<p>Swarthmore operates its own program at the University of Grenoble with a Swarthmore professor on site each year. Although science is not specifically listed, the students can enroll in the full assortment of courses at the University of Grenoble. Presumably, science courses could be included among them.</p>
<p>Here's a link to the French department with info on the Grenoble program. I'd recommend contacting any of the French professors directly for detailed info. It appears that they all take turns coordinating the Grenoble program, either here or there:</p>
<p>As for Women in Science, I think most colleges (well, maybe not Harvard under Larry Summers!) have a similar support group. I know my daughter spent an afternoon building and launching rockets with the group at Swarthmore during the pre-frosh visit. Two members of the Physics faculty at Swarthmore are women (including the current chair of the department). Either Amy Bug or Catherine Crouch would be good contacts for additional information. Either of these two could also put your daughter in touch with a current female Physics major for questions -- probably even this summer as virtually all rising senior Physics majors do paid summer research at the college.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it is important to consider the historical and current climate for women (and women science majors) at each school. For example, a major selling point for my daughter was that Swarthmore's bylaws have required equal male and female representation on the Board of Managers since the day the college opened its doors. This produces a very different campus culture and governance than you typically see at historically male (or, for that matter, historically female) colleges.</p>
<p>While Middlebury does indeed have a higher percentage of international students than Williams, Amherst, Swat, Pomona and Bowdoin, if you brooke out this international pool, there would be a strong liklihood that it would add to the number of Asian and white students. The pool of international students while adding to Middlebury's geographic diversity probably does not change it's racial diversity.</p>
<p>Overall, Amherst and Swat are the most diverse.</p>
<pre><code>middlebury %
</code></pre>
<p>International 192 8.1%
Black 63 2.7%
Native american 11 0.5%
Asian 173 7.3%
Hispanic 117 5.0%
white 1655 70.2%
unknown 146 6.2%
total 2357 </p>
<pre><code>Ponoma %
</code></pre>
<p>International 38 2.5%
Black 96 6.3%
Native american 7 0.5%
Asian 197 12.9%
Hispanic 126 8.3%
white 870 57.2%
unknown 188 12.4%
total 1522 </p>
<pre><code>williams %
</code></pre>
<p>International 108 5.6%
Black 191 9.9%
Native american 4 0.2%
Asian 178 9.2%
Hispanic 148 7.7%
white 1302 67.4%
unknown 0 0.0%
total 1931 </p>
<pre><code>Amherst %
</code></pre>
<p>International 95 5.9%
Black 167 10.3%
Native american 3 0.2%
Asian 200 12.4%
Hispanic 122 7.5%
white 735 45.5%
unknown 295 18.2%
total 1617 </p>
<pre><code>Swat %
</code></pre>
<p>International 88 6.1%
Black 96 6.6%
Native american 13 0.9%
Asian 233 16.1%
Hispanic 96 6.6%
white 732 50.7%
unknown 186 12.9%
total 1444 </p>
<pre><code>Bowdoin %
</code></pre>
<p>International 56 3.3%
Black 90 5.4%
Native american 13 0.8%
Asian 185 11.0%
Hispanic 96 5.7%
white 1201 71.6%
unknown 36 2.1%
total 1677 </p>
<p>Also, with the exception of Bowdoin which is 71.6 % white, Middlebury is still the whitest of the schools that were previously mentioned on this thread</p>
<p>BTW, for all intents and purposes, you can put the "unknown" into the "white" category (maybe a small percent into the Asian category). A black, hispanic, or Native American applicant would have to be nuts to check the "unknown" box. In fact, USNEWS lumps the "unknown" into the "white" category in their diversity pie charts for each school.</p>
<p>Also, you can get an idea of the makeup of the international cohort at each school. For example, Swarthmore's International cohort is very heavily non-white (Asian, Latin American, and African), with just a handful from Eastern and Western Europe.</p>
<p>I mentioned Midd's high percentage of international students in response to collegeboundjen's claim that Midd does not have cultural diversity. I would expect that students from other countries would greatly enhance cultural diversity. Do you agree?</p>
<p>And other colleges that were mentioned were Bates, Colby, and Conn College, 3 other highly respected NESCAC schools. Do you have the detailed info for them?</p>
<p>I love the way this post has morphed into a demographic study of these colleges! Interesting that Amherst has so few white students yet so many "unknowns." Maybe their students are ambivalent souls???</p>
<p>At most colleges, its fairly simple to study abroad at programs that are not directly related to or run by the specific school. At Williams hundreds of kids go abroad every year and only a handful are involved in Williams own program in Oxford. My son has friends who are going to every continent next year.</p>
<p>I would agree that no one should choose Williams (or Amherst or Swarthmore) as a top destination for French alone; however, for the combination of physics/English/French in a rigorous academic environment they are all good options.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Maybe their students are ambivalent souls???
