My daughter has narrowed down her school list to the following - Brandeis, Clark, Mount Holyoke, Providence, UCONN, UMASS Amherst and WPI. Any suggestions to round out this list with 2-3 more schools given the following criteria? - She is interested in research path (not premed) in biotech industry or academia. Looking for merit awards to help defray cost (no need based aid forthcoming per calculators.) We are from Massachusetts (west of Boston) - she wants to stay within 2-3 hours drive of home; looking to major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; reserved kid with no interest in the party crowd. Rank: 4th in her class. Weighted GPA of 4.47; Superscored SAT = 1460; ACT =33; AP scores - Composition (5), Chemistry (4). This year she is taking AP Seminar/Research, AP Bio, AP Spanish, AP Calculus AB, Anatomy and Physiology Honors. EC’s - Varsity sport captain, president of Science Honor Society, active member of 2 service oriented clubs; Interned in a college lab this past summer and presented poster at an undergraduate research forum. Thanks for any suggestions!
Northeastern University.
You’ve got WPI on the list…maybe RPI?
Also, Smith. Bryn Mawr is likely outside of 2-3 hours from you, but still not that far and would also be a good choice. I believe both Smith and Bryn Mawr are free apps with limited additional essays, so might be worth a look.
She’d have a chance for merit at any of these schools.
Seems like you have most of the main ones in the area except BU, NEU and BC. PC is definitely not known for merit, although she has a good chance of getting accepted. Quinnepiac (sp?) and Stonehill come to mind. I know quite a few very bright kids who chose Stonehill because of their merit package and they have been very happy there.
WPI would probably be the best fit for your STEM student with potential for good merit-based aid. My friend’s son was in a service fraternity (coed, non residence) which would fit well with her interests. Biotech park may offer good research opportunities. My D15 worked in a lab there a s a HS senior and the product recently went to market. Has she toured yet?
Rochester?
Tufts is a very female-friendly STEM environment. They have won three presidential awards for STEM mentoring of URMs and there are lots of female role models. Very strong in your areas with lots of undergrad research opportunities.
If you have not run the calculator, then you should give that a shot.
Another option is Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. Strong in the sciences with students winning many high profile research related awards. They offer merit aid. Not as well known because they were a women’s college until the 80’s.
UVM, not as research oriented as some universities, but probably enough. Nice small size for a state school, and beautiful old campus.
Offers merit for out of state.
The SUNY system offers a good value for out of state, Some of their campuses are probably within 3 hours of you. Others who are more familiar with it may be able to chime in.
@suzy100 great school, but probably too far. We are central MA and Rochester is a 6 hour drive. I was thinking of Skidmore but they don’t offer merit-based aid.
Smith/MoHo definitely in your radius. MoHo offers more merit, I believe. NEU has merit too.
Your list seems good given your criteria, she ought to have some good options. What do you think she is missing?
it’s a reach for sure but not sure why MIT hasn’t mentioned, look into it, non-party, research oriented etc.
St. Lawrence and Hobart & William Smith (both in NY) are worth a look, though possibly a bit too far from MA.
Conn College is closer to home and very strong in the natural sciences, though merit aid is more competitive there.
Most of the colleges with good merit aid are in the South and (Mid)west. She may want to expand her search radius if merit aid is a priority.
It’s probably been excluded because MIT doesn’t offer merit aid.
Tufts offers no merit aid.
If she’s willing to be further from home, but a super easy flight, I’d look at Case Western. She has a decent shot at aid. My similar stats son didn’t attend, but got $100k there 4 years ago.
@jmek15 Skidmore does offer merit scholarships for STEM students - 15K annually
OP said merit would be nice, not required.
@theloniusmonk - MIT has 48% of the men in frats and 30% of the women in sororities. Probably the highest in New England outside of Dartmouth.
@twoinanddone, per the original post: “Looking for merit awards to help defray cost (no need based aid forthcoming per calculators.)” Doesn’t read like “would be nice, not required” to me. The OP hasn’t posted to further suggest otherwise. At the current COA, Tufts would be $294,000.
It is ambiguous because there is no way to know for what schools he ran the calculator…
Whereas “Wants to stay within 2-3 hours of home”, followed by “Rochester is a 6 hour drive”/ “probably too far” would suggest that Cleveland (which is at least 4 hrs further west) is quite a ways out of range. But I think it was a good suggestion anyways - because it hits alot of the other parameters and you stated what criteria it doesn’t meet.
In general, it is probably best to err on the side of completeness, given that it does not take that long to read a response, and the upside of finding a good match is high.
We have some 529 funds to help soften the blow out of pocket, but cost at a school like Tufts is not only outside the comfort range - it’s beyond the “reason” range 
Will check out Skidmore - I thought it was more arts-centric, but note that Fiske’s states the biological sciences are strong as well.
@mamaedefamilia that is great news! When we toured they were very clear that they offered need based aid only, so I’m happy find out that that they have changed that policy.
My daughter had similar stats to yours and is at UMass Amherst honors, biochem major. We do not qualify for need based aid and money was a big factor. NU, BU provided no merit aid, WPI provided a nice package but my daughter felt the campus was too small and was concerned about the narrow focus in the event she wanted to change majors. UVM provided good merit as well but she ultimately decided on Umass and has been a great experience, she applied and was accepted to a research position second semester freshman yr., lots of great opportunities and access to professors, not just TAs, has also been great. Highly recommend it based on her experience