Someone recently posted an article that Syracuse is going to be one of the most expensive colleges in the US next year.
@Lindagaf Wow. Great job! Excellent stats.
@Lindagaf That is a FANTASTIC score that will open up a lot of options for him!!! Congrats! 
Is Whitman too small for him? That score might put him into merit contention.
Possible merit OOS money - Western Washington - beautiful campus and surrounding area, about 15K undergrads, honors program gets you priority registration for classes. Doesn’t have a football team, though, if that’s important.
UW can be a tough admit for OOS, but worth a try. Stunning campus, great location, and easy to get to from the airport.
Montana State in Bozeman is in a stunning outdoor location but I can’t speak to the academics or merit. There is an airport close to campus.
He should apply to the honors college everywhere.
Another safety would be St Michael’s - small but exchange with UVermont, a few minutes from Burlington. Very outdoorsy, kids can go ski every weekend (ski passes and shuttle) and white water rafting, kayaking, etc equipment provided by the college which has an adventure station. His new sat score lay out the college out of contention though.
Same idea but in the south, more selective, and much more isolated (they own the mountain), Sewannee. Similar feel less isolated, Centre.
Montana State, Washington State, and WWU are great suggestions. What about Michigan as a reach (depending on major)?
What fields is he interested in?
@Lindagaf in the same vein as Lafayette, maybe Colgate? Bucknell? Colby? Was that score from the March 10 seating? One of my kids took it that day.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. We will look at Western Washington and Wash State again, and as Montana has come up a few times, I think it’s worth looking at. Our school has actually sent two students there in recent years. Small schools are generally out, but I took him to Lafayette because it does have a sporty vibe and good school spirit. He liked it, but I think that’s it for smaller schools. I don’t think he would get much, if any, merit at Lafayette.
Yes, we have savings and can pay full tuition. The cost of Syracuse is formidable, but honestly, unless he can get some merit aid there, I don’t see it happening. That is driven by his wishes.
Yes, the score was from March 10. He’s within 10 points of getting one level higher on the SAT. I am thinking that if he is serious about getting money, the extra 10 points might be worth taking it again.
UMD or Ohio State?
I think he could get merit at Ohio State. Apply EA. No foreign language requirements at the Fisher college of business and I think he may qualify for direct admit with that fabulous SAT score. Beautiful campus and u cannot beat the school spirit. Class size is big though (maybe if he is in Honors it would help) and I’m not sure about support services but very outdoorsy/sporty and nice, friendly kids. Worth a look.
I second the suggestion of Michigan! And just wanted to put in a good word for Ithaca. My daughter loved it, was admitted, but they didn’t give her enough $. (She got $17k merit and some need-based aid, but not enough.) BUT her scores were lower than your son’s and she didn’t bother to apply for their Leadership Scholarship ($7k)… if your son does that, I bet he’d get a lot of merit plus honors college. It’s such a nice school, the size he wants, great location, IIRC no frats, and plenty of the nice normal outdoorsy kids he’s looking for. Think their alumni netowrk is quite good too.
Also, has TCNJ been mentioned? That might also work, as it’s LAC-like, lots of discussion-based classes, but much bigger than most LACs.
Had to plug Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO as it is chocked full of outdoorsy snowboarder kids. They even put surfboards in the river to get a little surfing in. Also has small classes, club hockey and lax, and dorms dedicated to outdoor pursuits called Adventure houses. Technically it is a public LAC, but that’s very different than a SLAC.
I should mention again that probably a good business program is important, as he is currently leaning that way. He’s not really a STEM kid, despite the 790 in math:-). Any thoughts on which colleges on his list have good business programs? Or colleges he might be competitive for which are good for that?
I’m not sure if the ‘interested but not going to visit’ schools are still on the list. Both CU and DU have good business schools.
I’ll second that about DU and CU.
Thanks, @twoinanddone and @CU123 . Yes, still interested, quite possibly applying. But we won’t be flying out west unless he’s accepted and still very interested.
@MYOS1634 , still interested in business. Not STEMmy. Still likes the idea of ending up in intelligence (don’t all boys want to be spies?) He’s not certain yet. Likes the idea, in a way, of some aspects of engineering, but I have told him it’s tough to get into engineering schools and that you apply to them from the get go. Is the same true of business schools?
The way business school admit varies from university to university. If he is considering that path, it is important to do the research to understand how things are done at each school he is interested in.
----Some universities take students directly into their business school. Depending on the school it can range from being easy or near impossible to make an internal transfer from liberal arts or engineering into the business school.
–Some universities have students apply after one or two years to the business school. The rate that students admitted will also vary greatly from college to college.
If he decides he wants business the safest route is to get a direct admit to the business school of a university. If business turns out to not be his thing it is generally easy to switch out into a liberal arts major.
(If he wants business, might IU-Kelley be another school to consider? No sure if it has the outdoor activities he wants though)
For business schools, there are three major models:
- direct entry for some/most, selective competitive entry after general first year for the others (IU, Michigan)
- selective, non competitive entry for all after 2 years of classes (UMD, Penn State) - sometimes modified
- “one university” policy, where the student can choose any major at any point (Case Western, Dickinson)
Some universities have direct entry only, making it almost impossible to switch (call poly SLO).
Villanova comes to mind…Beautiful campus, tons of school spirit.
I have heard the same thing about UC Boulder re the drugs. I know they are everywhere but I know several kids who went out there that got into that scene where it was not an issue before.
I know U Denver (DU I shall call it now) isn’t that selective, but it is on his radar. I like the sound of it in many ways, particularly the smaller classes. Is there any sense that DU is perhaps becoming a little more up and coming? The party rep of Boulder does make me wary. And would I be right in thinking that Penn State’s business school is the best known on his list so far?
I would think Penn State and Syracuse business schools would give him access to lots of alumni connections. Maybe Clemson too. I know of someone wildly successful who got their undergrad degree from Penn State and then went on to grad school at Syracuse.