My oldest S will be leaving for college next month, and I will be starting the process all over again with S2. S2 will be majoring in GeoScience and we have been researching schools. We have a few schools in Ca, Tx, MT, HI, FL, NC, AL on our list. We live in Nevada. S2 stats are: 3.98UW, 4.7W GPA, Varsity Baseball Player, member of FBLA, NHS and Young Men’s Service League, where he conducts community service. We are looking to get merit aid for him like we did for S1. Any recommendations? Thanks for replies. 
Oh sorry forgot ACT score: as of now 30. He will be retaking in September. :))
Scores? National Merit?
No National Merit
Colorado School of Mines?
Also, with those stats, he could get good FA at Montana State University which is, I understand, good in the sciences.
Thanks @katliamom. Any other suggestions in the midwest or northeast?
Have you looked at Texas A&M? Geosciences is its own college there and it’s very highly ranked. With a 30 ACT and top 25% of his class, he would be an auto admit. TAMU is not overly generous with merit money but the nice twist is that if he earns any merit scholarship of at least $1000, tuition is reduced to the in-state rate.
Is his interest geology? earth-space science? petroleum geology? geophysics?
Texas A&M, CU Boulder, U. Washington, U. Wisconsin (Madison) all have strong programs and give some merit aid. Boosting his ACT score a bit would be a big help. The UC system has some very strong geology/geophysics programs, but he’d almost certainly be full pay.
There are fantastic programs in narrower areas at quite a few other schools, including some WUE schools.
How much are you planning to pay?
@arabrab He is interested in geology. I do know the UC system would be great, however being former CA residents and now considered OOS even though I still pay CA state income tax from income earned there, that would not be possible with 2 in college. Looking to pay 20-25,000 per year at most.
I really think the geology programs in the west would be best. At Wyo, with those stats he’d pay 150% of instate tuition, about $7000/year in tuition, another $8000 in r&b, so way under $20k. CU also has an excellent program, but would cost substantially more (same with School of Mines). Montana, Utah, Idaho, Oregon State would all want him.
Check out the WUE schools and programs - opportunity for OOS kids to pay 100-150% of in-state tuition for high stats kids from neighboring western states. Start here:
http://wiche.edu/info/publications/wueHandout.pdf
Then go to the websites of schools that may interest you and look for what they offer in their WUE program. Other schools like Arizona State just have OOS students plug in GPA and SAT and it spits out your scholarship. Lots of money to be had in the western state schools if you look for it, and I assume there has to be some good geology programs mixed in there. Good luck!
I was also going to say Colorado School of the Mines. Excellent geoscience program and Golden is a great town.
Do you have any more specifics other than generally geology? My s is interested in engineering or geology, more likely than not geohydrology or geohydrological engineering so I have been foocused on this topic. Normally, your s will need a minimum of a masters to get work in geology. So what matters is college gpa and gre score - not so much where he goes. Plus money for grad school. Honestly I would stick to WUE state options so you will have money left for grad school and less debt. Wyoming has an excellent geology program. Given your s’s stats it looks like he qualifies for a full wue scholarship at Wyoming. Combined with room and board you are looking at $20,000 all inclusive. Mines and CU do not offer WUE rates so he would pay OOS rates and get little merit aid. Colorado State does WUE but will be more expensive than Wyo. Look at Utah also.
For both geology & hydrogeology: Penn State
@GoldenRock He is unsure what to specialize in within GeoScience. He is interested in tectonics, geophysics, Pet engineering. He wants to take classes to see which area to specialize in. Thanks for the suggestions, U of Wyoming just sent him an email waiving the application fee if he applies there. I do have him looking at a lot of WUE schools but did not want to miss any good potential options due to a lack of knowledge about other parts of the country. Any one recommend Oklahoma U or U of Alabama?
http://www.sdsmt.edu/Academics/Departments/Geology-and-Geological-Engineering/Geology-and-Geological-Engineering/
May also want to look into the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
We looked at Penn State in March for my S. Great school. Not much merit aid for OOS so it is expensive. SD school of Mines is another really affordable option.
SDSM would be my pick if he could handle Rapid City. It’s small and isolated, but also a best value school. Definitely worth a visit. The staff is super-friendly.
U Alabama is a great school. My OOS son from California just finished his freshman year and is really happy there. He is an Economics/Finance major so I can’t tell you much about the GeoScience courses, but if you post over on the University of Alabama thread someone there is bound to be able to help you out.
WICHE/WUE is limited at Wyoming, but there may be more slots from Nevada than Colorado. However, it really doesn’t matter because the new Rocky Mtn Scholars scholarships (for OOS students) also awards 150% tuition for high ACT/gpa combos, and this student would get that. It really is a fun and welcoming school. Laramie is small but Denver is just 2 hours away for major sports, concerts, museums. Everything is included with a student ID - football, basketball, Friday night activities for students, swing dancing, etc. Outdoor activities like camping, hiking, kayaking, mtn biking are all offered through the school at low prices. Steamboat ski area can be reached in about 2 hours.
I guess the best thing I can say about it is that everyone I’ve met seems happy. By far the biggest change in my daughter is her wardrobe. She was a lacy dress girl but now wears Wyo sweatshirts, jeans, flannel shirts. I think at any time about half the students have a “Wyo wardrobe” on - t-shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, sweats. At a football game every student has a t-shirt on, most with the school song on the back so the guy sitting behind you can sing along. She doesn’t like football but goes to the games to have fun. It also has a lot of foreign study opportunities, including studying within your major, so a geology department course of study might go to study volcanoes or mountain in Asia or Africa. Pretty interesting.
Colo school of Mine is expensive for OOS students (for instate too!) as Colorado doesn’t heavily finance schools (low taxes, high tuition). My BIL has a grad degree in geology from Oregon State, and spent a lot of time working in Montana. Oklahoma or Ok State would also have good programs in geology. I think your best deals on tuition and opportunities for field work are going to be in the west, and at public universities.