<p>departments in several majors by checking the college websites? What should you look for to determine the quality of the program? Also, is a state university the best bet if you cannot narrow down a major? My son doesn't know what he wants to do for a career. He's a junior who scored 700 SAT math, 750 reading and 750 writing on the SAT, with matching scores on the ACT (29 math, 32 reading, 32 Eng and 26 science). So he could go in any direction. He's has a 3.4-3.5 GPA after this semester of all B's (down from a 3.7 previously). He's taken the most challenging courses so far from his pretty good high school (it's one of those state-funded schools for gifted kids), etc. but his not knowing what his career should be is the biggest obstacle to picking a college. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>you asked if state school would be the best bet for an undecided, and i would say its not. for a lot of state schools you have to apply into a major because they are so big and want to keep a good mix/ distribution. most good privates are liberal arts and give you 2 years to declare a major. the exceptions would be business and engineering i think, as in many cases you need to apply into the specific business and engineering schools at a university (ex. penn, cornell, carnegie mellon, columbia, duke, uva all have engineering schools that you apply into separately).</p>
<p>some good options would be liberal arts colleges, or an arts and sciences college at a university. examples are</p>
<p>liberal arts: colgate, haverford, swarthmore, bucknell etc. (many more depending on location, im from PA)</p>
<p>arts & science college within a university: cornell, penn, yale, harvard, uchicago, stanford, basically EVERY college (other than engineering specific) have an arts and sciences school</p>
<p>
[quote]
for a lot of state schools you have to apply into a major
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You sure about that? I've never heard that before. I, and many of my friends attend state schools and that has not been our experience. Obviously we might just be clueless about other schools!</p>
<p>^^ I don't know about applying for a major (outside of the obvious exceptions like business, fine arts BFA programs, etc), but I know that at the large state school many of my friends attend, you do have to declare a major immediately, and you start scheduling your courses around that major. It is possible to change majors, of course, and many do, but it definitely results in a different "feel" than my school (LAC) that does not even allow you to declare a major until the latter half of sophomore year.
I'm not saying this method is necessarily bad, even for undecided students, just trying to explain what the poster may have meant.</p>
<p>Looking into the different departments is pretty silly for undergraduate to be honest. Employers are looking for people who can read, write, and speak well. Becoming proficient in those 3 things can be accomplished in a variety of majors.</p>
<p>As far as state schools go, it really depends on what state you live in. The problem with state schools in general though is that they usually fail to provide the same level of personal guidance that private schools do. So if you don't know what you want to do, that could be a problem.</p>
<p>The first thing you have to figure out though is if you're going to be looking at liberal arts colleges or universities. It pretty much comes down to whether you want a school with only ~2,000 students in it or not.</p>
<p>Would people mind mentioning some of these schools that supposedly exist that make you apply for a major, or declare as soon as you come in?</p>
<p>Thanks Igellar for your thoughtful comments at this basic level that we are presently at. </p>
<p>I finally 'get it' why private schools are so desirable--for the personal guidance and advice. I just hadn't realized that. </p>
<p>Now all we have to do is find a private school with a great engineering program along with a great philosophy program as well as others, given the career uncertainties.<br>
Although I'm not so sure my son is sufficiently 'intellectual' to want to pursue philosophy, now that I think about it! Where are you going to college? Why?</p>
<p>a great college, with more variety than almost any school, is cornell. you can do almost any undergrad major there that you can at any school, plus at cornell it will be top-notch. if you apply into the arts & sciences then you should be able to transfer between undergrad schools easily within cornell.</p>
<p>I sincerely doubt my kid will be able to get into Cornell. It sounds like a very big 'reach' school for him. This is because he has very limited ECs--a few years of band, one or 2 other activities at school, but nothing like what I've seen at CC with the other students. Summers have been usually spent taking a course for a month and then family traveling. Not good enough to interest Cornell, I'm quite sure.</p>
<p>Any other ideas?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Not good enough to interest Cornell, I'm quite sure.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you never try, you'll never know.</p>
<p>pennipotto, students at state universities do not apply to a major. They apply to the university. Yes, there are various colleges (Music, Nursing, Engineering, Architecture, Business, Arts and Sciences etc...) within the university, and students must apply to one of those colleges. But that does not mean they applied into a major. Once admitted into one of those colleges, students generally have 2 years to decide on their major. So, a student admitted into the college of Engineering has two years to decide whether or not they want to major in Chemical, Civil, Eectrical, Mechanical etc... A student admitted into the college of Arts and Sciences has two years to decide whether they want to major in Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, English, a Foreign Language, Geology, History, Mathematics, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology or whatever other major falls within that college. Same goes for most other colleges within a larger university. Switching majors within a college is generally automatic, unless the department is ranked among the top 2 or 3 in the nation and the demand for the program is unsually high. Switching colleges within the same university requires some paperwork, but is also quite easy unless, again, it is ranked among the top 2 or 3 in the nation and is in very high demand. </p>
<p>The reason LACs and many smaller private research universities do not have such admissions policies is because they generally have only one undergraduate college that offers majors in the traditional Arts and Science disciplines. Most LACs and small private research universities do not offer majors in Business, Architercture, Nursing, Music etc...</p>
<p>
[quote]
I finally 'get it' why private schools are so desirable--for the personal guidance and advice. I just hadn't realized that.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Personally, I think it's not so much the guidance and advice as it is the hand-holding. That term has more negative connotations than I'd like, but I can't think of a suitable substitute. At my (state) school, the guidance and advisor programs are absolutely fantastic. But it's easier for a certain kind of student to never make use of them than it would be if there were only 1000 kids in the entire school.</p>
<p>let me personally suggest uchicago as well.</p>