<p>I was looking at a small LAC. For some unknown reason it snatched my interest. I was wondering would it help or hurt my chances of getting into an amazing grad school. The school is Randolph-Macon college.</p>
<p>Grad school in what subject?
Typically, if you do very well and take advantage of all opportunities offered to you, you’d have good chances at grad schools in the South and potentially farther away.
However it varies depending on subject - it’s small so it can’t offer everything; check out this semester’s classes: how many are offered in your major, especially at the advanced level?
Additionally, would you qualify for need-based and/or merit aid? Would you get into the Honors program or any special program? what “caught” your interest?
What are your stats? We may be able to suggest a few similar schools so that you apply to safeties, matches, and reaches like Randolph Macon in the ways that matter to you :)</p>
<p>Recently I’ve been considering different interests. I wanted to do aerospace engineering, but my new found difficulty in calculus has brought me back to law. It’s always be a competitive pair in my eyes.
The 4-1-4 calendar is what “snatched” my attention. The opportunities are endless( internships, study abroad, lazy days…). My stats aren’t wowing. 3.2 gpa 2100 SAT.( I can raise that).
I have some decent ECs.
Any recommendations?</p>
<p>LOTS of schools have a 4-1-4 calendar.
For example (within reach based on the info you gave): Wells, Linfield, Illinois Wesleyan, Gustavus Adolphus, U San Diego, Elmhurst, St Mary’s of California, mcDaniel, Elon, Davis and Elkins, Doane, Hartwick, College of Idaho, Pacific Lutheran, Wartburg, Whittier
As reaches: Centre, St Olaf, Eckerd, Furman, Oberlin, (there are more in that category but they’d be out of reach)</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll have to look them up.</p>
<p>Small LAC shouldn’t hurt your chances at grad school. You will want to perform well in school. For Engineering, you should get involved in some research. For law school, you might check out the pre law forum to see what kinds of things help. For both, gpa plus GRE or LSAT is key.</p>
<p>How much of a reach would Centre be? Are the other schools matches? Any experiences similar to my own?.. Help is greatly appreciated…</p>
<p>All 5 reaches I named are within reach but still not matches due to your GPA.
All others are matches and safeties, with likely merit money</p>
<p>
2 areas of comments. First, think very carefully about law. There is a glut of law school grads, consequently apps are down nationwide and there is an even more pronounced drop from applicants applying out of better colleges. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be a lawyer, but am saying you should not just assume the path into a good legal job is smooth and easy. Spend a little time looking into this before you decide law is the right path.</p>
<p>Second, you’ve been taking calculus for maybe 6 weeks or so. Your words make it sound like the difficulty with calculus is something immutable. Fact is, many students run into a wall in this class but its more due to what they aren’t doing than any intrinsic characteristic of calculus. First off, calculus is a college-level class (duh, right?). But what many HS students don’t know is that for math/science classes in college it is common for good college students to spend 7-10 hours per week on EACH class, reading the book, doing the homework, doing extra practice problems. I suspect your time is something below this. That last clause about how college students spend their study time is a surprise to many HS kids (and some in college, too). There is no law that stops you from doing extra problems to get better at something.</p>
<p>The problem boils down to confusing recognition with recall. When you do the homework you have the book right there and can thumb back to see how similar problems were solved. After a while the approaches become familiar, and then when you review the book before the test they may seem even more so, but once you face a test and can’t refer back you realize you can’t recall what you need.</p>
<p>The solution is practice. Go to your bookstore and buy the “Problem Solver” book for the classes you are taking. These are like SAT prep books, but for technical subjects. Work thru the appropriate section, checking against the worked-out solution, until you are solving them correctly without seeing how it is done. The test will be the same, and you’ll solve problems just as easily.</p>
<p>here are 4 links to read to talk about why this approach works: </p>
<p>[Why</a> Students Think They Understand—When They Don’t](<a href=“http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/winter0304/willingham.cfm]Why”>Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don't) </p>
<p>[Practice</a> Makes Perfect—but Only If You Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection](<a href=“http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/spring2004/willingham.cfm]Practice”>Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Practice Makes Perfect—But Only If You Practice beyond the Point of Perfection)</p>
<p>[How</a> to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/11/14/how-to-ace-calculus-the-art-of-doing-well-in-technical-courses/]How”>How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport)</p>
<p>[On</a> Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/04/28/on-becoming-a-math-whiz-my-advice-to-a-new-mit-student/]On”>On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student - Cal Newport)</p>
<p>I’m not saying you should still aim at engineering. Frankly, I’m not a career counselor. What I DO believe, though, is that you should not give up on calculus. For your own growth, and to prepare for whatever subjects you might end up studying in college, you should put in the time and effort to learn calculus. Even if you never use it again the self-discipline and experience you gain in doing this now will pay dividends once you are in college.</p>
<p>I’ve been looking at law for sometime. Aerospace just seemed like a better path for me. Calculus just kind of astonished me. I’ve always been good at math. Now it’s a struggle to keep an A. I took STAT and it was inexplicably easier. Calculus has just made me question whether or not engineering was “for me”.