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Checking the "unknown" race box is a subtle way of saying, "I know that you use racial preference in the admissions process and that the racial preference won't work in my favor, so I'm not going to play along with your numbers game!"</p>
<p>The percentage of students refusing to specify race or ethnicity has been growing rapidly. It is probably nearing the point where statistics based affirmative action may fall apart for a simple reason: the inability to track the statistics -- much in the same way that it is virtually impossible to get an accurate count of Jewish students at most colleges.</p>
<p>I don't doubt that that's part of the reason and I hardly think that AA will fall apart for that reason. I do wonder why some of the schools have virtually no unknowns and others have so many...what does it reflect, if anything?</p>
<p>There are many students that beleive that indicating race would place them at an advantage in the admissions process especially if they are part of an ORM (over represented minority) or the majority. By not indicating race they believe it will help to foster a more race neutral admissions process.</p>
<p>Some students also are biracial/ multiracial thereby falling into more than one category. These students do not want to choose one race over the other (I beleive that the box currently is check one) and therefore choose nothing</p>
<p>
[quote]
I do wonder why some of the schools have virtually no unknowns and others have so many...what does it reflect, if anything?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>When "unknown" is reported as 0.0%, it probably means that the college already lumped all their unknowns into the white category before reporting. That is standard practice in admissions. </p>
<p>The other two schools with low percentages of "unknown" are widely viewed (at least here in New England) as being lily-white and not strong affirmative action schools.</p>
<p>The two northeast schools with high "unknown" percentages are widely regarded as heavy affirmative action schools. I believe Pomona would be similarly regarded.</p>
<p>When my daughter failed to check a box, she knew that she would be considered as "white" from an admissions standpoint. She still chose to plead the 5th. It's just a subtle little rejection of racial preferences. The adcoms don't miss the message when they see double-digit "unknowns".</p>
<p>This does not allign with your preference for small schools. . . .. </p>
<p>but I think looking into Cornell College of Arts and Science would be a good idea:</p>
<p>strong physics dept- one of the best, complete with 2 accelerators.</p>
<p>french classes - Required for CAS students, with a very well put together language center that teaches basically any language you could ever want to learn.</p>
<p>strong english- English is very good at CU as far as I know.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the college of arts and sciences at Cornell is the smallest CAS of the entire ivy league (about 5000). The schools at Cornell are very separated (you apply directly to the school within cornell), and individual schools feel small and you have the resources of a large university. There is a lot of opportunity for research and such. . . </p>
<p>CAS really reminded me of a LAC within cornell, so even though it's not a small university, I think the environment could fit.</p>
<p>Aa far as LACs, try for Williams. . . .I know Middlebury has fantastic english and foreign language. . . .but I do not know about physics</p>
<p>Arcadia - my opinion of the school is based on several things: information from the school itself (brochures, website, statistics, visit, etc), from secondary sources (CC, other sites, other magazine/newspaper articles, etc), as well as current/former students/families.</p>
<p>Also, Arcadia - please refer to Sybbie's stats. It is more predominantly white & asian than the other LACs, which, even is there is a decent % of Int'l students, still contributes to the elitist attitude.</p>
<p>I realize I'm late onto this board, and it's been excellent, BTW, regarding languages. But, my son has a gift for Spanish and is interested in pursuing that along with another major. He's a junior this year. Our D is admitted to Williams, but it isn't for him.
I'm looking for recommendations for colleges with a strong Spanish/Latino studies program in a warm climate. FL, TX, CA, etc.
(His STRONG personal preference.)
I realize the oxy-moronic aspect of this; a Spanish major in a Mexican or Cuban border state.
Your feedback is appreciated and any jokes about taking college Spanish in Texas, or even Mexico, are acceptable.
Thanks;
rb</p>
<p>I would say that the classical and romance languages (like Spanish and French) at Williams are definitely not known for being strong, but that the Chinese and Japanese programs are thriving. One of the Chinese professors used to teach diplomats at the State department and has also created a language school in China.</p>
<p>That said, I also know someone who was a Spanish major at Williams who is doing a PhD in Spanish at Yale now.</p>
<p>Overall, I ditto the above poster who said to look for as wide and broad an education as possible, one that is also academically well-respected. </p>
<p>But back to the OP's question: Not sure how well-regarded the Physics dept is at Williams, but the astrophysics program is excellent (mostly on the prestige of Jay Pasachoff, a "star" in the field.) Sorry for the pun...</p>
<p>The English department is fairly strong, although losing Poet Laureate Louise Gluck was a blow. It is slightly weak in post-colonial studies, and can never get good African American literature professors to stay. You haven't specified an area of interest within the genre, so I'm just putting the info out there.</p>
<p>Additionally, for what it's worth, there are some excellent English profs who are very willing to be mentors, but there are some let's say, interesting personal and marital dynamics within the department. Some of which may affect whether your prof shows up to class or grades your papers.</p>
<p>I'm sure I will get flamed for outting this stuff, but I believe that people should be well-informed. Also, I'm sure departmental politics goes on at every school, regardless of rank. You should also take this as one person's perspective.</p>
<p>is his goal, then he's absolutely right not to go to Williams. I know UCLA, UCSD has very strong Chicano/Latino Studies programs, but they're not LACs. </p>
<p>I myself took upper level courses at Cornell in all three of these areas, and at least at that time I'd have to say they were all quite strong indeed. This is a strong possibility for someone with interests in these three areas, I quite agree.</p>
<p>But to suggest that Cornell is in any way vaguely similar to an LAC in virtually any respect is a stretch of the imagination of monumental proportions, to my way of thinking at least.</p>
<p>Though I majored in physics,after all these years the class I remember most was a French lit. class, taught by a man who is still there I believe. Brilliant.</p>