<p>I am interested in English, psychology, art (basically, humanities). I know F&M has a writing house & a creative writing track, and sounds like a pretty good art program. But it has a rep of being “sciency”. Is the college mainly populated by science majors? I am thinking of applying ED, but I don’t want to be at a mostly sciency school.</p>
<p>According to its 2011-2012 common data set at [Institutional</a> Research — Franklin & Marshall](<a href=“http://www.fandm.edu/inst_research]Institutional”>http://www.fandm.edu/inst_research) , F&M’s largest major categories in term of degrees conferred are:</p>
<p>28.7% social studies (not including psychology or history)
11.6% business and marketing
9.7% biological and life sciences
7.4% interdisciplinary studies
6.7% psychology
6.4% foreign languages and literatures
5.5% physical sciences
4.9% English
4.7% visual and performing arts
4.2% history
3.6% math and statistics</p>
<p>Total science majors appear to be 18.8%.</p>
<p>^ That isn’t even an especially high percentage for science majors, so I don’t know why F&M would have a reputation for being “sciency”. It is a “National Liberal Arts College” (in US News parlance). What really distinguishes its curriculum from other LACs is the 12% business & marketing number. Most selective, private LACs don’t offer those majors.</p>
<p>Other distinguishing features: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>relatively large average class sizes (only 50% < 20, compared to 62% at Trinity, 63% at Connecticut College, 74% at Dickinson, 69% at Skidmore, 57% at Bucknell, 63% at Muhlenberg)</p></li>
<li><p>relatively high fraternity membership (27%, compared to 20% at Trinity, 0% at Connecticut College, 15% at Dickinson, 0% at Skidmore, 43% at Bucknell, 16% at Muhlenberg)</p></li>
<li><p>fair-to-good need-based aid (fully met the need of 84% of students with need, compared to 100% at Trinity, 72% at Dickinson, 89% at Skidmore, 88% at Lafayette, 94% at Bucknell, 91% at Muhlenberg)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
F&M has a reputation for the sciences because its strongest programs are the natural sciences, particularly biology and neuroscience. It’s a well-known pre-med factory. (Pre-professional in general, really…law and business are also popular.) Other LACs with disproportionately strong science programs like Hope and Allegheny have similar reputations, regardless of how many people are actually majoring in a science field. </p>
<p>Many of its other programs are also quite good, however. English, creative writing, and classics are particularly strong. A good friend of mine doubled majored in English and classics at F&M and is now working as a journalist in Asia.</p>
<p>Scrittore, be aware that F&M takes 60% of its freshman class from ED, an extremely high percentage. This results in a far lower admit rate for RD (32%) than ED (78%). While I discourage people from applying ED unless they’re 100% sure they want to attend and don’t need to compare financial aid offers, this may be something to consider.</p>
<p>A visit is also in order before applying, if you haven’t already visited. Many people love a college on paper, only to hate it in person. (I had that experience at Brown.)</p>
<p>One other “distinguishing feature” is no merit aid. They ditched it a few years ago, presumably to improve need based aid. They are one of the few LACs in their range that does not have merit aid. Would have been on D2’s list if they had it… not now.</p>
<p>I agree with all the above. It’s a nice school and good for both sciences and other majors (very popular with students interested in poly sci with their election polls, etc). It’s also a school we suggest to students needing need-based aid. Those who would qualify for merit aid elsewhere tend to not apply lately. There are many other similar schools who do offer merit aid.</p>
<p>
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<p>What is the evidence for that strength?
I don’t think you’d make such a statement without reasonable grounds, but I also think you’d agree it can be challenging to compare the strengths of specific departments at small liberal arts colleges. So I’m interested in good ways to do this.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to their Biology program overview:[url=<a href=“Biology”>Biology]Biology</a> — Franklin & Marshall<a href=“From%20this%20description,%20it%20does%20sound%20like%20a%20pretty%20strong%20program.”>/url</a></p>