Guiding Our Kids: Lib Arts vs. Pre-Prof Outlooks

I cringe at the thought of associating a liberal arts education only with certain colleges, such as “liberal arts colleges”. The sciences ARE a part of the liberal arts- as opposed to technical, engineering, professional tracks. Large public U’s encompass the liberal arts plus a lot more. Do not let the limited schools (those that exclude fields) make you think all of them are better at a liberal arts education. I can site so many examples of my and son’s generation taking so many diverse nonSTEM classes in depth at public U’s- honors students with math/science majors.

Thank you for giving your D’s unweighted gpa as well as the Florida one. The high gpa’s for listed local vals/sals I see since we retired to Tampa just mean a lot of honors/AP/IB classes are available at certain schools and garner a lot of extra points. Your D did well in the most rigorous curriculum- good preparation for any college.

Do not discount your state public U’s. Many of the state’s top students will be found there- with skills in many diverse areas. A student can indulge in a great STEM education plus a great social sciences and humanities curriculum. The variety of offered courses is likely to be much greater than at small colleges. Exposure to both nonscience and science students will be there. Honors colleges/programs make them into two tier schools- for the elite students and the other good students.

We looked at and toured a wide variety of campus sizes, programs etc. Mine felt most comfortable in a small liberal arts college environment. She did apply to our state flagship and several larger LACs. My spouse was a big fan of the pre professional environment a large university offers (he went to Purdue for engineering). She ended up at a women’s college in a consortium. I think its reasonable to assume a motivated student will do well at both and after graduating. I think personality and fit should be a big part of the decision. Going in ours always had the intention of pursuing education post college and also was unsure of major. We feel that she made the right choice and it is evident in her confidence and late blooming leadership skills. In a nutshell my reserved, quiet academic D has completely blossomed at a small LAC. I think it gives her the ability to big a big fish in a small pond. I’m not sure had she attended a large University that we would have seen these stark changes in confidence. I don’t think one is better than the other just that some serve others better.

Some STEM areas do fall under the liberal arts (physics, chem, bio). My D was a physics major, now in a (funded) PhD program in experimental physics, working on material science type applications — experience to eventually work in industry or for a national lab. Point is that a kid can attend a LAC and take advantage of those course offerings, and still major in some STEM related area. Other kid majored in political science, ended up working for a higher ed consulting firm and is rising through the management ranks, earning a good salary. Her strong writing skills definitely helped her get her job.

@wis75, great points. My daughter is not on CC (nor do I want her to be!), but I am going to share some of the very positive feedback I’ve had from parents of OOS NMF who came a long way to go to UCF. U of Alabama and UTD are two other public options that have a meaningful honors college/program and great packages for NMFs.

Like @Veryapparent 's daughter, mine is not a natural extroverted leader, but I know she has leadership qualities that will blossom in the right place. I have had teachers tell me she is a leader, just more introverted than the ones who run for student body, etc. I personally think we need more quiet, thoughtful leaders…maybe she can express her thoughts on this subject as part of her application essays, because she has some very interesting perspectives and insights, imo.

@intparent, I can definitely see my daughter pursuing a similar science path…not necessarily in engineering, because I think she’s much stronger in abstract/theoretical/conceptual subjects. She’s not the type to build a robot, for instance, but she gets excited about astronomy, quantum physics, etc. She hasn’t ruled out pre-med, but I think that’s just because it’s a profession she knows and understands.

I do not mention my top ten or twenty rated in many fields including math and chemistry, with an excellent Honors program, alma mater-Wisconsin for many because of OOS costs. Flagships vary in caliber but for those of us with financial need for instate (even with scholarships) the flagship U of any state will have the elite students who also can’t afford to go elsewhere.

“Leadership” is NOT a necessary quality to be excellent. Years ago son did a local middle school summer session on leadership where they fortunately recognized there is a lot more to leadership than what most think it is. One does not need to be an extrovert nor into being elected (politician type). But- I will never say introverts are better because I am not one (H and S are- wish there had been more about the two styles out there when raising a kid so unlike my innate personality). Just different. Not all extroverts want to be elected leaders, some of us lead by example like ,many introverts do.

Engineering is very different from sciences. Different types of people enjoy each. I liked chemistry but not chem E (nor physics- and now biologists are using so much more chemistry!). Being premed is an intention, never a major. That’s a whole new topic. Something to consider with small versus larger research schools for STEM fields is how much research a student will be exposed to. Not just getting to work with a professor, but to see grad labs and have experiences in them.

Pros and cons to every place. One size does not fit all. Someone mentioned the school’s fit- that is important. Finding one’s peer group, both academically and otherwise. Campus culture, climate, costs…so many variables.