<p>CPU - I dont mean you cant be undecided now. It is worrisome after Freshman/ sophomore years though. Just be aware that if you want to do medicine, you do want to cover the prerequisites in the first two years because just like SAT, people tend to take MCAT after sophomore year once and after junior year again. I think there are also restrictions for the number of times you take it although I am not certain.</p>
<p>Gwen Fairfax- what is a liberal arts school? some schools come out and say it on their websites, others don’t but still are liberal arts schools. i have to widen my list a bit, but for right now the schools i’m seriously considering are Smith, Northeastern, UMass, and Wellesley. I know that S&W are liberal arts schools… but not sure about the others. i guess lib. arts schools don’t have “schools” within them? (ie. college of natural science…) I’m not sure how solid the science is at Wellesley, the others are strong in science. I love liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>Mizzbee- I will definitely add that to my summer reading! when you say office, the first thing i think of is a cubicle (not for me)</p>
<p>texaspg- i don’t know what i want 
I’m not sure if i like science (or any other subject in school) All this time we’ve been taught to know things to pass a test, not to know them because you love them. The only thing that interests me is trig identities in calculus (no other calc subjects.)</p>
<p>life is something else…</p>
<p>Usually liberal arts schools don’t have engineering but their science departments are strong.</p>
<p>Btw, Wellesley has computer science, neuroscience and political science departments.</p>
<p>[Wellesley</a> College - Academics - Departments, Programs, & Majors](<a href=“http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Academics/deptsmajorprog.psml]Wellesley”>http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Academics/deptsmajorprog.psml)</p>
<p>thanks texaspg. i’ll look and see where Wellesley science alums have went…</p>
<p>That’s a smart question, CPU! I think plenty of college presidents would have trouble answering it. I guess my answer would be: a college where you can study a wide variety of subjects in real depth. At a big University like UMass, some of the intro classes will be immense and you won’t get as much time with professors-- so you might not get to experience the discipline as well as you might at Smith or Wellesley. (Though the honors college at UMass would be like an LAC, I think.)</p>
<p>Thanks Gwen Fairfax. And also, where studying across different disciplines is easy, whereas at say Northeastern you have to apply to study in that specific school?</p>
<p>D considering postsecondary class at college of wooster spring semester 2012. Not sure how she will fit it in etc… will this give her an edge when she applies there? And will she also benefit from her grandma being a graduate and cousin a current student? Just wondering. Wooster is not a top choice for her but she is aware that if she wants to go to a private college she will need a scholarship. Wooster seems to provide merit aid. Not sure what to do. I don’t want to compromise her regular classes but I think this would be an awesome opportunity. I think we would have to pay $200 for the class.</p>
<p>mspearl, I know a young woman who got a full ride to Wooster, pretty much out of the blue, so I’m guessing that they are good with merit. </p>
<p>CPU-- exactly. It’s something you probably want to examine for every school-- do you have to apply to a discipline and how easy is it to switch majors? And–are you going to be able to use the distribution requirements to your advantage-- that is, can you use your social science requirement to try psychology and cultural anthropology in a meaningful way, or are you going to be marking time in a huge survey course full of kids who’d rather be anywhere else? </p>
<p>I’m guessing that the fact you have a range of interests will be appealing to a college. For you, and many others,“Undecided” means you have several passions. There are some for whom it means ‘don’t care.’</p>
<p>Mspearl –</p>
<p>I don’t know for sure, but I would think a spring class would be too late to have much impact on admissions.</p>
<p>As traditional women’s colleges, Smith and Wellesley have long-established programs in all the arts and sciences, but did not design their curricula for professions (apart from teaching) until the 1970s. As colleges, rather than universities, they do not have graduate and professional schools with resources for highly-specialized training. They have excellent reputations for undergraduate programs, and both participate in exchange programs with other schools where you can enroll in certain courses. If you are comfortable with the prospect of a single-sex college, you might find that you receive attention and respect in science classes that you might not receive in a co-ed environment.</p>
<p>For schools that want to see all scores, if a student took 2 subject tests on one test date and only want to send in one of those scores, could he do that? Or does it literally mean a student would need to send in ALL scores?</p>
<p>mspearl - I agree with mathinokc. If you want to make an impression by taking a class at a specific school for that school application, summer or fall is a lot better. I am not sure it works but OTOH, if you can impress a faculty enough to put in a good word to admissions or write a rec. it might help.</p>
<p>oldfort-</p>
