<p>In the past two the kid decided he wants to widen his search beyond the Midwest to the Northeast and anythng inbetween (but preference NE). I'm feeling panicky! We are not able to get to the Northeast for college tours until Christmas break so . . . he'll probably by applying site unseen. Any suggestions/help GREATLY appreciated! (I've recently discovered CC and have been observing the boards for a few weeks, learning ALOT! - but this is my first post!)</p>
<p>Son is talking about Ivies or near Ivies - I'm finally understanding what he wants - he received a scholarship to a summer program at a near ivy and loved it, he felt like he finally had a peer group . . . he's looking for something intellectual, diversified, having fun without alcohol/drugs, serious students - he states the irony is not lost on him that he is an athesit but hangs with the religous kids at his public high school. Oh and of course . . . were middle income and can never afford what I'm anticipating our EFC will be . . . so any place that fits the bill and may have merit aid. He's flexible on size and location if it meets the bill but prefers small, rural, suburban.</p>
<p>Or any ideas on public school with good honors program, or tier two schools?</p>
<p>GPA 4.0 uweighted . . . by the way, how do you weight a gpa?
ACT 34
class rank 1/225 (tied with a few others)
Hope to be NMsemi and then finalist
liberal
hopeful majors : computer science, software engineering
would like a LAC or techie type with LA leaning
taking all the honors and AP classes he can - not a whole lot available
AP classes junior years - score of 5 on both, one was CS, not sure about the other</p>
<p>no frat's preferably, or frats not big on campus</p>
<p>University of Chicago sounds like an excellent fit in most cases, but unfortunately we lack engineering. Swarthmore College, though, may really be his place. I remember seeing a statistic that the average debt upon graduation was about 17k-- not bad, considering how expensive it is.</p>
<p>Other ideas for reaches/matches that may or may not give good aid:
WashU
RPI (he'll get in, although the non-techie stuff is not terrific)
Carnegie Mellon
Columbia
Oberlin (has a 3-2 engineering option with CalTech, Case, Columbia, and WashU, meantime you're getting a terrifically intense, intellectual LAC experience, a good backup to Swat IMO)
Hopkins</p>
<p>Michigan, Berkeley, and UVA are the obvious public school suggestions. UIllinois Urbana-Champaign might make another good option-- a terrific engineering program and a strong liberal arts program. They don't fit in with the other criteria quite as much.</p>
<p>Everyone is ignoring her question, where can he get the peer group he seeks and merit money? While Swat and UChichago sound like excellent fits, they probably don't meet the financial need.</p>
<p>This is a very difficult problem. By virtue of having to be at the top of the pool to get merit aid, your son will be a top student at any college that gives you the money you need. He will not find the peer group he was at home with at the near ivy.</p>
<p>In his position, I'd probably go for the state flagship's honors program where he'll find lots of smart kids who are also there because of $$.</p>
<p>unalove, the most generous schools with need based aid still ask you to pay your EFC, which the OP, like most middle class people, can't afford.</p>
<p>Thanks for your posts. They are all valuable. It validates that we are on the right track. I'm hoping he will apply to honors program at public university as well as to places like swarthmore . . . perhaps the EFC will not be as high as I think it will . . . and from researching on CC it appears some schools are more generous than others in their aide.</p>
<p>I appreciate you insight . . . it took me a while to finally figure out what collegekid100 stated - it's going to be extremely difficult for him to find the peer group that he is seeking without going way too much in debt. </p>
<p>This is one of the unique situations where I'm going to recommend Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. It's very small, with maybe 350 students. There are 5 or 6 engineering majors to choose from. But the nice thing is that there is no cost of attendance. Tuition, room & board, and books are free, and there might be something else with those that is paid for. It's difficult to get into Olin, since it has an acceptance rate on par with Ivies.</p>
<p>In addition, don't be discouraged from applying to top schools just because you think you can't afford them. I thought for sure that I would have to go to a community college first, but then I found some of the EFC calculators. I used Amherst College's institutional methodology calculator. I found that Amherst would cover approximately 85% of the total cost, leaving an EFC of about $5k/year. If your son has good stats, go for some schools that have eliminated loans, so there won't be any debt besides work study and the EFC.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that Olin's tuition was 'covered' but not the room and board, which is likely a bit pricey due to proximity to Boston?</p>
<p>But since JB brought up Olin, I might as well mention Cooper Union, which is right next to NYU, extremely small, and also tuition-free, but with room and board. My friend told me he's paying about 15k a year for CU. Not bad, considering the kind of education you get in return.</p>
<p>Expenses beyond tuition were covered for the first two classes at Olin, but now it's "just" tuition that's paid for. My daughter graduated from Olin in May.</p>
<p>There are three majors: Electrical/Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and just Engineering.</p>
<p>It's small, different, and your son should visit if he's seriously thinking about applying.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! We can afford some - up to $15,000/yr . . . but not the $27-37,000 that I came up with on a EFC . . . unless we do not put any away for retirement, were 50 . . . so we need to keep plugging away at the retirement.</p>