<p>What about Reed College?</p>
<p>Reed doesn't offer computer science - just a 3-2 program with University of Washington.</p>
<p>would Colby and/or Bowdoin be a good environment for my son?</p>
<p>I think they would be a good match. The Maine LACs provide ready access to hiking/camping/kayacking and general outdoors activities. They are (particularly Colby) more laid back than many of the other high ranked LACs. Both are rural. They could be more diverse, though Colby has a strong international component. They both have computer science, unlike many LACs. As with many (particularly rural) schools there is a problem with alcohol, but they seem to be doing more than most schools to limit it.</p>
<p>He might also look at Gettysburg.</p>
<p>You may want to consider Oberlin and Wesleyan in addition to Colby and Bowdoin. </p>
<p>I'll also second the recommendation of Carleton. It seems a very good fit. About 10% of this past year's class declared Math or CS majors (pretty much 50/50 split), an unusually large number among LACs. The school sponsors affiliated programs in Math in Budapest and at the Oak Ridge Labs. More than 2/3 of the student body gets involved in off campus study.
A la robotics, your son might get a kick out of this brief video featuring "Kludgipede," Carleton's prizewinning firefighting robot:</p>
<p>Carleton</a> College: Voice: Voice Media Files: Carleton's Firefighting Robot</p>
<p>How about Rice?</p>
<p>rice seems like an excellent choice (except for being in Houston).</p>
<p>So far, I especially like Carleton, Grinnell, Rice, Harvey Mudd and Rochester, maybe Colby. Am I missing something that should be on the list? Not sure about the fit at Wesleyan/Oberlin. Is Bowdoin nerdy enough or too preppy (same question about Colby - which is why it's a maybe).</p>
<p>any thoughts on these schools: Macalester, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Wash U, Berkeley, Cornell, USC, Northwestern, CMU, Lehigh, RPI, Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan or UIUC (not sure about this one)?</p>
<p>Would any of these definitely fit or definitely not fit?</p>
<p>actually, i think wesleyan might be a good fit as well.</p>
<p>any thoughts on the medium to large schools i mentioned? thanks for helping to form my son's initial list.</p>
<p>Macalester is similar to Carleton/Grinnell/Wes/Oberlin; Bowdoin and Colby are similar. I don't know much about the others, but schools larger than LACs tend not to have as much of a specific "vibe"--there's more people and thus more diversity in vibe, with many niches (not necessarily cliques).</p>