<p>My daughter wants to attend an LAC and is leaning towards a major in Chem or Bio. She goes to an international high school overseas and has stated a preference for staying on the west coast in college, so we've been looking at Pitzer, Reed, Chapman and Whitman. But after reading "40 colleges that change lives," it sounds like Reed is way too intense and Pitzer full of slackers. </p>
<p>I think I have her convinced to at least consider a few schools in the midwest. She has a 3.88 GPA (unweighted) and is taking AP classes. She loves science, has an active social life, and is interested in music and the arts as well. She's not religious and would be most comfortable in a progressive climate. So . . . any comments on how science majors fare at Beloit? Kalamazoo? Knox? Wooster? Ohio Wesleyan? Any place else?</p>
<p>I second Macalester, while the weather would be an adjustment, it’s a great school in a great location. My son very nearly attended Mac, but decided Whitman was the place for him. Both schools have the attributes you’ve mentioned, but are in very different environments.</p>
<p>Be aware that chemistry and biology graduates do not have very good job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level, and competition for graduate school and PhD jobs in the fields can be fierce, so pay attention to keeping cost and student loan debt down.</p>
<p>Chem and Bio are pretty generic majors and any college can do the basics well. </p>
<p>The science program at the Claremonts is consortium, so science courses will include students from Pomona and CMC, as well as the other colleges. Pitzer is rapidly cranking up its numbers (SAT midquartile is 1210-1380, so I wouldn’t discount it. Also, consider Scripps (SAT 1280-1450).</p>
<p>Looking east and way up the competitive food chain, Amherst and Williams have outstanding science programs. Amherst was the first undergrad with a Neuroscience program, for example. Williams has a beautiful new science building.</p>
<p>The “genericness” may be less relevant than the popularity – biology is a very popular major (and needs chemistry for support of the major) so colleges size the departments to meet the demand for such courses and majors. Other “generic” subjects like math and physics are considerably less popular, so one has to be more careful about selecting a college for those majors than for something more popular.</p>
<p>I would definitely encourage your daughter to check out Carleton! It’s known to be particularly strong in the sciences and as a bio major/biochem concentrator I can confirm that the department is pretty great. It’s sometimes difficult to get into classes, but the professors are great and Carleton, in general, is known for having very strong sciences and I think it’s in the top 10 among all American colleges for the percent of science majors who receive a PhD. However, it is in the midwest, so in that way it doesn’t necessarily fit your daughter’s criteria. Still, feel free to PM me if you at all want more information.</p>
<p><em>shameless self-promotion</em></p>
<p>I’d also recommend CMC and Pomona on the West Coast, as well as Harvey Mudd, which is very well-known for its science and engineering programs.</p>
<p>Overseas, We are also an overseas American family. I would strongly recommend Williams for sciences. It’s highly selective, but they like the combination of academics and the arts and offer terrific facilities and opportunities in music and art even for non-majors.</p>
<p>I would also look at Pomona, Grinnell, Wesleyan (CT), Hamilton, Smith. </p>
<p>What is your financial strategy? Are you looking for need or merit based aid? This will make a difference in your daughter’s list.</p>
<p>As a general statement and depending on where you live, expatriate kids do well at selective colleges, so make sure that your daughter highlights her international experiences in her application – in essays, resume, recommendations. In otherwords, she should focus on what she can contribute to the campus community.</p>
<p>Also, even if she does not plan to major in humanities, she should consider submitting a music or art supplement to her application. LACs are like multifaceted kids, again, for what they can contribute to the intimate community.</p>
<p>Depends on which sciences (there are science majors other than biology and chemistry; if you want to be specific to biology and chemistry, say so instead of saying “science”)… and you forgot about Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, and Carleton in any case.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has a great science program that includes a graduate or PhD program that is unique for a LAC. It is a cheaper program and can be completed in fewer years because students can begin the program in their last year of undergrad.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve added Oberlin, Carleton and Macalester to her list of places to check out. The winters would be harsh, but I think culturally and logistically the midwest would be easier than the east.</p>
<p>We’re aware that she’ll need grad school if she chooses to major in Chem. So yes, we’re looking for merit scholarships or whatever FA help we can get. </p>
<p>Momrath–I went to a presentation by an Admissions guy from a well-known Eastern college and the question of how much international experience helped came up. He claimed that his college saw tons of applicants from overseas so it really wasn’t a selling point. The speaker was responsible for applicants from several international schools and he said he was very familiar with the different high schools, their standards and course offerings, etc. If our kids are being vetted by admissions officers who are responsible for territories outside of the states, it is possible that the international angle is not going to be all that impressive. This guy seemed to think it was much more important to make sure your kid stood out from the other international school applicants. His answer surprised some of us, so I thought I’d share it.</p>
<p>About the Claremont colleges. Scripps, Pitzer and CMC share a science program at the Keck center. It’s billed as an accelerated, integrated science program which requires a lot of work in Bio, Chem and Physics in the first two years. Has anyone heard about this program? She’s not interested in Math and Engineering, so I don’t think she’d be comfortable at Harvey Mudd, even if she could get in.</p>
<p>OM, I think admissions view foreign nationals and American expats differently. There just aren’t *that many *American kids who have actually had experience living overseas. As I said, the plus factor depends on the place: an applicant will get more life experience credit if s/he lived in Cambodia or Egypt than in France. </p>
<p>The amount of boost is impossible to quantify and the experience has to be expanded on in the application, but I’m convinced that high achieving kids from “interesting” international schools fare well at selective schools. It certainly was true for my son and his classmates. The key is to communicate in the application – in essays, recommendaitons, resumes – what your understanding of foreign culture can contribute to the campus, both in and out of the classroom.</p>
<p>Have you used an online calculator to determine how much need based aid you might be eligible for? If this works for you your daughter will have wide choices. If she’ll definitely need merit based aid, it will be a somewhat different list. Smith, for example, has terrific funding for women in the sciences.</p>
<p>“We’re aware that she’ll need grad school if she chooses to major in Chem. So yes, we’re looking for merit scholarships or whatever FA help we can get.”</p>
<p>Unlike medical school, grad school for top students is routinely funded by scholarships, fellowships, teaching assistantships, RA positions and so forth.</p>