<p>It probably depends on the college. For example, Yale only requires 2 subject tests but I interpret its requirement to be that all scores for all subject tests must be sent, even if it is more than 2. On the other hand, Stanford states that it does not allow score choice but since Stanford does not “require” subject tests you do not have to send all subject tests to Stanford.</p>
<p>I had no idea wooster did postsecondary until a few days ago. They only do it for 2 counties… wish we would have known several months ago. I think it is too late for fall semester. I guess I could ask the guidance counselor. Sigh. She didn’t originally sign up for postsecondary because she is taking ap classes and with Cheerleading we weren’t sure how it would work. The closer she gets to applying to schools the more likely Ohio state, Ohio university and Miami Ohio are looking to end up as her destination. Mostly for price. I think the best chance at lac is wooster, Denison or heidelberg. I feel like wooster and heidelberg are academic safeties but not financial. Denison is a little bit of a reach unless she can get her act math score up…her composite is good, her gpa awesome but I just feel like the math is her Achilles heal. Frustrating.</p>
<p>Oh. And now she has been talking about majoring in linguistics or teaching English as a second language…for that she needs Ohio state I think. This whole process is mind boggling and it makes me so nervous!!! </p>
<p>What do you guys think? Linguistics/teaching vs international studies - which has better career path, in the real world??? That is weighing on her. Sometimes she thinks about health care because of job security but I want her to follow her heart…</p>
<p>mspearl don’t sell her short because of that math score and the wild competitiveness here on CC!!! Find a teacher whose rec will address the fact that she’s weak in math but has given it her all. Her GC should address the health issues and show how well she has worked around them-- in other words, how she had not let her limitations hold her back. She sounds like a wonderful student and I believe she will have some wonderful opportunities!! Don’t worry about the extra courses-- she’s doing great. She can narrow down her field once she’s in school. Look at [The</a> National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org%5DThe”>http://www.fairtest.org) for some suggestions of schools that dont’ require standardized tests, have her write her essay over the summer so she can really think about it, and concentrate on all the positive she has to offer!!</p>
<p>Why do I say this? Because I have to remind myself daily, that’s why!</p>
<p>mspearl, I agree that you should not disregard LACs for price. She may get more at Wooster than at OSU, and she may be happier witht the preppy kids of Denison than the preppy kids of Miami of Ohio. From what you have told me of your wonderful D, a program that has holistic admissions will work to her advantage. this August, I recommend buying the US News and World Report online resources. While I could care less about the rankings, it has really good stats about merit/need based aid. We are using it to eliminate choices and to look for schools in other areas. I will start perusing the LACs that I know have good need-based aid that have linguistics programs for you.</p>
<p>Gwen: Lol. I read on here about everyone’s 2300/36 sat/act scores and miles long ec list and it really does deflate me!! But thanks for your encouragement. And I never thought about getting her math teacher to write a recommendation! That is a FABULOUS idea. She loved her math teacher this year and her chemistry teacher too! Her algebra 2 grade ended up her second highest % this year…she works her little butt off to get A’s in math. And her highest was chemistry…99. Something %. We will definitely take your advice, brilliant. Thanks so much. It means a lot…</p>
<p>mmizzbee: thank you from the bottom of my heart! I know I shouldn’t be so discouraged but after seeing that 440 in math my hope is really low…but she does have a lot to offer…but I am her mom so of course I think that! I am going to pray thay the sat/act these next two weekends turn out better. Can’t lose faith. she told me last night that when she is sitting in class and everything is explained, she understands and is able to do well in math but when she sees problems on standardized tests, she just freezes and thinks she can’t do it.
)
another funny thing is with her ogt’s (tests you need to graduate in Ohio) her math score was the highest of her subject scores and was listed as advanced. I just can’t figure this out. </p>
<p>I won’t give up on lac though. my cousin got into wooster with a 3.7 and a less rigorous schedule than D. and definitely not stellar act scores…and he still managed to get really nice merit $.</p>
<p>And she is very politically liberal and she would definitely fit in better at Denison than Miami from what I hear! You described her perfectly, she is a very preppy liberal. So funny, a little blonde cheerleader from rural Amish country that slept on a sidewalk to shake Obama’s hand. Stood in the hot sun for hours to meet biden, protested our republican governor on the steps of our state capitol and is very vocal in her defense of lgbtq community…oh and before she had her license if I couldn’t drive her to school my transgendered friend took her. Wish she could explain this to colleges because she honestly is unique for her community…but then again, there are probably lots of people applying to kenyon with that profile!!</p>
<p>So my D’s PSAT Math was 60. Looking at the middle 50% range of the schools she’s interested in, I told her, “It would sure help if you could raise that math score 50 points or so.” So on the May SAT she hits 650 right on the nose.</p>
<p>WTG Anna! :)</p>