<p>I have a son who is a rising 10th grader and is somewhat good at math & physics. He studied Algebra in 4th grade and he did Calculus III in 9th grade and Linear Algebra through Stanford online (EPGY). He hates English & humanities and is somewhat of a nerd. He also has a tendency to push stuff until the last minute and is not self-motivated. He wanted to major in math until he studied AP Physics C. Is Caltech’s workload as rigorous as what people say? MIT is too strong in humanities (I have a daughter who made that school). I also looked at Brown since they didn’t require humanities but came to the conclusion he might not fit there. Harvey Mudd is one consideration but I am afraid they might be strong in humanities 
Does anyone know a good physics school that can fit him?</p>
<p>Do you mean that MIT has too many non-science requirements? The humanities courses are heavily slanted toward technology and science.</p>
<p>I think that a student probably has to take some humanities in almost any major at almost any college in order to graduate. My daughter is not fond of math and science, and is majoring in fields totally unrelated to math and science, but she has to take three math/science courses in order to graduate from her college. I think your son will survive whatever humanities are required in college, and that avoiding this requirement should not be the main focus of his college search.</p>
<p>Hey Marite,
When I looked at the MIT curriculum they require many credits of English as well as other humanities.</p>
<p>I had a quick look at Caltech’s catalog and saw that 2 humanities and 2 social sciences courses are required; there may be more, but I did not read further. In the end, Caltech’s requirements may not be that very different from those of MIT or schools such as Princeton, Harvard, Cornell and others that have strong physics departments.</p>
<p>One thing S considered was theoretical vs. experimental physics. He loved Brown, but Brown is stronger in exp. than in theoretical physics, so he did not apply there.</p>
<p>EDIT: MIT does require humanities and social sciences classes (but read the course descriptions); but so does Caltech.</p>
<p>Well, MIT doesn’t require any specific humanities courses – students who don’t like literature or English could fulfill the humanities requirement using art classes, economics classes, or history classes. It’s true that all students are required to take “communication-intensive” classes which place emphasis on writing skills, but those don’t have to be English classes per se. (I fulfilled my humanities requirement at MIT by taking anthropology classes, psychology classes, and a foreign language; my fiance, who doesn’t like to write, fulfilled his mostly by taking courses on the history of science.)</p>
<p>harvey mudd is very science/eng. slanted.</p>
<ol>
<li>He just finished the 9th grade. Unless you’re looking at early admission (going to college after 10th or 11th grade), there is no need to look at colleges. </li>
<li>If you are looking at colleges, he should be the one making the calls. You looked at Brown, and you came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a good fit. Where is he in all this? </li>
<li>You son could very well benefit from studying English or other subjects in the humanities in college. Learning to express oneself well in various forms in various situations is a vital skill, as is learning to look at situations from different angles. I wouldn’t knock off schools with some light distribution requirements just because he doesn’t like every subject. </li>
<li>If your son is not self-motivated, he is not ready for college. He’s very young. There is no need to look at colleges now, and if he’s not willing and able to work hard and doesn’t possess an open mind toward education, I don’t think he would find success at MIT or Caltech.</li>
</ol>
<p>Would you consider univesities abroad? In the UK we don’t have any equivalent to distribution requirements - you study your subject and ONLY your subject for 3 or 4 years. That may be too limiting, however.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd’s humanities’ requirement ties in with their mission statement: “Were… unique because we consider ourselves a liberal arts college. Arent math, science and engineering mutually exclusive of the liberal arts? Maybe at some places, but not at HMC. We educate engineers, scientists and mathematicians who become leaders in their fields and have a clear understanding of the impact their work has on society. Thats the big picture.”
