<p>What would be your top 20 colleges, if you are looking for STEM, possibly Econ-Business major for your child?</p>
<p>Here is the list, according to the US News. What would you like to add or remove?</p>
<p>Princeton University
Harvard University
Yale University
Columbia University
Stanford University
University of Chicago
Duke University - NO.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Pennsylvania - (MAY BE)???
California Institute of Technology
Dartmouth College
Johns Hopkins University - NO
Northwestern University -NO
Brown University -NO
Washington University in St. Louis -BIG NO
Cornell University -NO
Vanderbilt University -NO
Rice University - (MAY BE???)
University of Notre Dame - -NO
Emory University - (MAY BE)
Georgetown University - -NO
University of California–Berkeley - YES!</p>
<p>I would add UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis, U Texas, U of Washington, Brigham Young (U of Utah).</p>
<p>What would you suggest doe your top-20 list? </p>
<p>What is the point here? The tippy top schools are a crap shoot for all, even highly qualified candidates. I think the best method is to strive for the best combo of fit and finances. </p>
<p>What point is to identify “The tippy top schools” :)))</p>
<p>The best fit in terms of finances are in-state public schools. This is obvious. </p>
<p>For all other colleges, I think you have to apply and, if admitted, negotiate tuition/scholarships.</p>
<p>For a CA STEM student, I think of
MIT, Cal Tech, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Harvey Mudd, Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, most of the other UCs, Carnegie Mellon, RPI. I’m not as familiar with other schools outside of CA, but others have I have heard mentioned on cc are Rose Hulman , Colorado school of Mines, Georgia Tech. There are a ton of colleges with “Tech” in the name that might apply. Also, most universities have STEM majors. There are probably rankings for particular majors (say, Computer Sci) if you googled the rankings.</p>
<p>It gets easier and easier to predict some things due to recent tools like Naviance and NPC (Net Price Calculator). Alas, for schools with less than 10% acceptance rates… you still can’t predict acceptances. </p>
<p>A waste of time thread for prestige hounds who have nothing more productive to do. </p>
<p>Why on earth do you have big no’s next to some of them? Don’t tell me - you never heard of them so they can’t be any good. Your no’s seem completely arbitrary. </p>
<p>And it’s completely bizarre to knock off Johns Hopkins, WashU and Northwestern but add in UTexas, U Wash and BYU. </p>
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<p>Maybe, if you are a full-pay family. Need-based aid can be very generous for some of the schools you’ve listed. And a few offer nearly full ride merit scholarships. There’s no point in telling you which ones, because your child is young and schools that now offer big merit scholarships may not be doing so in a year or two or three. Not to mention that those scholarships are incredibly competitive. </p>
<p>So no, not obvious.</p>
<p>Your list is, uhm, naive. </p>
<p>good GOD !!
OP,
I STRONGLY suggest you not post anymore uneducated , nonsensical clap trap during the next 3 years on CC [ your child is not even in HS yet!!] and instead - read, read and learn all you can from parents who have actually gone through the application process !!!
You have MUCH to learn and many, many false hoods to unlearn- INCLUDING this doozy
“negotiate tuition/scholarships”
:)) 
what a joke…</p>
<p>Well, good luck if you believe that only the top of the top are good enough for your princess. </p>
<p>The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, affectionately called the M&T Program, is the oldest coordinated dual degree program at the University of Pennsylvania.</p>
<p><a href=“Home - Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology”>Home - Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology;
<p>M&T students pursue a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School and either a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) or a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering (BAS) from Penn Engineering.</p>
<p>Completed in 4 years, econ AND engineering, econ from Wharton!</p>
<p>Son was one of the few to turn down this fantastic opportunity for econ at p’ton. His financial aid package from penn was better than p’ton. </p>
<p>JHU has one of the best STEM programs in the country, top 2 med schools…</p>
<p>Along with Duke’s top STEM and same as JHU’s tippy top med schools. Add Northwestern’s and Cornell’s engineering, again tippy top…Rice and Vandy…Wash U with their extremely competitive and presitigious scholarships…</p>
<p>Beyond wrong, just silly.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>OP- there is no such thing as a STEM major. Eventually your kid has to major in an actual discipline- and comparing an applied math degree at Brown ( a very strong department) to an electrical engineering degree from U Chicago (non-existent) is a silly exercise. </p>
<p>And good luck 'negotiating" financial aid with most of the schools on your list. The need only schools will only take another look at your financial aid application if you have made an error on the forms (happens occasionally) or if there has been a material change in your finances (like you’ve lost your house in a tornado) since you applied. But if you think that MIT is going to “match” a better offer from Rice or BYU you really don’t understand how the financing works. At almost every need-only school in the country, the first financial aid award is the also the last- you either accept it or not. It is not an invitation to negotiate unless there has been an error.</p>
