You said Marine Biology, so I’m guessing the schools with Marine Science that are suggested here may not be what he is looking for. My DS2 is a Marine Science minor and his program of study is more concerned with chemistry, physics and geography of the ocean; ocean currents, ocean temps, acidity etc. Any of the UC’s are going to be quite large- 20,000 for UCSC and 25,000+ for the others. Of the UC’s you listed, UCSD probably has the least party atmosphere, although we know plenty of people who go to the other UC’s who are not partiers and manage easily to stay away from that vibe (and despite the reputation, there are parties around UCSD, although they are spread out a little more so maybe not as noticeable as in Isla Vista at UCSB). UCSD also has the prestigious Scripps Institute. While it has almost 30,000 students, it is broken into 6 colleges so it is a little more intimate. Still pretty large. Your son’s stats are good but Stanford is a reach for anyone. The other programs in California are at Cal States and might not be quite as challenging academically. except for Cal State Univ. Long Beach - but it is also big-30,000. University of San Diego is a beautiful, small Catholic University near the ocean that doesn’t push religion on students (son’s good friend who is Hindu is quite comfortable there) and academically very sound. They don’t have a Marine Biology major per se, but their biology major has a marine biology emphasis. Plus it is in San Diego…