<p>I've read many students reviews on the websites, it seems that most of the comments are quiet good about Centre. But when I told the result to my Brown interviewer( Get rejected to Brown, obviously), he told me he won't recommend this KY school to me, and recommend me a gap year, or trying other state school and then transfer. I am on wait list of CWRU and Union College, and Centre offer me 19k scholarship a year, which seems attractive.</p>
<p>I am from China, and I will still have chance to take Gaokao in the near June, probably can get into a good college,but not the very top I had expected. My SAT is 1900 with CR 550, MATH760 and WR 590, two AP and SAT2 with good grades, all self-learning cause I don't like international class. ECs includes orchestra over 6 years and several other clubs.. I have been rejected by many probably because I applied for FA with all of them.</p>
<p>The information provided on the website of Centre is extremely limited, I don't really know what type of American students typically enroll in Centre and how exactly the school is like. I am still doubtful because it ranks top 50 LAC,but with an accepted rates of 70 percent. And how is the international community like there is also what I am concerning..
Can anyone give me some information of the students in Centre? And some of the advise of what to do except for Gaokao will be very appreciated! </p>
<p>Centre is a superb college and it’s quite an achievement to get in. The selectivity appears low because the students are self-selecting, but it’s the best university in Kentucky and its reputation throughout the South is strong. I’m not sure why your interviewer would say you should take a gap year when you have such a good admission with financial aid, which is very hard to achieve for an international, especially from China.It guarantees you an internship or research experience plus study abroad, it’s one of the “colleges that change lives”, professors are very committed to their students’ success, and it’s very strong academically. Downsides of Centre are that it’s partly Greek* and it’s a bit isolated so some students drink too much alcohol. A plus or a minus for you, depending on your opinion, is that it’s known as a conservative LAC.</p>
<ul>
<li>As in, fraternities and sororities.</li>
</ul>
<p>There’s a few questions relevant to your decision. Since you’ve probably read enough pro-Centre literature already, I would like to play devil’s advocate and show you a few potential downsides of choosing Centre.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Would a degree from Centre College give you the options you want post-graduation? This depends on what you want to do and I won’t comment further since I don’t know your plans.</p></li>
<li><p>Do you want the small college experience? It means few classes to choose from. Limited options to study your major in depth (bad for graduate school admission in certain areas). Running into the same few people again and again. </p></li>
<li><p>Are you okay with the relative homogeneity of the student body at Centre? 80% of the student body is ethnically white, 50% from the state of Kentucky. Only 60 international students and 34 Asian-Americans. The combination of being a foreigner and ethnically Asian could easily make you “the odd one out.” Is that a role you are comfortable in? It’s also worth noting that Kentucky is among the most religious states in the US, so it’s possible that the student body is quite religious as well. If you have strong feelings about the topic of religion, do some research before you decide to attend.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Would you mind sharing with us what you want to study and what you are hoping to do after graduation?</p>
<p>IIRC, Centre scored one of the highest of all colleges and universities on the National Survey of Student Engagement, which examines how actively students participate in their education and what they get out of it. The student-faculty interactions are exceptional, and there are lots of fascinating opportunities available during the short CentreTerm. I don’t know why you would pass up a scholarship at Centre for a gap year and reapplication (especially since there’s no real reason to believe you would fare significantly better the second time around).</p>
There are many good reasons to attend a larger university or a college in a different geographic location (which need not be any more selective than Centre). </p>
<p>Thanks you all for answering my question!!!</p>
<p>b@r!um: </p>
<ol>
<li>I like in physcis and math most, but not necessarily will become a scholar or anything like that, I’ve been thinking about engineering, I think the 3+2 Engineering plan in Centre attracts me to apply. But I am not sure about any major yet. I am also very interested in humanities, especially history and literature, but I am sure I want a BS.</li>
<li>Of course a small college community really what I like, but what you have mentioned is one of my concerns. It will be really great to learn something wired and wide and strange and interesting in university and that’s why I choose the America.</li>
<li>I think regional and religious scenes will have no problem for me, I’d like to engage with any person I meet and any different faith is welcome.</li>
</ol>
<p>My college had one of those 3+2 engineering programs as well, but it was rare for anyone to pursue it. For the following reason:</p>
<p>Participation in the 3+2 program required careful course planning from your first day on campus, since we only had 3 years to complete all general education requirements, the requirements for a full major and the science prerequites for the engineering program. So the program was really only an option for students who knew right from the get-go that they wanted to study engineering.</p>
<p>Domestic students who want to become engineers usually choose a college with an engineering program. What would be the point of attending a liberal arts college, only to scramble to complete all requirements to transfer to an engineering university?</p>
<p>International students might want to become engineers but attend a liberal arts college anyway due to the availability of financial aid. I actually know several international students who enrolled at my liberal arts college (Bryn Mawr) with the intention of completing a 3+2 engineering program. In the end, none of them did - they simply couldn’t afford it. Turns out that none of the engineering universities offered financial aid to international 3+2 transfer students. </p>
<p>Lesson learned: if you would enroll at Centre with the intention of participating in a 3+2 program, make sure that it’s actually an option. Inquire about the availability of aid, the prerequisites of the program, the transfer admission rates, and about any obstacles that students interested in the program are facing. (For example, if there’s “limited financial aid” available, you really need to find out what that means. That one student will get a $1,000 scholarship or that they can only fund 10 transfer students, even if they ended up accepting more?) </p>
<p>Also ask about how many students actually utilize that program each year. If that number is very small, there’s either a significant obstacle (e.g. lack of financial aid or low admission rates) or a lack of interest in the program (which means that you might feel rather isolated in your academic interests on campus).</p>
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