Senior0991

Also, I don't think there's enough of those very "intense" people to fill out the entire classes of all the top schools. Caltech has a class of 250, so they can take pretty much whatever denomination of students they want. But, could Cal do that? In my top public HS class of 1000, I would put four or so under that category. This explains why there are large numbers of the "normal" types in universities; because these people are the vast majority (of intellectual students, as well) in this country.

And if students go to college for purely educational purposes, wouldn't it make sense (financially, timely, and educationally) to enroll in online courses or self-study to a very advanced level using the internet or books from the local university library?

Northstarmom

And many of the scholarly types of students would prefer going to a school like Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr or Grinnell, which seem to be designed to meet the needs of such students.

Senior0991

^And UofC (shudder)

Northstarmom

I was going to say U of C, too, but the student whom I know well who got in this year is a star athlete, does major community service, has leadership positions, and is very personable. He likes to academically work hard, and is attracted by Chicago's rep as the place where fun goes to die, but I'll be very surprised if he ends up choosing a career as a scholar or spending all of his time in college studying.

Northstarmom

Another place for scholars -- male ones only, however: Deep Springs, a tiny, 2-year free college in the desert of Calif. Graduates go to places like Ivies and Swarthmore.

And the St. Johns -- the ones with the great books curricula -- also look for scholars.

mathboy98

Sure. All the more reason why I think the very few who're extremely hardcore about their studies should be accepted virtually without question. Normal people are fine -- they are, after all, normal.

No, because a lot of what someone needs to learn isn't just in books, and can't effectively be learned through them. This is why I think such students I speak of should get to interact with top academic faculty, which reside in many top schools.

There's the class of students who'd prefer those schools you suggest, Northstarmom, and yet there's the other class of such students (e.g. a friend of mine) who wouldn't consider those schools because they explicitly want a *BIG* top school. This friend of mine is a theoretical CS person, and really saw himself at only 3 schools: Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT.

ThisCouldBeHeavn

ThisCouldBeHeavn
Race: White
GPA: 4.44
SAT: 2330
SAT II: 2380
Harvard: Rejected
Princeton: Rejected
All other Ivies: Did not Apply

Northstarmom

"This is why I think such students I speak of should get to interact with top academic faculty, which reside in many top schools.

There's the class of students who'd prefer those schools you suggest, Northstarmom, and yet there's the other class of such students (e.g. a friend of mine) who wouldn't consider those schools because they explicitly want a *BIG* top school. This friend of mine is a theoretical CS person, and really saw himself at only 3 schools: Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT."

There are plenty of other big top schools with excellent faculty, schools that would probably welcome a pure intellectual with high stats. One needn't go to the Ivies or schools your friend was interested in to find excellent faculty.

However, in general, it's far easier to have close relationships with excellent faculty at LACs. At universities, senior faculty is more likely to have close interactions with grad students.

LACs tend to have faculty who are more interested in teaching than are faculty at large universities.

mathboy98

Yes, but a big difference between a big and small school is that the big one offers more options in terms of academics. I think that's what my friend meant. Actually I happen to be of the same opinion -- I'd rather go to a big undergraduate school than a small one, and I certainly care that the department I'm majoring in is top notch. There are courses and seminars (in volume and type) that are offered at schools like mine, and also at Harvard, which aren't offered at smaller schools.

I think the rule is -- if the kinds of opportunities available at a big school attract you, then go there, and if your primary goal is to meet faculty who really care about fostering your skills, go to smaller schools. Depends on preference.

Generally, there are also senior faculty who are willing to talk to undergraduates. Their primary goal is to research, but I don't think one can say they're at all blind to undergraduates. For instance, Mollie of the MIT threads frequently states that many MIT faculty were very receptive to nurturing its undergraduates who showed enthusiasm.

Stupefy

LOL hahahhahaha