My son is a sophomore and is still building his stats so I realize this may be premature but we are interested in learning about colleges that may suit him that are currently not on our radar. So far he’s mentioned schools like Carnegie Mellon, UPenn, etc but these are reaches and I’m interested in identifying more targets that are a good fit for him.
We would not qualify for need-based aid. We are interested in schools that are generous with non-need based aid. Our budget is <$70K.
I have included current stats as well as projected coursework. He is very studious and has maintained straight As up to this point. I anticipate he will maintain straight As (though this year and next year will be very tough academically, so we’ll see). He took a timed practice PSAT so that’s the score I’m using.
Residency: US Citizen
Location: MD
Legacy: Yale and Georgetown
Intended majors: Computer Science or Engineering or Applied Math
UW GPA: 4.0
W GPA: 4.73
PSAT: 1400
Coursework:
Complete
Current
Projected (11th grade)
Projected (12th grade)
AP Pre-calc
AP Calc B/C
Multivariable Calc
AP Stats
Honors English 9
Honors English 10
AP Lang
AP Lit
Honors Bio
Honors Chem
AP Physics
Honors US History
AP Gov
AP Comp Gov
Finance 1
Finance 2
AP Macroecon
AP Microecon
Gym/Health
AP Computer Science*
Fine Arts
Internship*
Spanish 1
Spanish 2
Spanish 3?
Extracurriculars:
Speedcubing
Competed at the 2025 World Championships, 2025 Mid-Atlantic Championships
Finished in top 5% in the world for 2x2
Currently in the top 100 nationally for 2x2
State ranked in 13 events
Varsity Tennis
Varsity Pickleball
He’s looking for: midsize to large school that would be considered a target school for his above stats. Would prefer to be in a large town or a city. He does not want a rah-rah school. An active cubing club would be a bonus.
I recognize that the above is a hypothetical; things could change and we may be asking this question again in a year with a different set of stats. But we wanted to start our research early.
In addition to stats possibly changing, your child’s preferences are quite likely to change a lot between now and then. Both my kids changed their minds about a lot of things over the summer between junior and senior year of HS
The one thing I will mention is that if you think your child might end up targeting selective schools such as the ones you mentioned, it’s recommended to continue taking all the core subject areas each year, including world language (up to year 4).
I do not think CMU and UPenn will fit into that budget without need-based aid. I believe that CMU is currently about $90k and UPenn about $95k. Our family has a similar budget constraint, and it knocked a lot of private universities off our kids’ potential lists.
It’s a tough deal because as others noted - he’ll likely change. @momofboiler1 pointed out RPI - that’s, to me, going to be most like your MIT/CMU types. For very small, Rose Hulman.
It is true that UMD is excellent. Truth is most every flagship will meet these needs - but UT, UIUC, and UNC might be perceived at a higher level with UM and the UCs won’t make budget. Ga Tech and Purdue are two that should definitely be on the research list as they’d both (at least today) be well under budget. Col School of Mines too
Olin in Mass may be a unique one to look at. WPI is another - shorter terms.
For the “potential” to hit, WUSTL and Case Western.
It’s early - but that’s some possibilities that could hit cost. If you don’t qualify for need aid, you can remove CMU and Penn now - but Brown would be good if, in fact, you qualify. .Good luck.
Yes, this is premature. Really, until he has his mid junior year grades at least, it would be hard to give good recommendations.
As a sophomore, he needs to continue to do the best he can do, have ECs that show commitment, and prep for the PSAT which he will take fall junior year. That PSAT score could be the thing that gives him national merit status, and could open some doors for significant merit aid. The junior year PSAT is the one that matters.
Your son should plan to take four years each of sciences, social studies, math and English…I don’t see four years of social studies or science in his schedule.
UPenn doesn’t give merit aid, and really neither does CMU. So if you don’t have financial need, you won’t get to the $70k price point, most likely.
As noted, UMD CP is an excellent college. And would meet your price point easily.
@momofboiler1 should this kid add Purdue when the time comes?
If interested in the RPI medal, inform his guidance counselor to nominate him mid Junior year. It’s awarded at the end of the year to an outstanding math and science student in the junior class. The nice thing about receiving the RPI medal is that you know what merit you will be receiving before you even apply, allowing you to ED if it’s your top choice and it fits your budget.
Thank you! UMD is on the list and he will apply (no reason not to). Personally, I am hoping he’ll go OOS because I think that experience away from home is valuable but ultimately, it will come down to what we can afford. My husband recently suggested RPI so that was added. I had not considered Purdue.
Thanks for noting this! A friend with a senior recently said the same thing. It is wonderful to see their interests develop and blossom as they get older.
Thanks! I do wonder if the flagship schools might be too big for him, but you are right to not take them off the list just yet. Olin might be too small (he said he wants to go to a bigger school than his high school, which is about 1500 students) but WPI seems worth checking out, as does WUSTL and Case Western. Thanks again!
Agree that it’s too early to be worrying about this. Wait until you have some test scores and more grades and as others have said teenagers will change their minds frequently. Wouldn’t be prudent to try to button things down now even though I know you’re just thinking about ideas.
If you want, visit some colleges with him - big, Small, urban, rural, to see what his preferences are. Then you can circle back around down the road with more data in your back pocket.
This is great to know. I would like to avoid applying to schools that we can’t afford without aid. I will be sure to run the NPCs when we get closer to application time.
Ok, this is good to know. He was not planning on taking social studies or science beyond the requirements for HS graduation. I’ll discuss this with him.
I thought the same, until I saw that economics had its own line below. Does economics count? (Our HS counts it as social studies but I actually don’t know if this is generally the case…)
Each school will have a required classes section. CMUs is quite lenient. The UC A-G requirements are often a good comparator. Others will say four years of all - English, math (he has), language, social science, science including 3 labs.
I agree with others that it is to early to build out a list, there are definitely benefits to thinking ahead of time.
For schools that consider demonstrated interest, joining the mailing list early can help, so join mailing lists liberally! Consider making a dedicated account becuase the email volume can be a LOT.
I see 4 years of social science adding up the gov and Econ, but I don’t see a world history or world history/geography class, which I understand is standard. Most colleges if they specify only cite that US history needs to be taken but I saw one the other day (and don’t unfortunately remember which it was) that also specified a world history and/or geography class. It also seems unusual to have both AP Gov and AP Comp Gov, from my understanding?
Agree a fourth year each of science and language would be better for competitive schools.
