Thanks for the idea! We love Picnic Day (we’ve been there multiple times since kids were little). She won’t be able to attend this year, but I think she doesn’t need any convincing to love Davis… it’s probably her #1 choice right now. 
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What is it about Davis? Is it the bike friendly part or something else ??
Davis is a very good university that offers everything that she might want to study. It has a reasonable level of academic flexibility (that is, not impossible to switch to most majors). It’s located in a nice enough college town, it’s close to home, and the price is right, too.
But there’s also something special about the vibe at Davis, which is harder to pinpoint. Friendly, not elitist or pretentious. Generally happy students. And there’s a flavor of nerdy fun that appeals to my D. If you look at videos of the Picnic Day parade, you might get a sense of Davis… you’ll see some very silly bicycles, parade floats put together by a variety of academic departments, etc.
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Reporting back on our experiences with similar schools (so that you have a comparison) – I think I’d put Rochester (look into their music for non-majors), Case (although in Ohio, and so that may be a deal-breaker), and Brandeis on your list.
Brandeis just gave our son (who has slightly higher SATs but lower GPA from Bay Area) a $40K/year merit scholarship and invited him to apply for a really cool multi-disciplinary biological sciences research opportunity. It’s not quite an urban area (really suburban) but my sense is that access to Boston via public transit is pretty straightforward. And they are starting a new engineering program that should be up and running by the time your daughter arrives. Interdepartmental Program in Engineering Science | Brandeis University
Case gives great merit aid for kids with stats like hers and I think the location within Cleveland would really appeal to her – the Cleveland Orchestra performs right in the middle of campus and there are a bunch of museums with appealing student discount policies (one free admission/week IIR) scattered around campus, as well as good food within easy walking distance. I think all engineering disciplines at Case are strong but I believe they are maybe especially good in areas where there is cross-over w/ medicine. And they have an unusually flexible curriculum that lends itself to exploration and double-majoring.
The University of Rochester has a lot of the same things going for it as Cleveland academically. They have a non-majors orchestra and the proximity to the Eastman School is pretty incredible for music lovers. We didn’t get any merit aid from them and I’m not sure they are quite as generous overall but it’s worth checking out.
We got extremely generous merit from RPI and a decent amount from WPI and both schools are trying to equalize their gender ratios so I’d give those a look as well.
My biggest tip for you is to have her apply EA to any places that offer that option. (We did EA at Macalester, St. Olaf, Case, RPI, CO School of Mines, and WPI, as well as rolling admissions at Oregon Sate, Pitt, and UMinn. Getting into these places, often with merit, really lowered the temperature around here this month when the UC rejections started rolling in.)
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The CA publics are test blind but the others on the list are all test optional, so that great SAT score can certainly help.
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Thanks for the info, especially the updates on Brandeis! Sounds like your S25 has a lot of overlap with my D26 (and with my S23) 
D is definitely planning to apply to Oregon State, Pitt, and UMN right away at the beginning of the season. I remember how nice it was for S23 to have those admits in hand, plus they are all great enough schools that they stayed on his short list until the very end!
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I agree but the 1470 b4 to 1520 wasn’t going to impact that original list other than maybe Case - is all I meant. The score was very strong already for that set.
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Hmm, depending exactly where they apply it might nudge it. For example middle 50 for UMN College of Science and Engineering is 1400-1520, so I think moving from approx 50th percentile to 75th percentile is a nice little boost even if original was in range.
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It might look strong for general admissions, but depending on the university, it might not be very strong for engineering majors, honors colleges, and merit… and the average SAT for those things is not published in a CDS. So I really appreciate the opinions and feedback here.
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Yep. As an example, I was playing around with potential SAT scores for C26 on the merit calculation page for ASU, and when I went above 1500 it also popped up something about potentially being eligible for the honors college, even though I hadn’t changed the GPA inputs.
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Ok - I was asking in case it was the bike part. If it were spot that, U Arizona and CSU (WUE) might be worth a look. They all hit the top bikeable schools.
If price is a concern (depending on budget), UW might be one to drop ??
Sounds like you’ll be in fine shape regardless and b4 the 1520 although it certainly won’t hurt.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on the new score! D26 is now dancing around the house shouting with glee, because she is canceling her June SAT. 
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I know that U. of Rochester has been mentioned, but has she looked into Rochester Institute of Technology? RIT has a number of majors which I think your D could use to really find her desired niche.
