<p>I'm a sophomore at a small private school in Missouri. I get pretty good grades, As and high Bs. I'm in an Honors class now, and am planning to take three APs next year and even more in senior year. I'm in lot of extracurriculars and I look good on an application. </p>
<p>I really want to double major in English and Philosophy, then eventually go on to teach high school or college. I really want to go to a college with little to no core curriculum, so I can focus on what I really want to do. A good history program would also be nice. </p>
<p>Currently, I'm looking Vassar, Brown, and Amherst, but I'm always open to suggestions. Brochures aren't really helpful, and any input or help is greatly appreciated. Many thanks.</p>
<p>i definitely agree with you on the no core curriculum thing; while it’s nice for some people, that’s not what i’m looking for either.</p>
<p>based solely on the colleges you listed (i can give better advice if you list traits that you’re looking for; from your list i’m guessing you want small, liberal colleges offering a lot of academic freedom, but let me know if these assumptions are wrong or i’m leaving something important out), i’d recommend reed, oberlin, and pomona. </p>
<p>also, you’re a sophomore; you have plenty of time to look at colleges. i’m sure that over the next year and a half, schools will start to stand out for you. good luck in your search! :)</p>
<p>smwhtslghtlydzed: Good call. I’m definitely looking for a small school, with academic freedom (preferably no core curriculum at all. Why pay to take classes I don’t like?). I’m fairly open on location, but would prefer somewhere in the Midwest, so I can be within a few hour’s drive of home (Saint Louis).</p>
<p>Take a look at Grinnell. No core curriculum. The vibe is intellectual, liberal, quirky, strong work ethic, unpretentious and understated. The school also has an enormous endowment which is used to ensure they have the smallest class sizes of any top LAC (no class larger than 30, even intro classes), state-of-the-art facilities, great merit and financial aid, and very generous support for student activities including research, clubs and bringing top talent to campus. Great food since the new student center opened and they are located in the small college town of Grinnell so you can walk into town for dinner out.</p>
<p>“I really want to go to a college with little to no core curriculum …”</p>
<p>Reed has one required class (the freshman humanities survey) and requires six quarters of PE (e.g., belly dance, kayaking, rafting, juggling, Yoga, Tai Chi, ultimate frisbee, African dance, snow-boarding, archery, …) and then has distribution requirements according to major. Is this a little, or a lot? I guess it’s a lot compared to Brown, but to others? I dunno.</p>
AFAIK Columbia and UChicago are the only schools w/ core curriculums. What I think you meant is you don’t want any distribution requirements. A Core is where you have to take certain dictated classes which fill up around 1/3 of your total courses. Distribution requirements, on the other hand, could be a little as “one science, one humanities, one social science.” I wouldn’t discount such schools. I mean, do you really hate ALL science courses THAT much that you wouldn’t be willing to take just one or two?</p>