<p>This just sounds like an exercise in frustration for you to try to help her with this… I doubt she is going to listen to any of your suggestions. Maybe get her a copy of Fiske and let her go through it and find what appeals to her. You guys sound like apples and oranges.</p>
<p>OP, why is it important to you that your sister pick a certain type of college ? Does it bother you that she isn’t interested in LACs? I would let it be. I remember you started a thread a while ago about how your sister didn’t want to go to a college where students had to write a great deal, and it troubled you. She isn’t you and you’re not her, so let it go. She’ll make her own choices, just as you did.</p>
<p>How advanced is she in math? If she is very advanced in math, and is considering majoring in math, she may want to look for a research university with a good graduate program in math, since many the of more advanced math majors want to take graduate level courses and do advanced research as undergraduates. The advanced math majors would skip most of all of the big lower division math courses anyway, if that is a concern.</p>
<p>If she’s a rising junior, she has a lot of time left to look at colleges and in that time, she’s probably going to end up changing her criteria quite a lot.</p>
<p>She’s taking pre-calc and AP stats in the fall.</p>
<p>I’ve been told by many that liberal arts schools are the best places for undergrads, and I know that many of you will disagree with that. One of my profs said that he would send a kid to any of the top 100 liberal arts schools in the country over Harvard - I know that this is a very biased statement and he knows that, but I just feel like my sister would like a liberal arts school that focuses on undergrads. I know I’m being biased.</p>
<p>We live near Calvin (she could commute) and we know about Hope. I applied to both and neither were affordable. I’m not saying that they wouldn’t be affordable for her, but my GPA was higher than hers and she won’t even study for the ACT.</p>
<p>I didn’t look at Hillsdale but she might like their conservativeness. I don’t know how their math program is.</p>
<p>I did look at Wheaton but I was waitlisted there, probably because I wrote about evolution and ignorance in my app essay :o I don’t know if she could get in there if I didn’t (I’m not saying that I had better stats than her, but she won’t even look at schools, study for the ACT, or tell me what her GPA is.)</p>
<p>I’ve been to a LAC and a major research university. They both come with their pros and cons but it’s not true that all universities treat their undergrads as completely disposable and an utter nuisance. There are a great many larger institutions where undergrads are a top priority, and the staff and faculty go out of their way to ensure that they succeed. </p>
<p>Your sister is only a junior right now. It’s perfectly normal to not want to think about college and instead just focus on high school.</p>
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<p>It depends on the student.</p>
<p>The main advantage is the small classes and more faculty attention at the lower division level (this can also be true for upper division courses in some popular majors like biology, economics, psychology, etc.). However, the trade-off is typically fewer offerings at the upper division level, and no graduate level courses for advanced undergraduates.</p>
<p>LACs with cross registration agreements with conveniently nearby research universities may be able to reduce the usual disadvantages in terms of upper division and graduate level course selection.</p>
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<p>Lower division at a LAC and upper division at a research university is likely more optimal than lower division at a research university and upper division at a LAC.</p>
<p>If engineering is the primary interest, and a small school is desirable, consider the “Mines” schools in South Dakota, New Mexico, and Colorado, which are small engineering-focused schools. The first two are also relatively inexpensive. Pure math and physics may not be as emphasized as much at SD and CO (NM may be better in those areas; check the course offerings).</p>
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<p>Engineering programs at these 3 schools:
[Hillsdale</a> College - Pre-Engineering](<a href=“404 Not Found - Hillsdale College”>404 Not Found - Hillsdale College)
[Hope</a> College | Engineering | Program Information](<a href=“http://www.hope.edu/academic/engineering/proginfo/index.html]Hope”>Engineering Department | Hope College)
[Calvin</a> College - Engineering - Christian Engineering in Service to Society](<a href=“http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engineering/]Calvin”>The Department Of Engineering - Academics | Calvin University)</p>
<p>Calvin’s program appears to be the most robust, with concentrations in chemical, electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering (unusual for a LAC). US News ranks it #57 among “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs at schools where doctorate not offered”. Hope gets #84 in the same category. Hillsdale gets no engineering rank.</p>
<p>According to that link, Hillsdale does not have a native engineering degree program. Basically, it just tells you what to do to transfer to another school to complete an engineering bachelor’s degree, or try to apply to a graduate program in engineering after doing a non-engineering bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>One other thing to think about is that if a college is strongly religious, it may not be that good a fit for someone of a different religion (or someone who is conservative but not religious).</p>
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<p>Not if the undergrad doesn’t want to be at a liberal arts school… I attended a large research university for undergrad. My kids have both ended up at LACs, but I can see that for some kids the large university works fine for them. Your sister sounds immature… but so do you. Let her make her own decision, she is the one who has to live with it. A bossy know-it-all biased older sibling isnt going to sway her, and in fact might push her in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>If she’s serious about engineering, she should take a close look at Michigan Tech. It’s a mid-sized school (5,700 undergrads) with a very good engineering program. In-state tuition is about $13K/year. Like any college, you’ll find some students who drink, but it’s not known as a big party school. Student political and religious views would cover the entire spectrum but on average are probably more conservative than at a place like Michigan or Michigan State, or at most LACs. And I would say the cultural style of the student body is more conservative–not a lot of political activism or flamboyant artsiness, most students pretty serious, sober, clean-cut, and career-minded. No “freak show” here. In short, I’d have been bored to death there, but it might be the kind of campus environment your sister is looking for.</p>
<p>Does she like winter? Winter sports are big at Michigan Tech, which among other things has its own ski hill for good, clean fun. Great cross-country skiing, too, and some outstanding hiking in the fall, with gorgeous fall colors.</p>
<p>She likes the cold</p>
<p>Also, being conservative in one’s personal habits is not necessarily the same as political conservatism. There are likely a fair number of scientists and engineers who have conservative personal habits, but are not politically conservative.</p>
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<p>I think I would like you in real life, rbouwens. At first I was going to disagree with NJSue about not trying to help your sister but now that you mention that she won’t even share her test scores with you, I think it might be a losing battle.</p>
<p>Perhaps look at some of the Jesuit colleges in the Midwest (ex. Marquette, Xavier, Loyola Chicago, St. Louis) as they often have a somewhat more conservative student body. And look for colleges that have a wellness freshman dorm.</p>
<p>But unless you go to a place like BYU, there will be some drinking anywhere. She will have to seek out like minded students and find activities/clubs on campus.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to help her. Our parents didn’t go to college and I don’t think she really has anyone else to talk to about stuff like this. I want her to make an informed decision when the time comes. College searching is one of my passions and I guess I’m taking it too far…</p>
<p>Bucknell, Lafayette, Union College - all are mostly liberal arts but have engineering.
It’s nice that you want to help, but pushing your preferences on her is not helping. Also it is setting up a contentious situation where she will ignore what you tell her even if it is good advice. Encourage her to talk to her guidance counselor.
LACs are not for everyone, and certainly do not provide lots of choices for someone who might be interested in engineering!
Show her some good tools and let her start looking on her own. The Fiske Guide, Princeton Review and some good search engines such as :
[College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics)
[College</a> Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential - College Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/]College”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/)</p>