Does it make it easier to get into colleges like Bates, Middlebury, Williams etc if a student is intending to study physical sciences at these schools?
I think it holds true because MOST will be applying to study liberal arts and these are the most competitive ??
What do u think guys
Physics and chemistry are liberal arts. The way you used liberal arts above seems to refer to the humanities/fine arts and social sciences students at these schools.
In terms of your question, it would seem that specific colleges might prefer applicants with less common academic interests in some cases.
That noted, it may not be advisable to apply to a college at which your interests would be especially uncommon, in that this might indicate that the school has a relative weakness in those fields.
I’d look at the college you’re interested in and see how many people they graduate in a given year in each major. This is easily found on collegenavigator.gov, on the programs/majors tab. So for Bates, in a graduating class of 462 they have 65 bio majors, 24 math majors and 31 physical sciences majors. Bio is their second most popular major. However they (relatively) don’t have a lot of language majors, for instance, or philosophy majors.
So if you’re trying to game their system based on how many of a certain type of major they enroll, applying as someone interested in Russian or Spanish would give you a bigger “edge” than applying as a bio major.
@Malahide, physical sciences majors are very popular at the most highly selective LAC’s, so no indicating an interest in that area or any STEM majors won’t provide any advantage. As an example, at Williams 12% are physical science majors, 10% are biological science majors, 7% are math majors, 7% are CS majors, and 6% are psychology majors (which includes neuroscience), so STEM is huge!
I have heard some anecdotal stories that interests in areas such as music and fine arts may provide a tip as those majors are continuing to see a declining enrollment.
Most small LACs don’t admit by major anyway. Sure, if you’re an unusual applicant for a given school because of your interests, you may stand out, but if you’re interested in Major X and apply to a school where X is not a particular strength, they may have some questions about how genuine your interest is. Just be who you are and apply to the places that seem right to you.
Agree with the above. LACs typically do not admit by major and admissions officers are well aware of the fact that many people.change majors while in college.
Also, as noted above, “liberal arts” doesn’t mean “not math and science.” It refers to a range of academic subjects that includes the humanities, sciences, etc. (As opposed to, say, strictly pre-professional training.) Many liberal arts colleges are noted for their strength in the sciences.