Thank you for all of the advice. It certainly gave us a lot to think about. My daughter has a 3.95 GPA with 8 AP classes and a 2200 SAT score. She is taking the ACT in a few months. My son is currently at Brown and had a difficult time with the Intro to CS course which was Java based. He was also taking a difficult course load of science and math classes but had difficulty keeping up with kids who had years of experience. I will definitely have my daughter take an online course in Python or Java before college.
We are interested in Claremount or Pomona but Mudd seems a little too STEM focused. If she were accepted to one of the other schools in the consortium she could take classes at Mudd occasionally. I love that the intro class was broken up by experiece and wish that were the case at Brown. I would like to also explore more schools in the Northeast such as Tufts and BU. we are also considering SUNY Binghamton as a possibility. She likes the idea of a mid sized school but also wants a co-ed environment. Thanks again for the advice – it is very helpful!