn’t even be on your radar (even as a safety schools)</p>
<p>as for good small schools for engineering, I would recommend:</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd College
Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology
Cooper Union
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Bucknell University
Franklin W. Olin College Of Engineering
Milwaukee School Of Engineering
Villanova University</p>
<p>Lafayette College in Easton PA (about a 2 hour drive from LI, depending on how far out you are). Lafayette’s enrollment is about 2400 and it has a high quality, ABET accredited, engineering program. LC has a student/faculty ratio of 11:1 and does not have grad students that would compete for the resources and attention of the professors.</p>
<p>You have been given an excellent list to start from. Lot’s of great choices. </p>
<p>I would add Case Western and Rice to the above.</p>
<p>The University of Tulsa, Missouri School of Science and Technology and maybe Tulane would be OK as well especially if he is not at the top of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>Distance isn’t as big an issue with him as it was for his siblings as he is the youngest and my responsibilities are limited to him - and my job and my husband But I am 70 miles east of NYC. He is the first child that I didn’t flinch when he mentioned California.</p>
<p>I called his guidance counselor this morning because I thought since we were just starting this we should get her feedback. They have not ranked nor calculated GPAs yet, but she felt that Olin and Caltech are good reach schools for him - not out of his league but a reach. So we are on the right track. She took some notes for her records - we also discussed his taking a public speaking class next year because he tends to be shy, which might help him with his interviews.</p>
<p>She plans to meet with YDS in February and both of us in March. But we should continue in the vein we are in, researching and making some lists.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s thoughts so far! <em>hugs</em></p>
<p>Olin and Caltech are reach schools for almost everyone so welcome to the club.</p>
<p>pierre0913, I am interested in why you are so dismissive of Clarkson. I know that Clarkson (along with RPI and RIT) is a very popular recommendation of our local guidance counselors for any kid who has an interest in engineering or is reasonably accomplsihed in math and science. Why would you not recommend Clarkson as a possible safety or match for the OP? Is there anything specific about Clarkson, its academic programs or its student body that raises red flags with you?</p>
<p>It’s in the middle of nowhere New York (at least RPI and RIT are in new york cities), so I’ve heard very little positive things about the social life there. Also, Clarkson is ranked 85th in engineering for US News, is it worth paying a fortune to go there?</p>
<p>pierre0913 – While I would care to to spend 4 or 5 years in the Saint Lawrence Valley many students seem to enjoy college life up there. Clarkson is located near three other colleges (Saint Lawrence University, SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton) so there is a certain mass (wouldn’t necessarily call it critical) of college age students up there. And, of course, the OP noted that S2 was not that interested in going to college in an urban environment. Not that Troy and Henrietta, NY are prime urban locales.</p>
<p>I guess for those who give a hoot about US News rankings, Clarkson’s #85 ranking would certainly give cause for further investigation. However, Clarkson does have a very good reputation in NYS. If the OP’s son is interested in getting a job in NYS he might be better served by going to Clarkson than a higher ranked but less visible school (at least in NY) such as Clemson. This is not a knock on Clemson, which has an excellent engineering program, merely an acknowledgement that New Yorkers, unless they are college football fans, don’t give much thought to Clemson.</p>
But I am 70 miles east of NYC. He is the first child that I didn’t flinch when he mentioned California.</p>