Solid High School Course Plan? Areas for Improvement? [high school in Ontario, Canada]

NiceUnparticularMan
Fri, 09 May 2025 20:27:21 +0000

APRecess:

I am interested in creating businesses, so I believe this would actually be more beneficial than not.

I would warn you that most true entrepreneurs I have encountered are somewhat skeptical of the ability of schools to really teach you how to be a successful entrepreneur. According to them, it is mostly a combination of your own personal attributes, and then often work experience where you get to know a business, clearly see a market opportunity, and have the established relationships you need to create a business to make use of that opportunity.

For sure, though, I know people in business generally who think a more general “liberal arts tradition” sort of undergrad education is better than a more specialized technical sort of undergrad education. This attitude is part of why certain “top” US undergrads who send a lot of graduates into business, and who indeed might well have “top” graduate business programs, do not actually have undergraduate business programs. They basically see undergrad as too early for that sort of focus, even for people interested in business as a career.

So if that sort of liberal arts tradition undergrad education sounds good to you, that would be another reason to be exploring the possibility of a US undergrad education. If so, I would indeed suggest you might want to think about broadening your science curriculum. And you might also want to reflect on how you would present yourself in essays and such, including whether you could articulate an understanding and appreciation of that liberal arts tradition.

APRecess:

Which schools would you say prefer a broader science education over the narrower focus on computer engineering, and vice-versa?

I was sort of just addressing this, but there are colleges in the US which have very strong STEM departments and lots of undergrad STEM majors, but which nonetheless see STEM for undergraduates as best taught within a strong version of the liberal arts tradition. That name is a bit misleading, though, because more properly it would be called the “liberal arts and sciences” tradition. And that is because a broad background in at least math and the natural sciences has long been considered a core part of that tradition. But not necessarily as much technical subjects, particularly as taught at the secondary school level.

Anyway, the US colleges that have a strong version of the liberal arts and sciences tradition actually include a wide range of what are usually considered “top” colleges in the US, including many famous private research universities, further including even colleges like MIT. It also includes most “liberal arts colleges,” which should again mostly really be called “liberal arts and sciences” colleges, as many of them are very strong in at least science and math, usually these days including a math-heavy version of CS.

Then there are US colleges which are maybe less strong on the liberal arts and sciences tradition, at least if you are not in their Arts and Sciences subdivision, such as if you are in their Engineering subdivision instead. They will typically have some “general education” requirements, but they may not be seen as central to your academic experience as other colleges would see them.

Most of these would not be among the most famous US universities outside the US, although many of them actually do provide things like high-quality engineering educations and such.

But there are always variations and exceptions. So, as noted, MIT takes the liberal arts and science tradition very seriously. Caltech, on the other hand, is maybe a little more interested in kids who are trying to rush along through to a specialization. They’d still want to know you were adequately prepared for First Year Biology and First Year Chemistry (part of their core curriculum), but possibly your planned Canadian courses would be adequate for that purpose. Or possibly not–you might want to consult with someone who actually really knows.

But generally, I think if you had good qualifications and were willing to pay what they charged Canadians, then lots of US colleges with excellent engineering programs would probably not be too picky about your exact science courses. However, again most of those would not be among the most Internationally famous.

Like, take Iowa State for example. Great engineering college, and here are their requirements for Canadian admissions:

iastate.app.box.com

Box

As I understand it, I think your plan would probably work out just fine for Iowa State.

But to come full circle, would you actually prefer Iowa State to your Canadian options when the time comes? Maybe, but not coincidentally, I think public Canadian universities are often good in the same basic ways public US universities like Iowa State are good.