<p>I've started looking at colleges and I've come up with a few questions because I've been confused on a few things.</p>
<p>-What is the difference between a liberal arts college and a non-liberal arts one?
-Do all colleges require core classes for the first two years?
-What effect do AP classes have on those college courses? Is it different in liberal arts colleges?
-When do people generally start studying their majors?</p>
<p>I'm sorry, it's a lot of questions, but I really never received straight answers for them. Thanks in advance to anyone who answers them.</p>
<p>Also, if anyone else has a question this could be the place to post it. :)</p>
<p>i'm no expert, but i am a senior who is currently waiting, so i'll give you my $.02</p>
<p>liberal arts colleges focus on producing well-rounded students who have basically learned a little about a lot of things. there are core classes in different areas (e.g. you have to take 1-2 courses in mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, etc). liberal arts schools tend to be smaller and more focused on personalized attention, close communities, and usually encourage study abroad and broad areas of study. that isn't to say you cannot find these things at a non-liberal arts college</p>
<p>not all colleges require core classes for the first two years, and actually, usually the classes aren't required for you to take your freshman and sophomore year. you could take one of your core classes at any time, but people get them out of the way early so they can concentrate on their major by the time they're an upperclassman</p>
<p>AP classes have a varying effect- but for most cases, they do not give you credit. rather, they help you place out of a class (for example you got a 5 on the psych exam, so you don't need to take intro to psych). if you got a 4 or 5 you can get placement at most schools</p>
<p>typically you have to declare your major by the end of your sophomore year, and most people enter college undecided. personally, i stumbled across my (most likely) future major throughout this process</p>
<p>i hope these give you a little more insight into this process. good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks! Luckily, I still have a bit to worry about actually applying, but since I'm starting to look at colleges, I want to see which ones are the ones I might apply to.</p>
<p>-What is the difference between a liberal arts college and a non-liberal arts one?</p>
<p>I chose a lot of liberal arts college because I like:
-Small Classes
-Discussion
-Reading
-Learning (love of learning is one thing you'll find at a lot of LACs)
-Quirky people</p>
<p>-Do all colleges require core classes for the first two years?</p>
<p>Most of the LACs I applied to have very very little requirements, or none at all. Definitely not for the first two years.</p>
<p>-What effect do AP classes have on those college courses? Is it different in liberal arts colleges?</p>
<p>ilk's answer is pretty good for this, but it varies from school to school. Some schools put a cap on the amount of credit you can get from APs. Or some don't allow you to test out of some classes- Vassar, for example, won't allow you to test out of the writing-intensive class requirement with the AP English exam. Really really varies from school to school.</p>
<p>-When do people generally start studying their majors?</p>
<p>Yup, end of Sophomore year, usually. But I don't know, I'm probably going to be taking classes in mine freshman year... That's the nice thing with LACs with no/little requirements. You don't have to declare a major until later, but because of the lack of core requirements, I think you can explore more. Or at least eliminate some early on- I might take a couple math classes (I'm in AP calc now) and one or two sciences (AP Physics now), but probably not much because I want to teach Spanish/do something in the humanities.</p>
<p>-Do all colleges require core classes for the first two years? Not really, but in my college it takes more than 2 semesters to complete all the common course requirements. So effectively you can divide it into freshman / junior year or something like that, but it takes the same amount of time.</p>
<p>-What effect do AP classes have on those college courses? Is it different in liberal arts colleges?
Here, the end of sophomore year is when you declare a major. I started taking Music and CS courses freshman year (now).</p>