Sorry if it seems a bit illogical.</p>
<p>Any more recommendations?</p>
<p>
If you’re spending 7-10 hours a week doing the kind of things I talked about in my previous post and its still a struggle, maybe it isn’t for you. If you’re not spending that much time, its not a struggle. Its an effort gap.</p>
<p>Ok so I don’t work that hard. I’ll try to do so, while considering my options.</p>
<p>You’re still getting an A and you’re not putting in max effort. It sounds to me like you just have to make an adjustment to the way college-level math works, not that you’re in any way incapable of handling it. I wouldn’t let this turn you off from engineering.</p>
<p>Randolph-Macon does not offer any ABET accredited engineering majors. It does offer a non-ABET-accredited engineering physics major with a few mechanical engineering oriented course offerings ( [Course</a> Descriptions](<a href=“http://www.rmc.edu/Academics/physics/courses/Course_Descriptions_EPHY.aspx]Course”>http://www.rmc.edu/Academics/physics/courses/Course_Descriptions_EPHY.aspx) ).</p>
<p>If your goal is to go on to a PhD program in aerospace engineering, it would be better to go to a school with an ABET accredited bachelor’s degree program in mechanical and/or aerospace engineering.</p>
<p>For law, you can be much less picky about school and major, since no specific undergraduate course work is required. However, for patent law, a science or ABET accredited engineering major is preferable, due to the patent exam requirements.</p>
<p>Thanks. It’s just different to see my self having trouble in math. Adjustments will be made. I only wanted to go to Randolph-Macon for economics, then go to law school. It provides unique opportunities that I feel would help me in any career.</p>
<p>
Exactly. It comes down to knowing yourself. With the exception of a few elite schools, the dropout rate for frosh entering engineering is 50-70% !! If you look at SAT and GPA from HS pretty much all of them could have made it. Some, for sure, discovered they didn’t like the subject or found something else they liked even better. But I’d bet that most came to the realization that they just didn’t want to do the work that it takes to succeed. </p>
<p>A lot of kids that cruised thru HS on native intelligence and a little work are shocked to find out that won’t cut it anymore in math/science majors. Nobody is that smart. And I should point out Calculus is just one class. Now imagine you are majoring in engineering and taking 3 or 4 classes each semester that demand this kind of work. Not for everyone. Nor is this workload limited to engineers. There is a recent thread in the nursing forum along the same lines (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/1549910-how-can-nursing-student-enjoy-college-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/1549910-how-can-nursing-student-enjoy-college-experience.html</a>) </p>
<p>Its hard to write a few sentences without coming across as judgmental, but I don’t mean it to be. Technical majors are hard work, and the reward just isn’t worth it to many people. In a way this calculus class is a blessing; its a free trial run before college apps are due to see what it feels like to have to hunker down and study week after week. If its not for you then you won’t waste time applying to engineering majors.</p>
<p>It will do neither; what you do during undergrad is far more important than where you go. Also, graduate schools (and law and medical schools) are more aware of small but good colleges than the general population. Randolph-Macon is a good college, and it won’t hinder your chances of getting into grad school, and it won’t limit you to the South either.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice that you shouldn’t give up on engineering just because you are having a bit of a struggle with calculus. I always tell my math students that math is just like learning an instrument or training to run a marathon - you have to practice, and you have to get your mind right. Nobody expects to just pick up a flute or a violin one day and be a virtuoso. So it is for math - you need to put in the time. In high school I easily spent 2-3 hours per night, 5 nights a week, on calculus because it didn’t come easily to me. I loved it but it took me a while to figure out the problems. I also started a phone conference call with some other students from my AP calculus class and we would work together for 1-1.5 hours on some problems and concepts and then hang up and finish the homework on our own once we clarified things with each other.</p>
<p>And getting your mind right is all about the mental stuff. Lots of kids think, “I’m no good at math” and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or, in your case, they think “I used to be good at math, but then it got hard and I’m not good anymore.” No - you need to think “The math has gotten more difficult so I need to spend more time studying and practicing, but if I can put in the time I can learn anything I want. Because I am awesome.”</p>
<p>I guess hearing all of this is a blessing. It just makes me think more about myself. They both seem so interesting, math just tipped the scale.</p>