In neurology, they have active labs studying color perception, facial perception, and multisensory integration.
In photography sciences, it includes micrography and opthalmic imaging:
There’s a bioengineering concentration within its MechE major, which seems like a definite possibility for your D:
It offers a degree in Imaging Science which has labs studying human visual systems, computer and machine vision, and cultural heritage imaging.
There’s a microelectronics option within electrical engineering, with one of the components being thin-film processes:
Another possibility is biomedical engineering:
And if looking at things from a genetic engineering perspective is more her style, then there’s also this major:
Per Hillel, there are 500 Jewish undergrads representing 4% of the 13k undergrads.
There are numerous school-sponsored musical ensembles, including the philharmonic which is by audition only: Music Ensembles and Bands | Performing Arts | RIT
In addition, there are multiple student-led musical ensembles, including a Game Symphony Orchestra: Music Student Clubs | Performing Arts | RIT
RIT offers performing arts scholarships as well, including for music: Performing Arts Scholarship | Performing Arts | RIT
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D26 has 30+ schools under consideration in her spreadsheet right now. She is not currently dropping schools for being at the top of the budget range. She is still in the phase of collecting schools that might be interesting, and learning more about them.
I expect that she will figure out her actual list over the summer.
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Just an update, D26 will be attending SIMR this summer (bioengineering team internship). She’s thrilled about this because it should help her figure out what sort of role she likes to play on an engineering team… and also help to answer the huge question of whether she wants to apply to majors in bio, or bioengineering, or non-bio engineering.
Plus, she’s happy that they will pay her to attend.
She is still in the middle of AP exam season and not technically working on her college list, but my sense of what it’s going to look like would be something like this:
Reach:
- UCB and the other reachy UCs
- CPSLO
- CWRU
- UIUC
Target:
- UCD
- UW Seattle
- UMN
- Pitt
- UMD
- UMass Amherst
- VA Tech
- WPI
- Santa Clara
Safety:
- Oregon State
- Merced
Outside of the US:
- UBC
- Not sure what else, but she’s thinking about it
Realistically… I don’t anticipate D will agree to go on any more college visits outside our local area until admitted. She is going to be busy this summer, and she wants to get all her applications done by early fall. So I have the feeling that schools not on the west coast will only make her list if she sees something to make them really stand out, and then she would try to visit after being admitted.
I also expect that she will make some new friends this summer and they will talk about colleges, and she may change some things on her list after that 
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FYI, if anyone wonders why Santa Clara is on the list alongside other schools that aren’t extremely similar to it,
- D went along on friend’s tour.
- No deal breaker from mom’s perspective (school has accredited majors, merit is possible to get cost within budget).
- D came home, said “Mom, it was fine, I’ll probably apply” then immediately went to her room to study. (That’s all the information I got.)
- School is now on the spreadsheet.
I’m sure we will see more added or deleted over the summer for similar reasons…
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My son had Santa Clara University on his list as a bit of an outlier (tho he also had Fordham, which is also Jesuit) and ended up picking it over Fordham as well as CWRU, Pitt, and CPSLO for business/finance. SCU came out of nowhere for us (wasn’t on the radar prior to senior year), but the visit sealed the deal for him! We are East Coast, so the quantity of sunshine is definitely a plus for him, tho that may not be a consideration for your daughter. Good luck with your search and applications!
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I know a few local kids (east bay) who have gone to SCU for engineering and it’s working out well. (And parents like that it’s not too far but not on the doorstep either, but everyone seems happy with the quality of education.)
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Oh, don’t get me wrong… I know it’s a good school, with happy students. I was just amused by the lack of commentary I got from D about why she put it on her list!
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Wow! Today D wanted to talk about college list.
- Santa Clara is off. “Too small and suburban, I don’t really want to apply, it was just my friend that liked it.”
- Cal Poly SLO, “I’m not sure exactly why, but I thought it was kind of depressing, maybe because the town is so small and it’s in the middle of nowhere? I’ll still apply though.”
- UC Davis, “it’s still one of my favorite schools but it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere.”
- UCB, “of course I love Cal, Mom!”
Okay, I guess she will be focusing on relatively large schools that have more of an urban, “middle of somewhere” location and vibe. (And I hope she will get those applications in early to Pitt and UMN, so that with luck she’ll have a rolling admission in hand early on…)
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