He is up to considering no snow as long as it is not hot. He runs extra warm. Is University of San Diego religious? He would prefer not to mix religion in with school.
I get it! My husband loves sports and still answers my dumb questions about baseball and football when I join him. (I grew up in Europe were soccer and Bball are king). After 25 years of marriage I suspect that he still humors me because he likes me rather than finding it interesting to explain for the millionth time what is going on. I wish your son good luck in finding his people!
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If heās going to need to chase merit money, he may need to be flexible about his priorities.
IMO, it sounds like your son will be more apt to find his people at a larger school but many do have smaller class sizes or honors colleges that will make it feel smaller.
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IMO, yes, USD is religious. My niece attended and many of her friends had gone to Catholic high schools. There is a cathedral in the middle of campus. Does religion HAVE to play a part in daily life? No, but it is there for him to ignore or participate in.
There are times when southern California is really hot, but not humid (Aug and Sept). It is usually gorgeous weather.
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I donāt think it is harder to get admitted to UCs for OOS students. In fact it is a little easier. But the cost will be three folds of the in-state tuition. I understand that your son is looking at smaller colleges, but the best option in my mind is U of M. We live in California, and my son attends UC. We are glad that he attends there because 1) the tuition is cheaper, 2) top rated Engineering school, 3) if my son needs something we are there. Especially 3) is so beneficial than what we imagined. There are always small things here and there he forgets to bring from home to his dorm, and we drive for 20min to hand deliver. We donāt miss him too much. Even we donāt see him much, we know we can see him conveniently.
U of M is an excellent school.
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Thanks. Yeah, I did make him go check it out and tbh I think he liked it more then he suspected, but currently wants to go out of state.
Thanks! What do you think is the best way to find out the smaller class sizes at larger schools? The ratios donāt always help.
For the sure the ratios donāt help and are very misleading.
Our experience is that the college of engineering admissions people were very forth coming with information about class sizes. And if your son already knows his intended major, he can reach out directly to the department to ask.
Purdueās average engineering class size is 45. First year classes tend to be larger and then they decrease in size as you get further into your major. So much was project based though that she was always working in a small group.
Freshman year D had 60 in her engineering design class, but again, all small group based hands on projects. Her largest classes were math 125+ but they had small group recitation twice/week. Labs are always small at 25-30 students. Now her classes are all pretty small.
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8 am classes.
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Some colleges put their class schedules on the web where they can be viewed by the general public, and these sometimes list class sizes. So that can be used to check for class sizes of the specific classes the student is likely to take.
Yes, the 8am classes are likely to be the least full.
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Absolutely! But not always, as we would surmise. The ābestā chem professor at Michigan taught at 8:00 AM and he/she would have standing (and sitting) room only crowds in his/her class. My D attended even though she couldnāt register for that āsold outā chem class.
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Look up how many the lecture halls hold.
As for snow, our son skied from the age of 3, raced until college, and continues to coach now that heās a working engineer. Every school he applied to had skiing nearby, but one. He ended up at the beach school and learned to surf. 
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Thereās no snow directly in San Diego but the mountains where is does snow arenāt far away. Two religion classes are required but I would say itās about 50/50 with people who are religious and those who arenāt. The religion classes are definitely learning about religion instead of learning how to be religious. Iāve found them pretty interesting even though Iām not religious.
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I know I saw mentions of Union and Bucknell, which I was going to suggest. I donāt remember seeing LAFAYETTE but I would recommend checking them out, too.
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D20 was able to find smaller sections freshman year by living in an engineering LLC. Classes were about 25-30 and held in the classroom on the first floor of the LLC dorm. Her Honors College sections of classes are 25-35 per class.
Thx! Where was this?
Sheās at Clemson, so not the best for merit/aid, but other state schools she toured with Eng. offered similar opportunities.
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Snow. Engineering, sports, wellā¦ MICHIGAN!!
Classes are smaller then you thinkā¦
Sportsā¦ Lolā¦
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Also most classes are like 25 kids. Just a few first years are large like 150 but then you meet with a TA with like 25 studentsā¦ Snow and great sportsā¦ 
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We toured Montana State engineering department and were impressed with the facilities and the students and faculty we met. My husband is a Mech Eng major and as we walked by some of the lab spaces and maker space he just kept say āthis is so coolā so I guess itās legit. The Norm Asbjornson Hall is very new with state of the art everything. The lecture rooms were something unlike Iāve seen anywhere else. The head of the chemical engineering dept spent a good 45 minutes in his office speaking with my daughter and one other prospective student so she got a lot of questions answered and felt great about everything she saw and heard. Sheās also considering applying for the honors college. I think the dorms and dining hall are pretty standard with some being newer than others. Many of the dorms feature ski lockers and ski wax rooms so if your son is into skiing that will be a hit. Buses go to Bridger Bowl and Big Sky resorts. Their stadium seats 19,000 and apparently sells out. Student tickets are free. The surrounding town is very charming and welcoming. That said, Bozeman has seen an influx of people moving in and the school is very much on trend so if youāre interested I would act sooner rather than later. For what itās worth, they told us today that since the housing app opened on Oct 1st theyāve had 900 housing apps already and normally they donāt have that number until end of Dec. It seems to be getting more competitive with students coming in from several states and countries. Our tour had students from Calif, Oregon, and Illinois. Overall a very good experience and this school now sits in the top 3 for my daughter. I wouldnāt be surprised if she commits soon.
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