S28 really liked WPI when he visited. He wants a major that is math or computer science adjacent, but isn’t sure exactly which one. He likes that WPI has things like cybersecurity, fintech, data science etc . . . and that it seems possible to explore and change majors. He also likes that the school is small, that it has a variety of options for him to either play or cheer for sports, and that the campus is liberal and very LGBT+ affirming.
Any suggestions for similar schools to explore?
So forum favorite St Olaf immediately came to mind. It is large for an LAC, and while smaller than WPI, when you consider specifically non-engineering students, I think it would actually be comparable. They don’t have as many formalized programs as WPI, but they have a very flexible curriculum structure which would allow someone to combine math/CS interests with application interests in all sorts of different ways, in preparation for all sorts of different career paths. And in fact, if none of their existing majors and concentrations would exactly work, you can do their Individual Major program:
Then Lewis & Clark in Portland also came to mind. A bit smaller still, but I think the curriculum and student vibe might be a good fit. They actually have a formal minor in Cybersecurity:
If you get interested in more businessy math applications, they have a cool entrepreneurship minor:
And they also have a Student-Designed Major option as well.
RIT is quite similar to WPI in all of the aspects that you are looking for. I don’t know your son’s qualifications, but harder to get into but also covering all the same bases are Tufts and Case Western Reserve.
He’s strong but not at the very top. He’s at a small private that’s not a feeder but has a good reputation and sold outcomes for college. He has a good amount of rigor. GPA is almost 3.9 at a school that doesn’t weight. First try at SAT was 1400, and he plans to retake after studying.
Does that make some place like Tufts a possibility? He won’t go to Ohio, so CWRU isn’t going to make the list.
Two other schools that he has seen and liked that seem like they have majors he might like are Clark and Connecticut College. Any thoughts on those?
Tufts had an acceptance rate of 10% last year, so it’s a reach. With a 3.9 gpa, however, he’s competitive for admissions. Most students submitting SAT scores were in the high 1400s, but almost half didn’t submit any test scores, so those reported SAT ranges have to be taken with a grain of salt. It would be helpful if he could pull that SAT score up on the second try. Bottom line is that Tufts would be worth applying to as a reach school. Knowing that it’s a hard admit for anyone.
Stevens Institute of Technology might be worth checking out. It has about 4200 undergrads, is in a bright blue state (NJ), D3 sports, and has an assortment of majors including Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Quantitative Finance, etc.