<p>hey what exactly is liberal arts and what degree do u get after it..need to know these basics before thinking about hard core college search</p>
<p>liberal arts
pl.n.</p>
<ol>
<li>Academic disciplines, such as languages, literature, history, philosophy, mathematics, and science, that provide information of general cultural concern: The term liberal arts connotes a certain elevation above utilitarian concerns. Yet liberal education is intensely useful (George F. Will).</li>
<li>The disciplines comprising the trivium and quadrivium.</li>
</ol>
<p>A lot of schools don't offer liberal arts majors, because, well, that's basically like getting a degree in "Undecided". Liberal arts colleges are usually small colleges that are more flexible with their curriculums than regular colleges. It's liberal arts because you choose what you want to do and aren't automatically pressured into a school (i.e: BU Engineering, CAS, etc., NYU CAS, Stern, Steinhardt etc).</p>
<p>so..you would recommend to do an undergrad not in a liberal arts course?</p>
<p>depends on what you want to do...</p>
<p>a school that has very little cirriculum would be best if you dont know what you want to do.</p>
<p>actually...i clearly know what i wanna do...i wanna do arts and math for sure and one science (physics and/or chemistry) but i dont know any field that has this combination pre-set</p>
<p>well liberal arts programs are, for the most part, better in the arts...but well endowed universities, big ones or best privates, are normally better at math and physics/chemistry</p>
<p>so...are you suggesting that it is hard to get a combination of both...? what should i do then...give one of my interests more importance than the other?are liberal arts colleges not good at phy/chem?</p>
<p>Roja, I'll repeat what I wrote on your other thread. Liberal arts colleges (LACs) and univerisities that offer liberal arts degrees are good at sciences as well as arts and social studies. Don't get distracted by the phrase. You can go to either an LAC or a research university and double (or even triple) major in art plus science. You will graduate with a bachelors degree.</p>
<p>ALL of the colleges that you are considering have math, physics, chemistry and studio art departments. Some are stronger at one, some are strong at all. Since you are international and need financial aid you may have to make trade-offs, but for sure you will be able to study both art and science at anyone of 100's of US colleges.</p>
<p>Thank you soooo much momrath..that makes me feel like i am not totally lost..
thanks once again</p>
<p>Roja... check out Seton Hill University's website: <a href="http://www.setonhill.edu%5B/url%5D">www.setonhill.edu</a> .
It might help you with some of your questions about what LACs offer. As a side note, Seton Hill also offers great financial aid packages for international students. Good luck with your college search- hope this helped (even a little bit)!</p>
<p>
[quote]
A lot of schools don't offer liberal arts majors, because, well, that's basically like getting a degree in "Undecided".
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I disagree. I think it's fairly unusual for colleges to offer no liberal arts majors. Technical schools, engineering schools, other narrowly-focused institutions may not offer them. But far and away most colleges and universities do.</p>
<p>I also don't agree it means one is "undecided," but that's a larger discussion.</p>
<p>I think what Begoodagain meant was that a lot of schools don't offer a major called "liberal arts" -- too broad.</p>
<p>ah ok...thank you all</p>
<p>Roja, you're not totally lost. In fact, I'd say that your artistic skill (assuming that you have talent and can document it) could be the hook that will sent you apart from the many other South Asians who also excel in math and science. Colleges do need artists too.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
I think what Begoodagain meant was that a lot of schools don't offer a major called "liberal arts" -- too broad.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>That is exactly what I was saying, haha. I have a friend going to CUNY Queens and she is majoring in "liberal arts" and was told it's great because not many schools offer the major. </p>
<p>I advised her against the major, because she's interested in other things and should pursue them. Of course there are majors within the liberal arts; what I said was there are no majors called "liberal arts" in many places. I hope that clears it up. :)</p>
<p>Strange that this discussion is even taking place on CC. I always thought that the College at Columbia, the College at Chicago and Harvard College always more or less defined what liberal arts meant within the context of a large graduate university. The educational ideal at all these places was that the student has first to become literate in the full range of his/her culture and then focus on something narrower in professional/graduate school. In their view, mathematics, science are very much part of a liberal education. The same view is held increasingly at Caltech and MIT and at a range of small liberal arts schools who, like Columbia now have 3-2 programmes for engineering.</p>
<p>There are actually intedisciplinary programmes in liberal arts. These are survivors of the Western Civilisation courses that were once the glory of the American University One that comes to mind is Directed Studies at Yale, the other, Fundamentals at the University of Chicago. To my certain knowledge they can be integrated with mathematics/physics.</p>
<p>I don't know what is available at Princeton. I do know that the president ( a scientist) is keen to have integrated humanities and science at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>I would suggest you look into schools like Oberlin and Wesleyan. Wesleyan is one of the best government funded schools for science research, and has good arts programs (ethnomusicology, dance, art, list is endless), and oberlin has a spectacular conservatory.
I have a friend who chose oberlin over dartmouth because she wants to major in english and music.</p>
<p>Liberal arts, in essence, means that when you graduate you'll know things not just from your area of study but know a little bit from others as well making you a more 'well rounded' individual.</p>
<p>I went through this entire stage before I applied to colleges last year to figure out which it was that suited me better. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions :-)</p>