Yes, I noted there is diversity but not the diversity of CA. I sometimes think people think these schools are 90% white - and that’s not the case either. Of course, Alabama A&M is an HBCU, not an HWC.
But that’s why I threw in Reno as another option for the student - closer to home, diverse, not a hard admit, and lower in cost.
When my son said diversity, it sounded like he wanted to study where at least there are other people that looked like him. U of Alabama has only 1.7% of students with Asian ethnicity. He’s used to CA diversity. Anyway, he’s the one that decided to cross it off, since it didn’t fit what he’s looking for.
Yeah, I know there are more males in engineering generally, although one of the schools we visited mentioned that they are close to a 50-50 ratio for gender in engineering (I think it was Santa Clara).
Will take a look at Reno and the other WUE schools mentioned above as well.
Today we visited UC Riverside, and he seemed to like it well enough. It’s not in his top, but he’d be ok with it as a safety school. The other positive from today’s visit is that he started to look more closely at the nearby schools and possibly consider being a commuter vs residential (we are within commuting distance to Riverside). He wants to visit Cal Poly Pomona, so I have to get that scheduled.
He also narrowed down his list, and took off some of the reach schools (UCLA, USC, U Wash) although kept some other reaches on his list. His top favorites right now are Santa Clara, SLO, and UCSC. I can see him happy and thriving at any of these schools.
If dad is focused on budget, SCU likely doesn’t win (without need) so maybe go with caution there.
Totally get the wanting other Asians in larger amounts Purdue and Minnesota might be too others to look at. Purdue is naturally discounted in its full price. Minnesota offers nice scholarships as well. Also, note at most schools the Asian population in engineering will likely be more vs other majors.
But it sounds like your son can excel within the UC system too, such as UCR you mentioned.
Best of luck to your son in finding what he seeks.
If the school is mostly residential, then it may be desirable to live on campus for at least the first year when most residential students live on campus in order to be more immersed with the student life. In later years when most residential students live nearby off campus, commuting from home may be an option that may be desirable for cost and convenience without so much cost in terms of student life.
If I were classifying the schools on the current list, this is how I would classify them. Schools in italics are those where my categorization differed from yours.
Assured (100%): I don’t think you have any. UC Merced is assured for students in the top 9%, but you indicated that your son is in the top 16%.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Likely (60-79%)…though I think the majority of these schools are on the less likely end of this category than the higher end
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Since your family is still thinking about its budget, is there a number between the cost of a UC and $100k that you would like us to indicate how likely we think a school is to meet that price point? For instance, some of the schools might provide admits but are unlikely to offer your son much in the way of merit aid, do you want those flagged?
If racial diversity, particularly of Asians, is important to your son, then eliminate U. of Wyoming and U. of Idaho from the WUE schools I suggested earlier as they only have 1% reporting as Asian. This chart shows the percentage of Asians (from highest % to lowest in College Navigator) at some other WUE schools (which can help point to schools of interest or schools to avoid):
| School | % Asian |
|---|---|
| Oregon State | 8% |
| U. of Nevada-Reno | 8% |
| Washington State | 7% |
| Western Washington | 6% |
| U. of Utah | 6% |
| U. of New Mexico | 4% |
| Colorado State | 3% |
| New Mexico State | 1% |
| U. of Wyoming | 1% |
| U. of Idaho | 1% |
Size/demographics below are mostly based on an aggregator (Dataverse from College Transitions) as I’m having some issues with College Navigator.
Since he likes the Jesuit colleges of LMU and Santa Clara, has he given any thoughts to Seattle U. or Gonzaga? Seattle U. has about 4100 undergrads and is 28% Asian and 40% male. Gonzaga has about 5300 undergrads, with 7% reporting as Asian and 47% as male.
Other possibilities include:
U. of Portland (OR): About 3k undergrads with 22% reporting as Asian and 35% as male.
Seattle Pacific (WA): About 1800 undergrads with 14% reporting as Asian and 35% as male
U. of the Pacific (CA): About 3200 undergrads with 33% resporting as Asian and 45% as male
Edited: Corrected the mention of Cal Poly Pomona for SJSU; leaving Cal Poly Pomona as a toss-up due to the unknowns about how much being in the local area will impact its index.
University of Hawaii has WUE and is 33% Asian (also 24% more than one race).
Thank you for this detailed and thoughtful reply, so helpful.
For Merced, he is in the top 9% of California statewide according to the UC formula. The 16% was when I computed his class rank, from a figure I saw in his Aeries portal that said ranked X out of X students. I’ve found out that the school ranks by decile officially, and as much as I search Aeries, I can’t find that original figure. He will ask his counselor once school starts (on Thursday already!!)
For Cal Poly Pomona, the index you mentioned was actually for SJSU, where he would have met 2026 but not 2025. Cal Poly Pomona is a different index formula, where he is below by 55 points but that doesn’t include the points for local area yet. I plan to check in with the admissions office so that we can get clarity on this one.
Re: budget, I think that is the thing I need to spend some time figuring out with my husband. But yes, I think if you don’t think merit aid will be enough to get close-ish to a UC cost, then let me know.
I will mention the suggested WUE schools as well as Seattle U and the others. His friend is about to start at Gonzaga, so if he hears lots of positives I’m sure he will let me know if he wants to apply.
I’m not sure they’ll release that info but would be useful if they do. I do know that sometimes the CPP index moves down rather than up from one year to the next so regardless I would think it is worth applying.
