I can help you differentiate a little between Temple and Drexel. Drexel is best for a certain type of student. Their academic calendar is a little different to account for all the co-ops and internships. And with the co-ops and internships, a lot of kids are coming and going one term at a time. It's not really a "traditional" college experience. At Temple, the neighborhood is bad. However, it is a popular choice for kids in my town, and they all seem very happy. They have equal access to internships (and the business school is really good). It's so big and so diverse that she would absolutely find plenty of serious students. Drexel seems MORE serious ... maybe too much so? They're practically all engineers ... How is the price tag? Drexel can be very $$$, but I hope she got good merit aid! |
Lafayette and Skidmore seem furthest apart: is kid sporty or artsy? Lafayette is very Greek. Not sure Greek life even exists at Skidmore. Can you give a sketch of the kid? |
Anyway, Kenyon |
Definitely. |
MIT |
Kenyon |
If cost is not a factor - Yale. |
CU Boulder
UMD (in state) William & Mary Physics. |
If they are ok with being close to home, UMD is really excellent in physics. (My spouse got their physics PhD there and still collaborates with the department.) |
On full-pay Georgetown vs. $25k Presidential scholarship at GWU: that scholarship at GW is the highest MERIT award they give out, right? From there, is it just a coupon to boost their yield? Or does it come with other "Honors College" type perks like priority class registration, special opportunities, face time with important people, etc.? If the "scholarship" is not just a coupon but includes demonstrated interest on the part of GWU to prop up your kid, that's something to really consider. Everyone thinks oh their kid will flourish at the full-pay school the way they will at the lesser one. But Georgetown also has to think of donors' kids and other VIPs. So your kid will be one of however many at Georgetown, and will have to start proving their worth from Day One. But if through more than just a coupon GWU is telling you that they prioritize your kid, listen carefully. They are plenty strong in politics for your purposes, and they know who you are on Day One. They have invested in you with dollars and attention that could have gone to some other ambitious kid. So you start off above sea level on Day One, with an administration that's truly pulling for you rather than figuring "oh well for every 100 full pay kids we just need x% to succeed and make us look good". |
UMD. I get kids don't want to be close to home, but really, for that major, UMD. https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/physical-sciences/physics/rankings/top-ranked/bachelors-degrees/ |
I don't think the ROI for UIUC makes sense for OOS vs VTech honors, especially with merit. my kid is majoring in CS at UMD honors with merit. If it was CMU or MIT, yea, I'd pay for that, but UIUC OOS.. eh. It's like $60K for oos. |
dp without aid, it's about the same. I looked into it. Col is expensive around Cal, and then there's the travel cost. |
I’m not sure this ranking is super helpful- it refers to student debt and earnings after graduating as two measures, neither of which seem relevant if finances aren’t an issue, OP didn’t say they were, and if the student wants to continue to graduate school. Not to drag this into an off topic rankings thing. UMD has great physics. So does Boulder. |
Purdue
Wisconsin Virginia Tech Penn State Minnesota Maryland (in state) For computer engineering. |