Suggestions for son's college list please?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone,
First time posting so hopefully I am doing this right! Son is jr., working on college list, and would love input.

Money: We are willing to find a way to afford his dream school should that be an option, but we are also thinking that if not accepted at dream school, we would then seriously consider schools that offer merit. We won’t really get financial aid anywhere–maybe a little–not willing to sacrifice everything for “just right” school that is just ok with him if we can get merit at another school, possible Honors College, etc.

Stats
GPA 98 (4.0?)–his HS does not rank or do GPA, just numerical avg., will have 10 APs and a bunch of Honors classes by graduation–taking most rigorous courses available.
Focus on Math/Science although his academic accomplishments are well-rounded–two years of Bio, AP stats, double advanced math, etc.
PSAT 1500-expect NMSF
SAT 1570 first try grade 11 (is that a plus?) 800math 770writing
SAT subject tests 800 math 2, 780 bio

EC
2 varsity sports (tennis, soccer), told will be captain for both (but has decided not to pursue college sports)
All-conference in one grade 10, may have more sports honors by graduation
Science Olympiad–medaled at regionals and states 10,11 but no great accomplishments, may not be captain–lots of candidates
Honor Societies in Math, Spanish, regular.

Tutor Math, Chem, Spanish
Piano independent study (excellent musician, loves it–but nothing outward to show for that)
Library volunteer many summers

Awards
National Spanish Exam silver medal
National Spanish Exam Summer Abroad Scholarship (one of 24 students selected nationwide)–heading to Madrid this summer

Year round sports have impaired his ability to accomplish much in summers. Looking to do something meaningful/science related this summer, waiting for some responses now.

He is a quiet, introverted kid that I think will do best in a more “intellectual” environment, although college may bring him out of his shell. He fits in better with the Science Olympiad crowd than with his fellow athletes (he gets along well with all but doesn’t socialize in the athlete crowd). When in his element, he is relaxed, funny, connects well with peers. So I can see him thriving in the right environment for him, so that is why finding right fit is super important!

We have visited several ivies and he likes those (Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale, Brown). These are no-brainers to put on the list as I think they are all a good fit for him personality/size/interest wise. Of course we know these are all reach schools, so now we need the rest of the list.

We live in the northeast and want some warm weather schools on the list in case he decides that is a priority (he definitely thinks he may want that).

Will major in math/science but undecided on specifics.

Looking at possibility of Honors colleges. So here is tentative list:
Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale, Brown
Rice
ASU Honors College
OU Honors College?
Other honors college suggestions?
CA school?
Davidson?
Lehigh?
University of Rochester?

Any input is much appreciated. Thanks!

2

Your son may want to consider highly selective colleges included in a Princeton Review sampling, “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors”:

Harvey Mudd
MIT
UChicago
Caltech
Haverford
Harvard
Hamilton
Bowdoin
Reed
Rice
Carleton
Grinnell
URochester

Beyond the above, Williams would match his current choices; from a personality perspective, he might like Vassar.

3

Thanks very much. We have considered many of these, but without being able to visit 30 schools, it is proving difficult to prioritize some over others. But this seems like a great place to focus some effort. I do think a lot of these would be a great fit for him.

4

You say you are willing to finance the dream school, but then you didn’t list it. I would not encourage identifying a school as a dream school if one hasn’t been identified yet.

5

Congrats to your son for his hard work and success in HS!

Sounds like your S isn’t sure whether he wants large or smaller school which makes narrowing the list harder. My D was the same – while she had more LACs on her list than others (partly b/c she was chasing merit) she kept a few larger schools on there as well until the end. It wasn’t until Spring of senior year she realized she didn’t want big – which took Cornell and UNC off her list.

Any general sense of science interests? Physics vs. life, for example? That can make a diff with smaller colleges.

6

Your son sounds a lot like my current junior (yours has slightly better stats and mine has no sports). We are in state for CA and my junior doesn’t like warm weather and is looking at likely majoring in math or possibly math/CS. So far we’ve toured Brown, Tufts, Bowdoin, UC Berkeley, Reed, U of Oregon, and Oregon State. Of those, Reed was a huge hit and Tufts, UCB, and U of O (safety) also will make the final list. (We liked Brown as well but I’m not sure she liked Brown enough to make it worth the time given the low odds of getting in). We’ll be visiting NYU, Wesleyan, Vassar, URochester, and Case Western over spring break in a couple of weeks. Will look at UCSC in June. Trying to decide if we should try to go see Carleton and Grinnell (and maybe St. Olaf) in the fall or just apply and go visit if she gets in or what.

As far as prioritizing visits - I bought the Fiske guide and the Princeton guide and had my kid go through and come up with a ranking system (I started with a top 30 that included a lot of the ones that @merc81 listed plus many of the UCs and some nearby state schools like Oregon State, etc).

7

Dream school(s) would be Yale/Dartmouth/Brown as of now. I just meant that when and if he decides on a dream school, we are willing to sacrifice for it. But if he decides he would be happy at several schools, and say he is choosing between a just right school with no merit, or an honors college with a great offer, we would probably like to see him make the smart financial decision. So what I am trying to say is, our list will probably turn out to be largely reach schools and schools that are a good fit but will hopefully offer some merit. With maybe a few just right schools mixed in.

8

almostthere2018, Thanks! A ton of kids go to Cornell from our HS (relatively speaking). We are in upstate ny. So I think that is why he thinks favorably of Cornell, and he did like the campus…but I agree, the size means I probably see some other ivies/reach schools as being a better fit. For the most part, large schools are in play because of the Honors College “school within a school” opportunities.

