<p>^^ I’m surprised that USC doesn’t have a Ling department, since their course offerings appear quite broad and it’s been mentioned as a “good” linguistics school (not the best, but good).</p>
<p>blossom, I would get a BA in Computer Science (quite common at LACs), which requires only CS and math.</p>
<p>Ooops! My bad! They DO have a Linguistics major!
[USC</a> Catalogue: The Schools: USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: Linguistics: Undergraduate Degrees](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/schools/college/ling/undergraduate.html#minorlinguistics]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/schools/college/ling/undergraduate.html#minorlinguistics)</p>
<p>But, as best as I can tell, they only offer a BS ,and a minor in CS, not a BA. The minor does not seem to require any math or sciences, but the BS does require math plus the choice of a year of Physics, Chemistry, or Biology plus 1 more science class.
[USC</a> Catalogue: The Schools: USC Viterbi School of Engineering: Computer Science: Bachelor of Science](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/schools/engineering/computer_science/undergraduate.html#minorcomputer]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/schools/engineering/computer_science/undergraduate.html#minorcomputer)</p>
<p>Case is loaded with self-selected “smart” students. Don’t know about their English specifically, but their curriculum incorporates something called SAGES, which is a mandatory series of writing-intensive seminar-style classes. Mandatory even for Engineers, so yes, it’s not all about the sciences there.</p>
<p>And finaid is very good there for NMF & top SAT/ACT scorers.</p>
<p>I would also second U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Among the top in the nation for CS, and generous with merit aid so you could end up paying the equivalent of instate tuition. </p>
<p>You may think it too large, but there is an honors program where you can meet a smaller group of peers. My S was very happy there (and I can honestly say he is brilliant) ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, I looked more deeply into USC today and ruled it out due to the stringent science requirements for CS.</p>
<p>UIUC plain scares me at nearly twice the size of my state flagship, which I already consider too big (yes, it does have an honors program, one that people even cite as “good,” even though most of the honors courses are just sections of the regular).</p>
<p>Case remains in consideration. Maybe if I can convince my parents to take me out to Ohio for visiting–I’m interested in Oberlin, Case, and Denison.</p>
<p>Oberlin is also a great school for the humanities, and very selective.</p>
<p>Consider also what kind of campus you’d like. The 3 Ohio schools you mentioned are all over the map (no pun intended), with Case being the most urban & least self-contained as a campus.</p>
<p>^ I definitely favor a classical green, self-contained campus–NYC scares me, it’s too busy and bustling and urban–but I think I need to visit Case to get a sense of how much urban I can handle.</p>
<p>^Denison is definitely self-contained but being 30 miles from Columbus I would worry about it being too isolated.</p>
<p>Oberlin has a campus with small-town atmosphere; 35 miles from Cleveland if you ever wish to go there. The appealing thing about Oberlin is that it has a well-regarded conservatory, so there is always something going on in the performing arts dept.</p>
<p>How would Denison isolation compare to, say, Williams (since I have visited Williamstown)?</p>
<p>We visited Oberlin. Love the way the town is integrated into the campus instead of the way around. You can almost count the restaurants on one hand, but the tiny one we ate in served Asian-Fusion food that was better than anything I’ve eaten in Manhattan, Miami, Chicago or L.A. It was amazing. In some ways, the Oberlin campus + integrated town reminded me of the Hollywood town in the movie Back to the Future. There is a big central town “square” that is very park-like. The word “cute” would also apply. The Oberlin Inn -the only hotel within walking distance- also fits the word “cute.” Very clean and interesting but the rooms are petite. The whole town is petite and cute. It took us seven hours to drive there from eastern Pennsylvania, but it was well worth it. </p>
<p>My D would love to go to Oberlin. Fingers crossed for the next two weeks.</p>
<p>Maybe this would help: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/660178-results-choosing-full-ride-state-school-scholarship.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/660178-results-choosing-full-ride-state-school-scholarship.html</a></p>
<p>^ I’ve actually been following that thread, but one of my major concerns with my state school is not academics (although the academics are so-so in my area of interest), but size–and other threads on honors programs assert that honors best serves the student who likes the large-university size but wants smaller classes–whereas I also want a tight-knit LAC community. I’d like to walk across campus and know half of the passerby by sight.</p>
<p>I know the south and think you would be comfortable in New Orleans, very very comfortable. And that if your grades and scores are half as impressive as your writing you will get full tuition at Tulane… no problem. Whether the school would suit you I don’t know especially since Katrina. You would have to check it out in person and be really sure what is available right now. And ask about grad school placement. Also, please look at the Duke website (if you haven’t already) and see if their faculty and course offerings look the least bit enticing. IF it looks like even a remote possibility (and since you are seeking out merit money), I’d recommend you apply there just for the chance of getting one of their full tuition awards. You can check those awards out on the website; they come with lots of goodies for a student like you. I do not think it will be worth it to you to pay to go there.</p>
<p>Some students are very successful in satisfying parents by claiming to be pre-law; but I make no suggestions in that regard LOL</p>
<p>One final thought. Probably you have already thought about this but just in case: Have you considered that attending a university would allow you the possibility of graduate school classes as an undergrad?</p>
<p>^^ that is THE reason S decided to add U’s to his list, and his final decision was between 3 U’s. OP, research this carefully-I think that you will find greater depth of offerings in Linguistics at U’s than at most LAC’s.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t advise anyone to apply to Duke just to see if s/he gets the scholarship. For out of state students, those scholarships are aiming at HYP caliber candidates – not that I said the OP isn’t. I know few kids in the scholarship program and they turned down HYP for it. If the OP wants to expand the horizon to the South and to the university side, I’d say Tulane, Miami, Wake Forest and Emory are better bets than Duke.</p>
<p>^I don’t see why not? What is the problem? It might be interesting among current Duke scholarship students to know who is there just because they applied just in case of the scholarship? A number of years ago I heard two students who had just been accepted EA to Harvard (neither of them my own child!) debating whether to leave in other applications. Both were former TIP students and one said to the other he was leaving in the Duke application for the chance at the scholarship; the friend said there was no way, the scholarship was too much of a longshot, and withdrew her application. The first student got a Duke award and happily attended Duke, ending up four years later with his friend at the same HYP grad school.</p>
<p>I am assuming the OP is “HYP caliber”</p>
<p>Stats are HYP-caliber, but I’m hookless so my chances are slim. --Question, what merit-aid-offering U’s have the most flexible curricular requirements? Tulane, Emory, and Duke all have pretty complex GEs. I would also prefer to avoid religious affiliation if possible.</p>
<p>Keilexandra: one of my own kids had “flexible curricular requirements” as a major criteria and originally had Brown as a first choice for almost solely that reason. Obviously Brown doesn’t give merit aid, but maybe it should go on your need-only list. It might be right up your alley. My son ended up at another school, with a better program in his particular area of interest, after being assured the requirements were more flexible than they seemed in the catalog. Unless you are looking at places with a core curriculum, I would guess there is flexibility. If memory serves, in my kid’s case his AP credits (two were allowed) fullfilled some requirements he was delighted to avoid. I think he only had to take one class to graduate that he wouldn’t have picked on his own.</p>
<p>^ I mainly wish to avoid lab science, as well as faciliate unrelated double majors; however, I will be entering with no AP credits in science other than CompSci.</p>