Another vote for considering Harvey Mudd. It’s a terrific school for his interests - very challenging but in a collaborative way. Socially, it provides the kind of like-minded cohort that he’d likely “click” with right away, but it’s also part of the larger Claremont Consortium which offers plenty of opportunities to branch out both socially and academically. (Also a great place for year-round recreational sports, and the CMS joint athletic program has both D3 teams and club teams, in both tennis and soccer.) Foreign language/literature offerings through the consortium are particularly excellent, and there are terrific study-abroad opportunities. Lots of musicians and both credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing music opportunities. The math faculty are terrific - emotional intelligence and support of students are strong values. (Example: http://mathyawp.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-lesson-of-grace-in-teaching.html Another member of the Mudd math faculty was the resident grad-student tutor who got my spouse through his undergrad STEM degree back in the day. Mudd hires really good people.) It’s a haul from the Northeast but at least there are direct flights to LA.
Just wondering if Kenyon should be on the list. It prides itself on being both intellectual and collaborative. I’m not sure about their strength in math ans science.
btw St Olaf in Minnesota is strong in math and music and gives merit aid. He’d almost definitely get in there so it would be more of a question of how much aid would he get. Are you guys looking at any of the big NMF full tuition schools like UF or Alabama? Because that’s another angle to look at.
For schools in California, would CalTech fit the bill? With OPs son’s stats, it should be considered.
If there is an issue with financing, UCs may be out since the OOS cost would be 65,000 and no aid is given.
For a totally out of the box choice, I would consider Reed.
@ucbalumnus It would take a lot of sacrifice, but he is our only child, so no other kids to worry about. It is definitely something we will think long and hard about. My parents sacrificed everything to send me to college and it is sort of in my blood to do the same. But we have been talking with him about the pros and cons. He certainly doesn’t expect us to/ask us to, and he sees the upside to saving money on his education, so we will explore all options. If we can find a great fit for him where he can be happy, and where his hard work will pay off, we certainly will consider it. We live in upstate NY.
@washugrad, I have thought about those with nmf scholarships. But hard to imagine him at a big state school without the subset of s “school within a school” of an honors college or similar. Will do homework on UF and Alabama. Thanks for suggestions!
I think Rice and WashU are both good suggestions fit-wise if he wants a mid-sized school. WashU esp. for sciences. I think Vandy and Duke might be too greek + play hard/work hard for his personality.
What about the University of South Carolina? They have a fantastic Honors program and offer good merit.
Look at Trinity in San Antonio TX for another good small LAC that offers decent merit aid and is in a warmer climate.
Given the OPs son has varied academic interests and is intellectually stimulated, I would vote for Chicago, even though the weather isn’t the most ideal.
WashU for Biology is good, but I have heard some not so good things about the math program. Lower division classes are not taught very well. Upper division classes can be variable. According to my son, Multivariable Calculus/Math 233 is pretty straightforward.
All schools are “school within a school” as the student has a major and that major is inside a college (engineering, business, A&S). You mentioned ASU and you can’t get much bigger than that.
If he is indeed NMF, he could get full COA at a Florida school. I’m not sure if the Benacquisto includes U of Miami.
“We are in upstate ny”
Cornell is obvious. He looks like a good fit for Dartmouth and MIT. All of the above are of course reaches even for kids with nearly perfect stats.
McGill is another option. Admissions there is very stats oriented. As such I think that with your son’s stats it would probably be a safety, although an academically very strong one. If it were me, I would apply to either McGill or one of the SUNY’s as a safety, or perhaps both.
Wouldn’t SUNYs have good inexpensive options for a student looking to major in math or various sciences? (e.g. Stony Brook for math, physics, and CS)
Really scratching my head on all the Dartmouth recommendations for someone who is “quiet and introverted.” `()/’
We know several people at SUNY Stonybrook who say everyone goes home on weekends. Not really the college experience we are looking for.
From the list someone provided from the Princeton Review of great schools for math, Haverford’s reputation for collaboration over competition (its Quaker heritage is the foundation) is well-known. They even have a very cool orientation week that all first-years go through to promote sense of community. The problem? If you are chasing merit, Haverford may not be a great choice.
Harvey Mudd, as others have said, would be another cool option, as it would allow the OP’s son to enroll in classes at the other Claremont schools (they’re all neighbors, essentially). From what I know, the Claremont schools do offer some merit. They do not–as far as I remember in the past–guarantee no loans, but they’ll often at least halve the loan totals.
The OP’s son should be in a solid position and have lots of choices, including great schools that will recognize his accomplishments with merit money that will make things affordable. I also like that the OP is looking at a range of schools. Not all families would consider visiting (possibly) St. Olaf when names like Dartmouth and Brown are on the list as reaches. Kudos!
Univ of Rochester sounds like what he’s looking for. I would add Wash U as another poster did, although I realize not warm weather.
University of Maryland has a great honors program also.
Cornell may not be a great fit if he’s not looking for uber competitive vibe. Students I know there now are incredibly stressed.
Wake Forest is another option.
Also not sure exactly where you are in upstate NY but flights to some of these out of state locations could be complicated.
Thanks to everyone for such thoughtful responses. You have given me lots of great ideas and plenty to think about. I really appreciate all of the insight and effort!
@AlmostThere2018 she thought Middlebruy was too white and preppy yet is enrolling in Davidson? That’s surprising.
Warm weather? MIT, UChicago, no. Stanford, yessss.