<p>Our youngest D is a rising Junior. We are starting to look at colleges primarily to see what type of school she would like and are starting primarily with schools we consider safeties which means Ohio public universities. D knows what HS courses she enjoys but really doesn't know what she wants to "become". Currently she is looking at either Biology or Chemistry of some sort. Apart from Ohio State does anyone in CC land know what public schools in Ohio have strong Chem/Bio programs or are they really all the same? A second somewhat lesser criteria is that they have a dance minor. She has been dancing since 3rd grade and while she doesn't want to major in dance she would like to continue dancing. I know Ohio U is strong in communication, Miami U. in business, Akron in ChemE, BSGU is strong in education, Wright State in musical theater and Kent State in Fashion Design but I haven't really heard of one whose strength is specifically in the sciences. </p>
<p>Some are better than others, but public schools are expected to be strong in bio, chem, and physics, as well as business and engineering, and they usually are. The dance minor is another matter. Most taxpayers don’t demand strong fine arts programs, although many publics have them. It’s only an undergrad education. You don’t learn much bio or chem in undergrad; that is, you’re expected to do some grad school, often quite a bit, before you can say you’re a biologist or chemist. Unlike being a dancer.</p>
<p>You might also ask your question at the Ohio colleges forum.</p>
<p>Where is the Ohio colleges forum?</p>
<p>I guess that is what I need to know. I know BGSU, Akron and OU have dance minors. Bio/Chem majors are ubiquitous. I suppose it’s likely that she’ll need at least a masters to go forward with any of these majors. Wright State which is close to us offers a dance major (one of her dance teachers is a teacher there) but no minor that I can see. It sounds like it will come down where she feels most comfortable. ONU, Case and perhaps Kenyon are privates we’ll probably look at after she gets her SAT/ACT scores. </p>
<p>sorry, OHMom, I meant the Ohio colleges fora, the fora where OSU, Miami (OH), and some of the other 11 Ohio public colleges are discussed.</p>
<p>Wright State is very strong in Chem and Bio, partly due to their med school, partly due to their close alliance with Wright-Patterson AFB and the work that goes on in the AF labs. They have a dance major but no minor. I’m not sure if a student can take dance classes if they are not in the BFA program.</p>
<p>Wright State is the penutilmate safety since we live in Dayton. Sinclair probably being her final choice. It’s rather a shame because Wright State really is a good university. If her scores are high enough it might even be essentially free. In this case it has no dance minor and it’s too close to home. I have told her that if she does well enough on her PSAT to be at least a commended scholar she should consider attending Wright State for her undergraduate and the money we’ve saved can go towards helping her pay for graduate school. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Miami U operates a very competitive summer research project for undergraduate Chemistry students. The department has a strong reputation.</p>