<p>What types of schools are best for the "I don't have a clue what I want to do" kids? My daughter had always talked about going to Med School and she's always excelled at math/science -- then a month or so ago she decided she rather teach science. Okay, fine. Now, she's decided that she really loves working on yearbook and thinks it would be great to work on a magazine some day. Oh, and she's obsessed with music and she'd like to do something related to music (her dad has connections in the business). And, of course, whatever school she goes to has to have seasons (she loves rain and snow) and a good social scene. And no school that requires you to take History because she hates History with a fiery passion. What school does all of this describe?!</p>
<p>I would suggest that she look at mid-size to large schools - really any school that has a wide variety of program offerings. She will want to find a school that has a decent music program that has a lot of participation by non-majors. I think that what she is looking at can be found at LOTS of schools. So the next thing is to find out how competive a school you want, public or private, etc.</p>
<p>My native Californian kids think rain and snow are good things too... sheesh!</p>
<p>My daughter goes to one of those ritzy schools where kids moan if they "only" get accepted to Amherst. Her brother got into Yale SCEA. So there's a lot of pressure on her to go to a top school -- pressure I'm trying to reduce! I don't think she'd be happy in a super-huge public school (like UCLA, where I went), but probably also wouldn't want a really-tiny private school.</p>
<p>^ I was going to suggest a good quality community college. People scoff at this, but if the student doesn't know what they want to do, it allows her to test the waters, get prerequisites out of the way, and save a lot of money in the meantime.</p>
<p>Of course, a lot of snooty colleges that she is probably shooting for wouldn't accept community college as transfer.</p>
<p>How about a large Ivy with a huge breadth of undergraduate opportunities available? Penn and Cornell come to mind.</p>
<p>You've just described University of Rochester! No core courses; the most flexible distribution requirements there are (no history required!). Great science; great teacher's education. Good music department in the College of Arts & Sciences, and students can also audition for private (free!) lessons at Eastman School of Music, taught by Eastman graduate students. Excellent English & writing programs. And Rochester certainly has seasons!</p>
<p>The Dean of Admissions and the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences have actually said that they really prefer undecided students because they are open to all sorts of intellectual stimulation and options.</p>
<p>I don't know about the requirements, but as far as size, weather, and social scene go, you might want to look into Lehigh.</p>
<p>I thought this was a PSAT post! My daughter should be getting her score today at school...</p>
<p>Look at LACs. My son was the same way as your D: no idea what he wanted to do, and had very broad interests. He was delighted to learn that LACs are designed so that students get to explore lots of academic areas and don't have to settle on a major for a while.</p>
<p>I think that many public institutions offer fewer chances for students to explore different fields. Such universities often are overenrolled, and want students to pick majors quickly and graduate as soon as possible.</p>
<p>northwestern has:</p>
<p>a) good (best) journalism if she wants to do that
b) good liberal arts in the sciences
c) one of the best music schools in the country
d) medium size
e) a quarter system so it's easy to change your major/mind without getting behind
f) seasons, the spring and fall are amazing
g) in my (and probably most people's) opinion one of the best social scenes in the top 15</p>
<p>northwestern does have distribution requirements for history, she would have to take two classes, but their definition of what counts as a "history" class can sometimes be a little loose</p>
<p>in fact, the only school i know of where she would NOT have to take at least one history class is brown university</p>
<p>from what i've heard, and going off what shennie said, the music school does not have a lot of participation by non-majors, but it is easy to double major in music and arts & sciences</p>
<p>You guys are awesome -- so many good suggestions already!! And I didn't realize how the thread title might look PSAT-y, lol!</p>
<p>Brown and Columbia are the two schools that come to mind for a student who doesn't have a clue. Brown, because of the open curriculum. Columbia because it's core curriculum (no required history, but heavy on philosophy and literature) means even the math/science students come out with a solid and well-rounded education.</p>
<p>I'd suggest Columbia based on her stated interests for these reasons:
1. NYC offers wonderful internship possibilities in music, magazines, etc., and internships can be even better than courses for sorting out what you want to do. Many students do internships during the year (possible because few classes meet on Fridays) as well as the summer.
2. Music ensembles (led by professional musicians) and lessons at no extra cost are open to non-music majors in a wide variety of types of music. You want to investigate whether the advertised opportunities are really there at universities that have music conservatories. At some places, an undergrad has to compete with grad students to get into ensembles or orchestras.<br>
3. If she changes her mind and heads back into science, Columbia is excellent and has a lot of undergrad opportunities. There are also many opportunities for teaching in the community if she goes back to that idea.</p>
<p>My S went into Columbia torn between his music/humanities side and his quantitative side. Although he's come down on the quantitative side, he's had had some experiences involving both music and writing that he wouldn't have had elsewhere. He's also had plenty of social life. It's not a place for everyone, of course. Very intense. But your description of your D reminded me of him a few years back.</p>
<p>Might I also suggest a gap year--some time off volunteering through City Year/Americorps or something. Once she gets accepted to Fantastic U., she can defer her admissions: a year before actually starting classes might provide her some great opportunities to discover what really makes her tick. All the good schools pretty much encourage gap years, especially for confused but intelligent students.</p>
<p>This is like post #5-- let her get some space while still providing a structured academic conclusion.</p>
<p>Perhaps Oberlin?</p>
<p>Medium sized universities and larger LACs should be good for her, especially seeing as they're what she seems to want anyway!</p>
<p>She'll get more contact with advisors, and have the benefit of a better graduation rates than what you'd find at huge school (changing your mind at a huge university often means graduating in 6 years). </p>
<p>But yet she'll still be more anonymous than she was in high school.</p>
<p>As for recommendations...how about Vassar? Sarah Lawrence? Skidmore? </p>
<p>Or on the note of universities...I'll second the recommendations for Northwestern and Rochester.</p>