<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/about1.html[/url]”>http://www.hmc.edu/about1.html</a></p>
<p>All Mudd’s majors are in technical fields, but other areas of interest are available–either at Mudd or at the associated consortium colleges, either as a field of study or as a avocation. My son just graduated from there. He had a minor concentration in a social science that relies heavily on quantitative skills. Also, lots of techie-leaning kids are interested in non-techie subjects like music, dance, sports, foreign languages, etc. As your son gets older, he may develop tangential interests outside of math and physics per se. High school can be a good time to explore wide-ranging subject areas a bit, either inside the classroom or out. Visiting schools to get a feel for the “prevailing culture” and requirements might be a good idea if you and your son can do that.</p>
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<p>That’s precisely what I meant about the MIT HASS requirements.</p>
<p>I’d suggest you post in the Caltech forum and get some students there to tell you about how rigorous the workload is. My son’s a student at Caltech & he’d tell you YES its very rigorous. As for humanities and social sciences - students need to take about one class each term from either social sciences or humanites. Its not just the 2 social sciences and 2 humanities (that may be the freshman year requirement). And I think just like MIT there is a slant towards technology & science even in hum classes. Since your S is just a 10th grader, I’d give him some time to get self motivated. I think the most successful students at Caltech are very self motivated. But my sense is that even with the social science and humanities requirements that kids that love math and science find Caltech to be the right kind of place for them.</p>
<p>Cornell is ranked #1 in the nation for Applied Physics!</p>
<p>My daughter is at Mudd and she is definitely a math/science geek. She has found the humanities classes to be interesting. She didn’t like many of the humanity classes in high school. She LOVES Mudd and always sounds very happy, usually tired, but happy. Mudders work very hard and they are a very tight group who give a lot of support to each other. They know how to have some fun too and that is really important for these kids. I would not worry about the humanities classes. Mudd sounds like it could be just the school for your son. Good Luck… Have you visited yet?</p>
<p>I laughed when I read your post that MIT was “too strong” in humanities. Um…no. Between it and CalTech, I think you’ve probably got the most science/math oriented schools in the nation. </p>
<p>I do think you need to relax just a bit; your son is young, and needs to enjoy life being a high school kid, and not just focus everything on what it takes to get to a top school. If he does continue to get excellent grades, top test scores, etc., keep in mind that this alone will not guarantee getting in to the top schools. He does need to be more well-rounded, and if he’s interested in getting in to any research as a high schooler, it will be a “leg up” when he’s a senior, applying to schools.</p>
<p>There are a lot of other universities with very strong physics departments. I’ve explained many times on CC why a large public U was the right undergrad choice for my daughter, working on double degrees in Physics and Astronomy. She knows she’ll be doing graduate work, and will mostly likely end up at one of the “top” technical schools. However, she also realizes the importance that humanities play in long term success, in almost any profession.</p>
<p>Spend some time looking at the specific threads for the schools your son may be interested (but I wouldn’t spend too much time on it for a couple of years yet), and go to their websites. (MIT has an admissions Blog that is one of the best around…and MollieB is extremely knowledgeable about MIT). Best wishes to your son. Just remember to let him be a kid for a while longer.</p>
<p>*I laughed when I read your post that MIT was “too strong” in humanities. Um…no. Between it and CalTech, I think you’ve probably got the most science/math oriented schools in the nation. [/iI laughed when I read your post that MIT was “too strong” in humanities. Um…no. Between it and CalTech, I think you’ve probably got the most science/math oriented schools in the nation.
*</p>
<p>Guess,I won’t suggest the only school in the country where primarily undergrad students run the nuclear reactor. 
You have to be able to read and write about other topics than science.
( and since scientific topics are applicable to other fields- a plus)</p>
<p>Good point astrophysics mom. He does need to be a kid. He is already proving himself to be proficient at math and science, but he also needs to have some fun. Swing dancing and music have been great outlets for my daughter. At Mudd she is involved in the Claremont Choir, intramural soccer etc. Best of Luck.</p>
<p>oops hit post before I was ready… I am on here today because my youngest is waiting for acceptance letters so was looking for some info. It’s hard to wait and I am a little nervous for her although she has been accepted to some great schools. My big thing is that I just want my girls to have happiness with there success.<br>
Just a quick note to say that he’ll have to be extremely motivated to be successful at Mudd. That might be the drawback. Those kids work really hard.</p>