He was wise to pick the niche research center he did. And congratulations to him for doing so and for capitalizing on that opportunity. But your anecdote doesn’t disspell the claim that professional relationships are hard to come by and large universities. You’ve simply demonstrated that it’s possible for the right kid in the right place under the right conditions. After all, it is a niche research center.
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Yes, he’s considering CS because he enjoyed the little CS he’s done so far (summer camps, some classes in middle school, etc). He’s not super thrilled about his current AP CS class though I believe that has more to do with his teacher. We talked about 4 years of science and he’s excited to take AP Physics next year so maybe he’ll take AP Physics C his senior year. Nothing is set in stone yet though.
There’s a few to choose from. The CC also offers data science classes. Those are the two subject areas he’s most interested in right now (and math, but his HS has sufficient courses). Getting him to the CC campus may be tricky so we may default to 4 sciences purely due to logistics.
Sooo true! We’re definitely keeping that in mind. Honestly, that’s one reason why engineering is on the table though as a previous poster said, if he can’t stomach the science then he’s probably not cut out for engineering. (My brother majored in engineering. Hated it. lol). He loves math but is not sure about that as a major. If he could major in cubing, he totally would. 
This is a helpful list! Thanks!
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Your student found a little niche Research opportunity, which in my view parallels the opportunities to get to know professors closely at smaller colleges.
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We started looking at colleges after sophomore year for our D. We went to visit big, small, private, public, urban, rural, religious, hands on, theoretical, etc… You are fortunate that there are a lot of schools in the MD/DC/VA area where you can easily visit and see what appeals most to your son. Then he can start narrowing down on a list.
I will also say that I thought my D would do better at a medium sized school but Purdue was her #1 after visiting 15 schools. She proved us wrong and had an amazing experience (and yes she was in honors but her non honors friends still had the access to research, projects, and close relationship with professors). It’s all about fit!
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Also, you are hoping for <$70,000 a year…and it’s anybody’s guess how much the colleges you are thinking about now will cost in three years when your kid actually attends.
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This is great to hear!
Such a good point. 