So you have considered the biggies.
I think - 1) If the student wants to be in CA, then why not stick with CA or adjacent schools. It’s easy to say - I want to go far away - but kids get homesick and more. And yes, it hits the ego, but if it were UCR, it’s a fine school with fine outcomes, as most other schools have. But he’ll likely find a spot at another UC - or why not add an SDSU?
- I wouldn’t say Madison is hard to get to - it’s a one stop so not big a deal. But you mentioned non-stop, hence I suggested UMN instead. And there’s a ton of Fortune 500 companies with HQ or offices in Minneapolis but he may not be looking for that kind of work. When you say should we add one of these (Wisconsin or UMASS), I wouldn’t look at it like that. Which would you rather be at? UMASS, by the way, is typically rated the nation’s best food - so if food quality is an issue. Only you can answer the - where should I apply. btw - UMASS wouldn’t necessarily be more difficult than Wisconsin to get to. Fly to Hartford, take an uber or shuttle. Also one stop. But UMN - and Pitt too - you could go non-stop - but should you pick a school based on a 4 time a year flight pattern of having to stop vs. not?? Only you can answer - but when you say UMASS is cold, why would you look at Wisconsin - or for that fact, anywhere cold (including Minnesota and Pittsburgh). I think you are too heavily rank focused short of a few schools and @maijem11 mentioned some of those. I mean, if you are looking for warmth, why not Texas A&M, which may not show up on your ranking, but has a $109.7K average and $100K median based on 137 kids (I don’t know the knowledge rate). It’s also an easy one stop through Dallas. Or a little warmer than Wisconsin/Minnesota and non-stops - Ohio State. It’s another sub - but again, you are far from home and sounds like the student doesn’t want to be.
So I’m going to go back to - what does the student want. It sounds like, at least from you the parent, they don’t want to be in cold weather - so why apply cold weather.
Why is Colorado expensive when you have a $100K budget and you are looking at schools that cost more?
Does ranking matter - that’s up to you - but what rank? I can show you 100 top 20 schools. I showed you RPIs big #s and others like - you said Va Tech, I said NC State - nearly identical salaries, in the research triangle and much much much easier to get to.
I assume you are using US News - and their major rankings are a popularity contest and nothing else. I’m sure that’s why the same schools are ranked every year.
Get outside the US News bubble and you’ll find ranks that have Babson and Bentley and Bucknell and U Florida and others near the top. Someone makes a methodology and then ranks on that - but what makes their methodology right? I mean, US News by major is a popularity contest amongst academics - who are going to pick the same schools year after year. Did any pick RPI? I didn’t see them - and yet their career #s blow others away as does Texas A&Ms as a secondary school (easier to get into than Texas but check for secondary admissions int the major after a year).
So you can do what you want with rankings - but there’s many rankings - not just US News - so to me, I use them directionally. btw - I was a big ranking snob til my kid turned down Purdue engineering for Alabama. As he told me, rankings are to sell magazines and for parents - not companies. At least in his journey, he wasn’t wrong.
So - how many should you apply to - depends on the student. How easy are the apps? How many can they handle? Some apps are super easy and you can pop out in 20-30 minutes while others may not be or have supplemental essays - but look at your list to see. And sometimes essays are reusable - so even a supplemental essay may not be death. An Arizona type will be easy as will the others you are comparing. Money shouldn’t be an issue (cost of apps) since you are willing to pay full.
Bottom line - I go back to where does the student want to be. What if they didn’t get into SCU - would they choose an LMU or USD or U Portland over - say Wisconsin?
Now, SCU is a likely but a given if you ED’d. They admit nearly 50% but business is also the big draw. So that helps. Less than 40% submit a test and you are at the 25th percentile. So my guess is you get in - even RD - with merit. It’s hard to tell if they are need blind or need aware. If need aware, that’s another plus with your full pay - but why would you pay for Santa Clara but then complain that CU is too expensive? I can’t find SCU data (they used to publish including interesting stats, like how many felt prepared for their careers) - I can’t find it. But I suspect their salaries are good based on where they are, but how are they compared to UCB or SJSU? Are they good based on the school or where the jobs are (likely the latter for any school).
These are all personal things - but I still say if the student wants to be in California, then there are plenty of schools he’ll get into - and in many cases the same or similar outcome.
So I’d write down my 100% need to do apps. You know it’s the UCs. You know it’s SCU. Who else? What date are they due? How many essays are there.
Once you get that in control, then I would look at other adjacent schools - the Arizona, ASUs, Colorado, Utah - whatever you want. How about their apps?
As for Arizona, yes, they cut budgets (as many schools are), raised OOS tuition and cut merit - but they are still acquiring out of state students and delivering (my niece works there). The Honors College is beautiful - of course, ASU has Barrett Honors College, which your son would qualify for if interested.
My guess is - these other West Coast apps are not a big deal.
Then I’d go - ok, would I go to x school in the East over the West. If so, write it down.
I’d simply prioritize - but my personal guess, is you are too ranking focused and not what interest the student focused - which may include being close to mom/dad. Even though there’s Facetime, it’s still a comfort gadge for some. My son - he chose Bama over Purdue because he got his own dorm room, it’s warm and there are palm trees - and all that is true. But I do think part of it was also, dad went for work once a quarter and he was three hours closer to mom.
That may be for your student - being close to home - and there are a lot of CA and West Coast schools that might work better for your student in that regard.
But that’s my opinion - but I’m not the student or you. But do I think going to Wisconsin over UCR is going to drastically impact their life one way or another??? No - unless they meet their spouse there.
Good luck.
US News Major Methodology
"In spring and summer of 2025, deans and senior faculty rated the academic quality of peer programs they were familiar with on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5), strong (4), good (3), adequate (2) or marginal (1). Individuals who were unfamiliar with a particular program were asked to select “don’t know.”
Each qualifying school or program was sent two peer assessment surveys.
An average peer assessment score was calculated for each program using a trimmed mean, which removes the two highest and two lowest scores to reduce the impact of outliers. Programs with at least 10 ratings after trimming were then ranked in descending order based on this score."
Programs with an average score below 2.0 (1.5 for computer science) are grouped alphabetically in a ranking range rather than receiving a specific numerical rank. These schools can request their numerical rank by emailing official@usnews.com."
