I’m sure you both know it, but you two definitely speak my language when it comes to dealing with a kid who has great options and who will, undoubtedly, become great at helping in the way he is best suited for….and yet it is just so hard when that way is just coming from a different direction than I ever expected.
I’m not able to offer any red flags or insights, really, into the original question, other than to say that as someone who has been engineer-adjacent for a good part of my life (granddaughter to a Georgia Tech ramblin wreck, wife to a Boilermaker undergrad/UDel Blue Hen PhD, coworker to countless MIT/VaTech/NC State/Clemson alumni), I firmly believe, with all my heart, that all of the programs will likely give the education your S25 could flourish in. There are all kinds of places all over the country (and the world) who will value what WPI and Case and UDub will cultivate in your S25.
I would like to think that, after all you’ve shared about your S25, that he will find his way to engage and even shine, regardless of where he lands.
At the same time, I understand the need to ask for how to figure out the best support system to make sure it happens.
Hoping the next month offers some insights and clarity.
I was thinking UW until I saw ADHD. Not first hand experience but I read that WPI is excellent for ADHD kids. Quarter system, less classes at the same time.
UW would be a bit risky. Case may work too, but it does have some very big classes. So if I were you, I would steer you kid to Case or WPI.
He applied for MechE to schools that forced him to choose. His rationale: it’s a good general discipline beyond which he could specialize if he wanted to. At UW all engineering majors start out undeclared and they have to apply to their favored disciplines at the end of freshman year. My hunch is that even after the brief exposure to other disciplines that he will get during the first year, my son will opt for mechanical.
As you assert, I think most h/s kids have a pretty limited awareness of the different kinds of engineering (or they have a fraction of an iota of awareness and are thus mightily convinced that they know what they like! LOL) My sense is that Case and WPI have more flexibility – and my hunch is that the kid is going to be unmoved by that knowledge because the idea that he might change his mind midstream hasn’t really occurred to him.
Circling back here to close the loop: we went to Seattle last week and I think he knew within a minute or two of setting foot on campus – it just felt right for him. I am pushing back all my what-ifs and desires for a smaller, more hands-on experience in a less competitive environment because he was so HAPPY in a way that he hasn’t really seemed at any other school (even Case and WPI, although he enjoyed both those places). He wanted to pay the deposit and let go of his other admissions options as soon as he returned from the tour. And so, a year and a half after I started researching schools in earnest and obsessing about this stuff – we’re done.
UW it is.
(In hindsight, I think if we’d visited Seattle last year, he’d have been way more focused on this school and similar options – but I’m sort of glad he didn’t have UW in mind when looking at other schools, because getting in felt like a lucky roll of the dice. It was good that we didn’t see it until after he had it in the bag. I don’t think anything else would have measured up in his mind aside from maybe Berkeley, which was never going to happen.)
My S26 saw–and instantly loved–UW last week, too. It really is stunning and lively–a quintessential college experience. We will be holding our breath next cycle to see what happens when he applies.
I also get how you feel about letting go of the other options. My D22 chose UCLA over Smith and Kenyon, and I had grown attached to a vision of her in a small school, getting a lot of attention from her professors, support as she envisioned her future and even more support as she brought it to life. But less than hour into Bruin Day, she said she loved UCLA and we committed to the school the next morning because she didn’t want to wait another moment. And she has had a fantastic nearly 3 years there.
I’m sure your son will love UW too. Congrats on making it through the journey!!
