Where should my science oriented kid apply?
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Anonymous
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My kid starts its junior year and it seems time to start thinking about college. Maybe do some visit.
I come from Europe, so open to UK and European schools, but I know little about US schools. A- minus kid taking advanced math, and physics and wants to study science. Maybe biology, genetics or even engineering. She is an avid reader, intense climber,... Which schools should we consider for bio/genetic? |
Anonymous
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Look into Oxford and this program https://eit.org/ellisonscholars/
Ellison is not an ideal human but his money has its uses. |
Anonymous
Neither are you an ideal human. |
Anonymous
The op asked a question about colleges. Not about your political leanings which is only an opinion. Go dig a hole. |
Anonymous
| Does she want a liberal arts school or a tech school? What size would be ideal? Any geographic limitations? |
Anonymous
There's not really enough information here for anyone to offer helpful advice. There are more than 5000 colleges and universities in the US. Plus the Canadian universities. Try to offer some more specific info. Rock climbing girl who is possibly interested in biology, open to anywhere in the world, seeks suggestions - isn't much to work with. |
Anonymous
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Does cost matter? State schools are great after first year of sink or swim science weed outs.
Lots of schools have climbing teams and outdoor clubs. |
Anonymous
A- student in "advanced math" yet it sounds as though it is regular physics? Unless advanced math means Calculus in 11th or 12th grade and there are lots of IB or AP classes, the student seems a little above average at most high schools, not likely to be top 25% considering most publics set the average to around an A- , so VT is going to be mildly reachy and William and Mary and UVA will be out of reach. In virginia, a slightly above average student from a typical public high school should target JMU ,VCU, or GMU which are great for many subjects including science, but also good if the major changes. In state is the best bang for buck, no need to spend on OOS publics or on privates, it is a waste of money almost always. All three give an excellent education and can lead to great careers in science. |
Anonymous
Clearly you didn't read the link about full scholarships for undergrad and grad to study biomedical at Oxford. |
Anonymous
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So OP, Oxford is one idea.
Or of course my alma mater MIT. But needs to get up to A grades and differentiate self by climbing, an unusual pursuit. |
Anonymous
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Climbing is common among students now. Many colleges from average to elite have club climbing teams. It is no different than any other EC. There are buckets if climbers in the Dmv region as well as the midwest and west coast. There are state and national-level climbers that do not place in college above their course rigor/grades/scores. We know about a half dozen of them well in the last 4 cycles: they were above average to near the top in their class academically and went to schools that aligned with their academics: the worst climbers based on that talent went to the best schools (they were the best academically). The best one with a national rank had stats borderline for the second-best flagship and did not get in, went out of state to a small LAC then transferred to ucBoulder which has a good team .
It is not a hook. It is Olympic since 2021, thus if one were an Olympian that could make a difference. Otherwise it will not because it is not recruitable. And also not as important to schools as the oft-repeated tuba player and the like who are needed for the orchestra. And it is not academic like the debate teams: state and national level debaters do get a boost. |
Anonymous
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Will she have 10 or more AP courses by graduation? Is she taking AP Calculus BC?
Start with your state flagships, which in this area are usually UVA or UMD. Admissions there, however, are very competitive. Applying to lower ranked campuses in the state system as back-ups is a must. In STEM fields, students often look at large, well-regarded state universities with lots of professors doing research, leading to lots of opportunities to get some lab experience. The University of Michigan and several University of California schools are great, but very difficult to get into. The University of Wisconsin, University of Washington, and Purdue are easier to get into, but still competitive. Your child should apply to at least 10 universities. You want several of those to have admission rates above 50-60%, so that they have some where to go for certain. They can then apply to universities that are more academically stellar, but harder to get into. |
Anonymous
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I would look at at the Big Ten Schools and specifically Penn State. Most are excellent in the sciences.
Penn State is surrounded by mountains and state parks. Molecular biology and the other sciences are very good. State College is one of the best college towns. Will also be able to find climbing partners. Here is a link to a climbing club at the school. https://www.facebook.com/groups/254313747937305/ |
Anonymous
Rock climbing isn’t unusual. |
Anonymous
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It's less usual than some other sports.
https://climbing-club.scripts.mit.edu/climb-on/ |