Note also that UC Eligibility in Local Context does not use the high school’s class rank. Instead, it compares the student’s recalculated-for-UC GPA to a top 9% benchmark recalculated-for-UC GPA set by a recent previous class at the high school.
Yes, I was referring to the UC Statewide Guarantee, not the ELC.
My son (UCB EECS) has a lot of good things to say about UCSC engineering! He was really impressed by their Formula SAE team at competition this year; he said their car was one of the most advanced he had seen built by any UC team, and the team members impressed him with how capable and collaborative they were. Although they do not have as wide range of engineering degrees as many of the other UCs, they do have some top notch programs. I would not worry about whether it is “high tier” but instead consider whether their programs fit his interests.
We are also big fans of WPI and Oregon State! My son almost picked Oregon State, and is always running into people from there who really impress him. He was actually telling me today how “every day I regret a little bit not going there, they are absolute goats!” Oregon State honors engineering offers small classes throughout the program which is unusual for a school of its size. My daughter had WPI very high on her list this past year for biomedical engineering; she really liked everyone she met from the school and they also have smaller classes.
Thanks for the correction. I think I knew SJSU mentally but was careless in my typing. I’ve corrected my guesses as to your son’s chances, though I will also admit that I have a reputation for being a conservative chancer.
I don’t have time to delve into this at the moment, but I want to direct you to a couple of resources. This aggregator lists percentage of students receiving merit aid and the average package for a number of schools: https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/dataverse/merit-aid
Please note that aggregators can have errors, so it’s best to go to the source…colleges’ Common Data Sets (i.e. search “College Name” and “Common Data Set”) and look at section H2. It will give you info on the merit aid at the school (you may need to do some division to get the percentage without need who received merit).
Also, try the Net Price Calculator at a school. If it asks for academic stats, then it will usually provide an estimate of a minimum amount of merit aid that your kid may receive (though there are people who are pleasantly surprised and end up getting more than the NPC indicated, but it’s a good way to get a likely ballpark figure).
My son (UCB EECS) has a lot of good things to say about UCSC engineering! He was really impressed by their Formula SAE team at competition this year; he said their car was one of the most advanced he had seen built by any UC team, and the team members impressed him with how capable and collaborative they were. Although they do not have as wide range of engineering degrees as many of the other UCs, they do have some top notch programs. I would not worry about whether it is “high tier” but instead consider whether their programs fit his interests.
Thank you for this, it is very reassuring. He loved the UCSC campus, it’s something else to be among redwood trees. If the program and the collaboration is good, then that eases my worries and I’m sure he’ll be very happy and successful there. I’ll have him look more closely at those two schools as well.
Also, try the Net Price Calculator at a school. If it asks for academic stats, then it will usually provide an estimate of a minimum amount of merit aid that your kid may receive (though there are people who are pleasantly surprised and end up getting more than the NPC indicated, but it’s a good way to get a likely ballpark figure).
That’s a great tip, thank you. I did go to the CDS for each school and ran them through Claude and got the percentage of merit aid and average amount for the schools on his list since you mentioned it. But I didn’t do the NPCs yet, I will give it a try.
College Admissions Officer live Eagle Scouts. When he completes that, it will be a real plus.
Thanks, I will keep reminding him of that so he can get going on his Eagle project! I’m sure he will also get that reminder from his Scoutmasters, since he is actually on a Scouting event today.
But in the end, pursue what he enjoys.
If he applies right, there will be plenty of schools, Eagle Scout or not.
I want to second AustenDad’s recommendation of Case Western Reserve as a medium size school (undergrad enrollment: 6000) to consider out of state. They aggressively pursue high test scoring STEM students, which would make him a candidate for a merit scholarship there, assuming that his Math SAT was higher than his Reading/Writing. The rigor of his courses and a strong class rank at a highly competitive high school are in his favor. They have a very strong Electrical Engineering Dept. They are located in a nice, residential neighborhood with museums, restaurants, & easy access to downtown. Over 20% of their students are Asian or Asian American. Their Cleveland location would give him reasonable access to West Coast flights.
Although you said that you are looking at colleges in the West, Mountain, and Midwest regions, I notice that you have several colleges in the East on your list, so I’m going to comment on one of them, WPI (enrollment: 5300) as another mid size out-of-state option where he would also be a very strong candidate for a merit scholarship. There’s lots to like about WPI for him, but let me say first what’s not to like. The Asian & Asian American population is 13%, which is not as high as I would like, but you choose. Worcester, MA does not have direct flights to LA, so that means either a connecting flight or going to Boston 40 miles away. What’s to like? First, he would be a very strong candidate for a merit scholarship there. Second, WPI is well known for its co-ops, providing the internship/work experience that you/he are looking for. It’s also well known for its hands on, problem solving, team oriented approach to learning which would match your interest for a college where he would apply his learning to real world problems. Your son’s Eagle Scout background make him a perfect match for this kind of approach. You can read more about the WPI Plan on their websites, which includes a requirement for 2 major year-long projects to graduate. We had a young woman from California post here a few ears ago that she was so impressed with WPI that she chose it over instate Cal Poly SLO back home. She was kind enough to post back a year later that it had lived up to her expectations. Worcester is a post industrial New England city which has been making a strong resurgence ever since Covid. A lot of young professionals are buying in. WPI is in a lovely residential neighborhood with parks & museums + easy access to downtown.
Fwiw, it’s very easy to take public transit to the Boston airport from WPI. There’s a T station not far from campus (walkable) that will take you in to Boston and to the airport.
From WPI? Is that a commuter train or the T. I didn’t think the T ran that far out of Boston. Even the commuter train makes this doable.