To be fair, I never looked too closely at NE, but that was my general impression as well.
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I felt it was implied at the session we attended last year, but perhaps others hearing the same spiel felt otherwise. It sounded to me as if students would be given their choice of co-ops. Not that students hustle hard to find their own co-ops.
The one she just applied to was Dordt University. Hillsdale is also open but that one is considerably more work.
We’ve gotten several other notifications for small LAC that their apps are now open too.
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Georgetown is also open now.
Hi!
My child and I are working on their college list. C25 is definitely a STEM kid, but cannot decide between electrical engineering, computer science or mathematics right now.
Is there a list of colleges/universities which are frictionless when declaring/changing majors?
Many moons ago, I attended a university where all freshman were undecided and we had to declare a major by junior year. There were no quotas for any major.
Wondering if there is a list of schools like this.
Thanks!
I think you’re looking at pretty much any small LAC.
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Thank you! Yes, a small LAC would be great except I worry about the depth of a small LAC’s curriculum in electrical engineering/computer science.
D25 wants more options. If you asked her what she wants to do, she says “be a cop.” But if you meet my kid, that doesn’t really fit her. What she does want to do is help people. She has interest in advocating for kids in foster care and families. She found Child Life Specialist job may interest her. But she also may want to be a guidance counselor. So she is looking for colleges that may give her some options.
Looking for Human or Child Development and/or Family Services Major, Criminal Justice Major, potentially Social Work major, combined programs for Child Life Specialist or School or Family Counseling. Oh, and a minor in dance preferred.
She prefers not a huge school but may be more open depending on campus layout. Diversity matters to her. She wants a mix of old/new updated buildings. Option for a dance team. Good food and decent dorms. Tuition Exchange preferred or MSEP (WI here). 3.2 gpa, test optional.
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Northwestern lets students major in more than one division of the university. They say that students can transfer from one division to another except for the music school which requires an audition. I don’t have direct experience with NU, but remember this from our tour. A friend’s child switched from arts & sciences to engineering during their first year IIRC.
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Most colleges will meet this criteria. The main schools that will NOT meet that criteria tend to be publics that are extremely popular for those majors (U. of Washington, the UCs, U. of Michigan, U. of Texas, Texas A&M, U. of Illinois, etc). Most private colleges do not have such restrictions. And the vast majority of public universities do not, either.
If you think a liberal arts college might be the right feel in terms of size, then I’d check out Clarkson (NY), Rose-Hulman (IN), South Dakota Mines, New Mexico M&T which are all in the sub-3k undergrads range and then potentially Michigan Tech, Missouri S&T, Colorado School of Mines, and Rensselaer Polytechnic, if something more mid-sized wold work (like 5-6k undergrads). All of these would have great depth in STEM fields, as that is their specialty.
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Do you have a thread for this kid yet? I know there have been posts in TE and maybe in the 3.0-3.4 thread, but couldn’t find a regular thread. Can you share what schools she’s visited and her reactions to them? What schools have already been considered and discarded?
I don’t know about the test center locater just that when I tried to register my daughter no seats were available.
I just used the test locater and it said there were two spots available at two schools not far from us but when I tried to register those sites were marked as full. I’m not sure where you are seeing 15 open spots but if you are able to register for one I would grab it.
Thank you gotham_mom and AustenNut for your helpful suggestions!
(And uneasily, we are looking at some of the public schools which have “impacted majors” for CS/EE/math.)
I’m stlil hoping there’s a comprehensive list somewhere – for myself, I’m more likely to look at schools which allow unlimited major changes as long as one fulfills the prerequisites, which hopefully, anyone can take. A threshold GPA might be OK as long as it guarantees a spot but ideally a passing grade in all of the prerequisite courses would be enough.
Your student can also start in engineering and then transfer to math at nearly any school.
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If you are sure on the STEM path, then add some of the STEM-y schools - WPI, RPI, RIT. If you want more breadth then maybe a Case Western, Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette. (Both my guys want to be within driving distance of home. So I only know East Coast and driveable from there - sorry to not have more!)
If $$ is an issue, look to see what kind of merit aid the schools give - my older guy got significant merit aid from WPI, RPI, and Case (nothing from Lehigh, didn’t apply to the others).
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S25 got his SAT score back on Friday and was thrilled. He wasn’t even going to take it and only apply to test optional schools, but I convinced him to at least take it and see. He got the same score as his older brother (S23). This gives him some more flexibility and makes him eligible for some merit scholarships.
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Congrats to him! Good luck with the scholarships!
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We had the opposite. DS got their June score back and it’s lower than their not so great in school test score. I think it was just too much with end of year papers, tests, APs, and wrapping up their spring internship. We have decided to stop testing and prepping since all of the schools on their list are test optional, and instead spend the summer focusing on essays and their summer commitments. We’ll let the chips fall where they may.
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Thank you momofboiler1 and OctoberKate!
Yes, I agree that applying for the “impacted major” is probably the way to go.
I appreciate the recommendations! Thank you so much.