Okay, so my first set of early schools unfortunately fell through for a few reasons. I have settled on applying ED 2 for one of these schools and can’t decide which. I am unable to visit any of the campuses.
I have a bit below average GPA and have a 31 composite ACT. I also have a large group of ECs including multiple community service activities.
What are your thoughts about each school? Any you would recommend over others?
I understand Emory is up there, but Emory is associated with the United Methodist Church and I am a child of a clergyman in the denomination if that has any impact on admissions
You’ve expressed interest in geology in past threads. Note that neither Emory nor Conn College (nor Gettysburg) offers geology, though they offer some limited related offerings in environmental science.
If you’re trying to decide between a liberal arts college and a mid sized research university, consider Oxford College of Emory University for your ED2 school. For the first two years students attend a rural LAC and then after they continue with the rest of their Oxford classmates onto Emory’s Atlanta (main) campus.
I would be very hesitant to apply ED2 to a school you have never visited. That being said, Conn College has a lot to offer. Beautiful campus with particularly strong offerings in science and the arts. Quaint New England town setting, and near the Coast Guard Academy. It is a much smaller school than Emory, less than 2,000 students and skews more female than male. It has an intellectual vibe, probably more so than F&M. They are 3 quite distinct schools so liking one may not mean you would like the other.
What led you to these 3? What did you like about your ed school?
If you are considering majoring in geology, I can tell you from personal experience that you should NOT go to Emory. I had to transfer out of the school for this very reason.
Thank you for the responses. I am unable to get to visit because I live near KC Missouri and do not have the funds to be able to go out to those schools especially to expressly visit them(I would but my parents rejected that quite quickly).
My (EA) school was the University of Chicago. I was pulled to the school for several reasons including academics, but what really pulled me was when I visited over the summer, I stepped into the main quad and fell in love. The atmosphere really called to me. But since I was rejected(I knew it was a reach), I pulled out my list of colleges I was considering and after deliberation(mainly my father saying to only do schools that he believed I actually had a chance at), these made the cut. I guess Emory is eliminated since being Methodist isn’t considered.
Finally, to warbersrule, Emory had Earth Science and Connecticut has Geophysics in its physics department.
If this impacts anything, my hopeful career goal is to be a planetary scientist.
OP, I mean it when I say that you should NOT go to Emory if your goal is to study the earth sciences. Read my post again, I had to transfer out of Emory because of the lack of a geology major. Even the head of Emory’s Environmental Science department told me I should.
The school lacks most fundamental geology course, and HAS NOT had an earth science major since the 1980s. You can study physics and astronomy (I suppose that can parlay into planetary science) at the school but there are no courses offered in fundamental geoscience topics such as igneous petrology, geophysics, structural geology, etc. The new Earth Science minor offer is essentially just a cross between physical environmental science and very basic (freshmen level) geology courses.
OP, think hard about your goals… do your goals include getting a PhD to become a “planetary scientist”? I don’t know the educational trajectory for your career goal, but if it includes getting a PhD, the most important education-related decisions you will make will be your graduate school choice (and grad school mentor choice) and your postdoc mentor choice.
Whenhen makes a valid point if becoming a “planetary scientist” REQUIRES an undergraduate major in “geology”. If it doesn’t, then it seems a related science degree (most likely physics) would be an obvious undergraduate major choice for a PhD-level “planetary scientist”. All colleges will have a physics major, so this vastly increases your options.
Thank you for when hen, after your previous post I had discarded Emory.
Second, I wish KU was my state flagship, I am on the Missouri side of the border and even with one of the largest scholarships they offer KU would cost about $20k a year.
Third; Planetary science is Earth Science with a good sized dose of astronomy, My plan is to major in Geology/Earth Science with a double major or minor in physics/astrophysics and get a Ph.D. in Astrophysics. Some edits can be made, for example, Connecticut College has a program that is specifically Geophysics.
LACs (like Rhodes) take “demonstrated interest” seriously in their admissions decisions. Make sure you contact the admissions department at the LACs to show them you are not a “fly by night” applicant.
I’m normally not a huge fan of selecting a college in large part on the basis of major, but if you are pretty sure that you want to major in geology or another geoscience/earth science and Connecticut is the only one of the three that has it, then you should probably ED2 there. In this case it’s more of a tiebreaker than anything else.
I do agree that if you want a PhD in astrophysics you’d probably be best off majoring in physics, and then maybe minoring in earth sciences. Planetary science can be essentially “earth science with a dose of astronomy,” but it depends on which area you’re interested in. Astrophysics can be quite different from earth science, depending on the area.
But all of that is moot right now; you just need a good broad education in the area. A PhD in astrophysics requires a good undergrad foundation in physics, so I would plan to major in physics and maybe double-major or minor in earth science/geology/whatever. (Geophysics could be a good major choice if your school has it).
Aaaand I want to chime and say that I am ALSO very much in favor of LACs for PhD hopefuls I went to an LAC myself for undergrad and got a PhD after.
You should know that New London, CT isn’t really a cute, quaint New England town. It’s okay, but imo, it’s a little rough around the edges. CT College though is a pretty campus
@citymama9 I respectfully disagree. New London isn’t Mystic, which is 100 feet away at any rate, but rough around the edges is a description I would apply to many other places before New London. We found it to be pretty charming in the main. To each his own I guess.
I went to an LAC myself for undergrad and got a PhD after.