<p>I can’t believe UMich is not on the list for someone intended to be Econ/Business major.</p>
<p>Is this a joke thread? </p>
<p>I can’t tell what you’re looking for, OP. The thread title asks for “help with the list,” and you go on to say “if you are looking for STEM, possibly Econ/Business major for your child.” Do you want the top 20 schools in those areas? Why? Your child doesn’t need to apply to 20 schools. If he/she chooses to submit that many applications, there really ought to be some safeties among them. No safeties in the top 20 USNews rankings.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine what the big NOs are doing next to schools like Duke, Northwestern, JHU (NO to Johns Hopkins University for STEM? Really?) - any of them, really. Vandy is dismissed by certain snobs around here but one of this country’s absolute best medical schools is there. Ditto the medical center, for research and treatment. Outstanding engineering school, too. </p>
<p>I feel as if I must have missed your point.</p>
<p>Californiaa, you’d do a lot better if you ASKED “what schools would be good for a student with XYZ interests,” as opposed to presenting a list just taken from the top 20 USNWR. Because it says that what you (think you) want in a school is “prestige.” And that certain schools on that list have the appropriate prestige, but all of those that you’ve never heard of, you’re crossing off because they just can’t be any good.</p>
<p>All of the colleges in your list have plenty of “prestige” for your purposes.</p>
<p>For someone who prides herself on being smart, here is what you need to internalize.
Here in the US, we don’t really care that in other countries, there is a strict hierarchy by which the college you get into defines your opportunities - so if you don’t get into the very top ones, your opportunities are narrow. What we are trying to tell you again and again is that IT DOESN"T WORK THAT WAY IN THE US. </p>
<p>The fact that you say you’re interested in STEM and/or business/econ - and then you CROSSED OFF (among others) Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Duke and Northwestern from that list – says that you are working off what you PERCEIVE to be “lower prestige.” Those are all outstanding schools for engineering! Among the top in the country! And yet they are a no! For what reason? </p>
<p>You clearly are getting your “prestige notions” from someone outside of this country, who has no clue what they are talking about. Why are you listening to those people? Is that what “smart people” do? </p>
<p>Us News is helpful for some bits of information.Class size, Tuition, % of students graduating in 5 years…
But ranking of things that are important to me? Not so much.
I feel business is better served as a grad degree along with engineering & education.
Many schools have good economics septs, its like biology- its a basic liberal arts major.</p>
<p>Are you making this list for your child? If so, I think what you probably should do is wait to figure out what majors he’s actually considering (engineering and/or business). And then start figuring out preferences. Then separate out your schools into three categories - pie in the sky, match, and safety. Many of these schools you’ve listed are pie in the sky for nearly everyone. Keep in mind that just being the best ranked does not mean a school is worthy of going on your own personal list. </p>
<p>Here’s how our search is going. My daughter is currently a high school junior. We are only considering merit granting schools. She knew instantly when we began our search that she wanted a school with a strong campus feel - as opposed to an urban school like BU. Along the way she figured out that she wants walking access to shops and public transportation. That ruled out a whole bunch of other schools. She knows she wants to travel abroad as much as possible. </p>
<p>We’ve currently got one school on her pie in the sky list - I assume she’ll get in, but she needs to get one of the twenty or so merit scholarships they offer. If not, we will consider the school a financial rejection (most likely outcome). We’ve got one school on her match list, she really likes it, and we can afford it. But admissions are a funny thing and if she doesn’t get accepted (about a 20% chance), we must have affordable alternatives that also appeal to her.</p>
<p>She’s currently got four schools on her safety list, with a strong preference for one due to what she sees as its superior DC location. I’m assuming these schools are where price may be negotiable. We are anticipating merit money from all of her safeties,but since we can’t rely on it we absolutely need affordable alternatives. In the event of insufficient merit money, two of the schools are local and are completely affordable if she commutes. </p>
<p>And It’s important to remember that there are intangibles. Over the years, our daughter’s had occasion to visit a few of the Ivies without us. According to what my daughter likes, Harvard should be way up on her list of schools, but she didn’t like it. Nor did she like Brown (“too political”) or Cornell (“too remote”). She likes Penn ok but not more than her #1 and #2 and certainly not enough to commute to it. I don’t think our list is done, but how a school is ranked will only be a small consideration before we add to it.</p>
<p>I’ll leave my long, rambly post with this cautionary tale. Cornell is generally regarded as one of the best Ivies for engineering. Our nephew went there and graduated with honors. If he had his schooling to do over, he’d take that full ride that Drexel offered him.</p>