<p>For someone accepted to the school of liberal arts, how intensive and extensive is the core curriculum? The virtual tour I took on THEIR website said that "The college's core curriculum is the LARGEST required of almost any college in the country" and consists of a "TWENTY ONE-COURSE integrated liberal arts core". I am all for and completely understand the value of a liberal arts education. The college academic experience should be about so much more than just plain old job training. If all I wanted was a skill and a paycheck, I would simply head over to my local plumbing or electrician school.</p>
<p>That being said, this seems just a little over the top. Does such a rigorous core curriculm lead to a sense of misdirection? Is there any training for "the real world", or is it ALL idealistic and philosophic study? Any additional information on the school of liberal arts and sciences, particularly information from current students in the program, would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>My D is a chemistry major in the school of arts and sciences. Her freshman year she took a language and a philosophy and the rest were classes all in her major.</p>
<p>It's been decades since I was a Villanova student, so take the following for what it's worth. </p>
<p>Twenty-one courses would be about half the courses a student takes in four years (assuming a 128-credit degree requirement and each course being worth three credits). So it's a lot. But I'm sure it includes core literature, history, foreign language, math, science, theology and philosophy courses. Just taking two semesters of each of those subjects puts you at 14 courses already.</p>
<p>Is any of that practical? Yeah. I think so. It produces a mind equipped to think, the most useful thing imaginable. </p>
<p>There are specific career tracks at Villanova. In the business school; the engineering school; in arts and sciences in pre-law and pre-medicine. But a useful part of a Villanova education is that all of that is grounded in a broad liberal arts program.</p>
<p>How is the Liberal Arts program perceived at Villanova? It seems that the focus of the school is Business, Engineering, and Nursing, which account for more than half the student body. If someone is considering a liberal arts curriculum, I'm wondering if they should even consider Villanova, even if they like the school per se.</p>
<p>My sphomore d is in Liberal Arts, heading for an English major most likely (although she has actually also taken some engineering math classes that she found excellent, ironically also a strength of hers). Without exception, she has found her professors outstanding both as teachers and as individuals, and very student focused and accessible.
Her classes have been appropriately very reading/ writing intensive in all disciplines, including philosophy, religion, ethics and Irish literature this semester. She's taking some science classes (bio this semester) that are also very well taught.
She has been very happy in the College of Liberal Arts- one students perspective that she tells me is shared by most.</p>