And you are right, we are struggling because as of now, he really has such a broad range of stem interests. Math and Biology, for example, are his favorites…but he has not taken Physics yet, so I expect he will like that. It does make it challenging to identify the best schools. And I am not sure how narrowed down he will be before college!

9

almostthere2018, would love to hear your daughter’s list and where she ended up going, etc.!

10

Although not a warm weather destination, consider Williams College if he changes his mind about continuing his sports of soccer & tennis while in college. Strong math program. Might be a great experience for a highly talented & gifted introvert.

11

Personality wise, he might enjoy a great intellectual school like William & Mary. Plenty of room to grow socially but many students would also classify as borderline introverts. Very welcoming and tolerant crowd.

12

Publisher, thanks! I didn’t mean I am only looking for warm weather options. I just need a few warm schools on the list. I welcome all “good fit for his personality/interests” suggestions!

13

If I could add one more thing. Looking for an “academic” but not cut-throat environment. More collaborative, welcoming than competitive. He will work hard for love of learning, but is not the type to constantly try to out-do his peers. Thanks!

14

@rileygrl – My D is currently a bio major with a minor in math! She has some background in computational science and will do some CS too. On a PhD / research track with focus on plant biology, but she’s a first year so things could change! She’s very interested in the intersection between bio and math – doing a math modeling class on biological structures this semester that she loves.

SD was high stats – 4.0 UW, NMF, 33 ACT, very high rigor including overloading her schedule by extra classes as an online student in our state’s STEM high school for motivated/gifted kids, some unusual ECs and regional awards – but no state or national awards. 4 year XC runner and co-captain with average times.

We are ‘bubble’ family of EFC just over 60k so we were chasing merit She eliminated most NE LACs b/c we toured a couple and she didn’t like the prep school feeling they had and most don’t award merit. Her list:

Davidson – enrolled!
Carleton – accepted
Grinnell – accepted with 1/2 tuition merit
UNC -accepted to Honors (this was very tempting but too close to home and too large)
NC State - accepted (safety)
Cornell – WL (but she’d taken it off list b4 decision after EA acceptance to UNC Honors which she would have chosen over Cornell, if she’d selected a large school, b/c it’s so much less expensive)

St. Andrews - Scotland – accepted
Duke – rejected (it wasn’t very high on her list but all the top kids in her HS apply there so she did too)

(Not relevant to your S. but she was also accepted to Scripps --her runner up if she hadn’t gone to Davidson b/c they gave her 1/2 tuition merit aid and it’s SoCal! – as well as Mt. Holyoke w/ 1/2 tuition merit, and WL at Barnard.)

She chose Davidson b/c she ended up falling in love with it during admitted students overnight; b/c of the good weather and strong outdoors program; b/c they gave more need aid than anywhere else, including no loans; and b/c they have brand new science building that is amazing. Excellent bio reputation and large faculty for a LAC. Carleton and Grinnell are more known for science PhD track while Davidson is more known for pre-med. But she actually likes that – feels like she stands out more…

Just to round this out some colleges she toured but didn’t like included Brown (too loosey, goosey), Middlebury (too white and preppy), and NYU (too overwhelming).

Hope this helps some way and feel free to PM any questions about Davidson!

15

@AlmostThere2018 (I am learning already…need to put the @ symbol!), how fascinating and helpful! Congrats to your D on her successes. And I can totally see my son stumbling onto a similar path combining bio and math! And Davidson…we actually lived in Charlotte for 3 years and my son attended a charter elementary school right by the college. It has always been in the back of my mind as a possibility for him! (sweet potato fries at the Soda Shop…I digress). It does sound like our kids might be quite similar. I am definitely cautious of the prep school vibe at some of the LACs…not his peeps at all. Thank you very much for taking the time to respond and give the details of your D’s list. I may PM you on Davidson at some point.

16

To me he looks like he’d be a great candidate anywhere. I’d like to explore his statement that he doesn’t want to pursue college sports–does he mean at a large D-I school, or at all? The reason I ask is that I’ve been told that even though the Division III schools don’t give sports scholarships, you can be “recruited” and a coach’s wishes is often given extra weight, which may be the extra small bump needed at the super-selective schools. For example, Amherst, MIT, Washington University, Johns Hopkins, Williams, Swarthmore, Chicago, etc. D-III schools don’t have nearly the pressure on student-athletes, so it might be something to consider if he is in the range of athletic talent for the sorts of kids they may want to recruit. In this environment, you have to look for every tiny edge you can find when trying for admission to the top schools. Best of luck!

17

Has he thought about Vanderbilt? Very academic, not too big, great freshman year experience, warm in spring/summer/fall, not too harsh winter. Definitely a reach school but if he’s interested it’s worth applying!

18

You may want to do some financial planning to clarify your budget. For example, can you really afford list price at a private college while still having money for your retirement and younger kids’ college costs?

State of residency?

19

We have thought of Vanderbilt. Could be great, but our reach school list is long. Definitely thinking about it though. Thanks for the suggestion! Glad to hear the endorsement.

20

In the south, most schools are gigantic state institutions, so there are fewer options numerically, especially in the range of selectivity that your son would probably consider–and the state schools themselves are tough to get into for out of state residents.

Schools he may consider might include (grouped by state as I think of them): University of Florida, Rice, Emory, Georgia Tech, Davidson, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Vandy, Washington and Lee, UVa, and William & Mary. Below that you have University of Georgia, Virginia Tech, maybe Clemson, UT-Austin, Tulane, maybe Texas A&M, but they are a step below the first group. That’s about it, in an area around a million square miles. I’m sure many disagree with me and can add other schools to the list, but that’s the way I see it.

The easiest cut here is whether he wants to avoid the really huge schools. Then half of them go away.