<p>CountingDown - thanks for the note about the heavy-duty math and physics requirements for all majors as part of the Mudd Core. That is something to consider going forward. </p>
<p>Also, you mention that Calc BC is a requirement. What the math department web site says is that one year of high school calculus is needed, and students can place out of Math 11 (the 1st half course) with a 5 in the Calc BC AP Exam. This leads me to believe that Calc AB is an acceptable preparatory high school calculus course. Am I missing something?</p>
<p>Re. AP Chem, at the moment DD wants to take as many interesting health science related courses as she can fit in. However, the senior year course load won't get finalized until Spring of next year. She should have her PSAT, SAT and SAT II subject test scores by then, which may impact how she ranks different colleges and how she wants to approach senior year course selection.</p>
<p>I like your college visit strategy - with you staying for the info sessions and letting S roam the campus and meeting with profs (with prior appointments). We'll keep that in mind for our next visit.</p>
<p>It is good to hear about a focused young man like your son. Good luck to him in Chicago!</p>
<p>I have to agree that opinions may change in a rising junior---even if the type of school and intended major is pretty firm in her head. My older s was absolutely SURE he wanted to major in physics. Nope. Ended up majoring in Mechanical Engineering (with physics concentration, but still, not what he'd originally thought)</p>
<p>Quick comments about these schools (apologies-- I have limited time right now but would be happy to answer additional questions).</p>
<p>Older s looked at Harvey Mudd, and younger s looked at CMC and Pomona. The Claremont colleges are a great consortium, with lots of opportunities to cross register. Harvey Mudd has great opportunities to do reseasrch with industries, but if memory serves me correctly, these opportunities were more inthe engineering/physics arena. Certainly biotech is a possible area of research. DS#1 found Harvey Mudd too quirky for him, and chose Rice instead, which he absolutely LOVED (cant say enough good things about it!). Does your dau want to stay in Texas? If so, its great!! DS#1 also had the opportunity in HS to do research in a pathology lab at Emory. It was a great opportunity. Younger s (who decided he didnt want to go across country to college and wasn't sure Calif. was for him) was accepted to Emory, and while we'd have loved for him to stay close to home, he chose another school. Emory has a phenomenal biomedical engineering program offered jointly with Ga Tech. Sounds like what your daughter may be looking for. BME:</a> The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>BTW Caltech's core is every bit as demanding if not more demanding than that of Harvey Mudd's. One of the girls from my son's class is there now, and while she's happy, she was also pretty shell-shocked by the level of the basic courses. Both my kids really liked what they saw of Caltech, students (not just the tourguides) seemed happy there, though they tend to be a quirky bunch. My husband was a grad student and I was out there with him for the last few years. I loved the opportunities in Southern California (beach, mountains, dessert, museums - all great.)</p>
<p>sxm,
My recollection is that they needed to have BC Calc, and I think we might have heard that when the admissions folks did a local visit. Would be a good thing to check on, though.</p>
<p>S contacted profs in advance to sit in on classes, and sometimes they even sent him the HW/readings so he would know what was happening in class. Other times, he roamed the halls of the departments and popped in to chat. Mudd profs were particularly friendly in this regard, as were CMU folks.</p>
<p>Have heard many great things from Rice students and parents on this list. S was not looking at southern schools, so we never saw Rice and Emory, though they did cross his radar as good choices, and he knows folks who attended/gave them serious consideration and liked them a lot.</p>
<p>jym - thanks for the heads up on the Georgia Tech / Emory BME department - highly ranked for both undergrad and grad programs! DD is leaning more towards biological sciences at the moment, but a BME minor is worth considering. We'll see how her interests evolve over the next year. She is OK with staying in Texas, so Rice is definitely in the mix.</p>
<p>CountingDown - thanks again for the college visit related tips.</p>
<p>One year of calculus in high school is necessary; it does not have to be BC, but it would help if it were. However, Math 11 does not seem to share too much material with the C part of Calculus BC, so it confuses me a bit as to why you can pass out of it by doing BC. I suppose they just want you to have solid experience in calculus either way. </p>
<p>And on a side note; your daughter taking AP Stat is a GREAT thing if she ends up going to Mudd. Intro to Prob. and Stat. is one of the most hated requirements of our core, and she can pass out of it by getting a 5. I did that, and everybody else is wants to hit me for it. </p>
<p>Anyways, I spent the summer at Rice University and its a great place with a lot of money ^_^. I dont know how well Houston weather + Indian would work though................</p>