<p>So I'm a very indecisive person, and I kind of want to get a taste for everything. I'm most certainly going in undecided for my first year but MAYBE majoring in Environmental Science/Biology/Pre-Med/Pre-Law.
But I'm just afraid there won't be a school that will LOVE and help that I'm undecided.
I guess my question is: is there/are there any colleges that WELCOME undecideds and would be a good place for someone to explore everything?</p>
<p>Please don't say LAC b/c I already know that. I mean schools that either have a plan/programs to allow you to try everything. </p>
<p>STATs: 3.6 UW, most rigorous classes (8 APS), ACT 32</p>
<p>Other than the technical schools, I don’t think schools have a bias for any particular discipline, including undecided. </p>
<p>If it were me, I guess I’d look for a school that had some kind of interdisciplinary programs for freshmen. Lots of schools have them. Barnard (if you’re a girl) has a required freshman seminar. Wesleyan is very big on interdisciplinary things. Duke has one. NYU-Gallatin has one. This is one from Brown that might be of interest to you. </p>
<p>Another option is to look for schools with a winter term, like Smith or Oberlin, which would allow you an extra opportunity to explore something during the school year.</p>
<p>Finally, look for a school that has campus sponsored lecture series or other programs outside the curriculum. Most schools have this. This is a great way to get exposed to lots of ideas.</p>
<p>Beloits’s Dean of Admissions made a point during a presentation to potential students and their families about how important it is to not worry about knowing exactly what you want to do. He asked students to raise their hands if they didn’t have a clue what they wanted to study and then talked for a long time about how great that is and why. They have prelaw and premed advisers and I think they have good acceptance rates to grad schools. It is an LAC, and I can’t tell form your original post if you don’t want specific LAC’s, or just didn’t want to hear a generic, “try and LAC.”</p>
<p>“Undecided” is probably the norm, not the exception, among students entering most arts & science programs (at LACs and universities alike). So, trying to identify schools that “love undecideds” is unlikely to get you very far in narrowing down your choices. Most students change majors. </p>
<p>Most arts & science majors do not require you to start taking prerequisites in earnest from the first semester. The exceptions would include areas like foreign languages, which build cumulatively on a foundation of specific skills that take years to develop. Pre-med, too, requires you to take more or less specific courses, some of which must be taken in sequence. However, as long as you cover those courses, you can major in nearly anything. Pre law is even more flexible.</p>
<p>The programs I mentioned are things you’d take your first or second year. They’d simply help you explore widely. You’ll still have to choose a major. Depending on what you wind up being interested in, that major could be more or less broad or focused. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about what grad school might want until you figure out what you want. You’ve certainly got the stats to get into a school with an excellent grad school acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Franklin & Marshall… when we went to their info session they seemed to emphasize this and want more prospective students to want to become undecided. It was definitely a different approach than other schools who also addressed students who didn’t know what they wanted.</p>
<p>Don’t look for merit aid at this school though. They don’t give it. They are supposedly ok with need-based aid.</p>
<p>Orientation can go only so far in making freshmen feel connected. Many schools, such as those below, now build into the curriculum first year seminars or other programs that bring small groups of students together with faculty or staff on a regular basis.</p>
<p>In spring 2011 we invited college presidents, chief academic officers, deans of students, and deans of admissions from more than 1,500 schools to nominate up to 10 institutions with stellar examples of first year experiences. Colleges and universities that were mentioned most often are listed here, in alphabetical order.</p>
Ohio State is committed to enrolling a diverse and talented student population. The National Buckeye Scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis to non-Ohio students required to pay the out-of-state surcharge who are admitted to the Columbus campus for autumn semester. Those considered rank in the top 40 percent of their graduating classes and have ACT composite scores of 28 or higher or combined SAT Critical Reading and Math scores of 1260 or higher.
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<p>I’ve been to a ton of info. sessions between my two kids college search and my sense is that (other than certain programs like engineering, business) schools don’t pay much attention to your projected major. Undecided is as good as anything else. I’ve heard multiple admissions counselors say that a majority of students switch out of their initial projected major so they don’t really worry about it too much. </p>
<p>That said, my S went to a Jesuit college for his undergraduate and those schools all have a very large core curriculum that mandates that students get experience in many different disciplines, some of which many would never have tried on their own. My S found it to be very worthwhile. Of course you can do a similar thing on your own but you might enjoy a school which has a large core curriculum (be it a Jesuit school or another school).</p>