Physics for a quirky kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvey Mudd will be more expensive than Princeton. Rochester with merit coukd get you down to 70K. Recommend Case (generous merit) or W&M. Rice also great but pricey.

Wouldn’t recommend Harvey Mudd. You’re basically paying to be mistreated by faculty and they do have weed out courses.

Interesting! Can you elaborate on this, please? Do you have evidence? My kid is also looking into Harvey Mudd, so it would be helpful for us to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bizarre that NT is so rare now that "quirky" means ASD etc.
Used to be the kids riding unicycles at MIT or into folk dancing or Tolkien.

It doesn’t mean that…but it’s how people try to put a positive spin on their kids with LDs and other problems.

It also doesn’t result in good advice for a kid with LDs vs a kid that is actually quirky.

Is the varsity soccer captain quirky if they are also in the dungeons and dragons club or draw anime? What if the valedictorian with 16 AP classes likes heavy eye makeup, wears black clothes and is kind of goth-ish? All-star quarterback who is gay?

What is quirky? Blue hair? On the spectrum? It means something different to everyone who says it. Ridiculous word.

[Anonymous]

My kid sounds similar to yours with slightly lower stats. He’s starting at Rose-Hulman this fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like a Harvey Mudd kid to me. It’s not for everyone, but the ones I know who do well there are of this type.

Harvey Mudd is smaller and has more than 2x *fully qualified* applicants as it has openings. So admissions there is a bit of a lottery just now. FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is going to sound weird, but what your kid wants is a school like Iowa State. Engineering is huge, and almost all of the STEM kids are in engineering. The physics department has like 25 kids per year. Once you get beyond the physics 101 classes with all of the engineering kids, the classes will be tiny.

But, and this is the important part here, Ames/ISU is the host of AmesLab, which is a US DOE research laboratory. So, there are a lot of physics profs working on various projects there. It's really easy for a bright physics undergraduate to get research assistantship positions and work side by side with professors and grad students.

I imagine the same would be true for any physics department at a huge engineering school that also has significant government lab facilities. That might be something to consider for your kid.

Good analysis with good explanations. Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Is this changing with all the cuts this administration implementing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Starting to look at schools for my ADHD/ASD/Anxiety kid. He has been to sleep away camp for the last 5 years for the full summer and is able to handle living in a dorm with a roommate and wants to live on campus. From an academic perspective, he will not need learning support. He could use some social support though. This is what I'm looking for:

--Strong Physics department--my research tells me to focus on schools with large departments so he can explore the various sub specialities in physics

--he will go to grad school

--city vs rural vs suburban doesn't really matter

--needs small classes and would like direct access to professors. This maybe in conflict with the large physics department requirement.

--smaller campus is better than large campus

--athletics and sports culture are not important

--greek culture is not important

--would like a program that does not require a large number of humanities core curriculum courses

---not looking at UMD as it just seems too large. Not looking at Princeton as it seems too competitive. It obviously is for admission but also the type of student that it attracts would need to be someone who is competitive and excels under pressure.

--He has decent grades (4.0 U/W) and a 1580 on his SAT. However, he has no EC and no interest in participating in school activities. Will be sitting for AP exams next month.

We looked at Rose-Hulman, WPI, RPI, RIT, and W&M. Going to W&M.

[Anonymous]

Grinnell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell

Grinnell is a good idea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bizarre that NT is so rare now that "quirky" means ASD etc.
Used to be the kids riding unicycles at MIT or into folk dancing or Tolkien.

It doesn’t mean that…but it’s how people try to put a positive spin on their kids with LDs and other problems.

It also doesn’t result in good advice for a kid with LDs vs a kid that is actually quirky.

Is the varsity soccer captain quirky if they are also in the dungeons and dragons club or draw anime? What if the valedictorian with 16 AP classes likes heavy eye makeup, wears black clothes and is kind of goth-ish? All-star quarterback who is gay?

What is quirky? Blue hair? On the spectrum? It means something different to everyone who says it. Ridiculous word.

IMO, "quirky" describes the person who always gets irrationally angry whenever anyone uses the word quirky.

[Anonymous]

The person who mentioned UChicago is very much on the wrong track for a student seeking to avoid an extensive core curriculum in the humanities and social sciences. Lots of other great options in this thread, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bizarre that NT is so rare now that "quirky" means ASD etc.
Used to be the kids riding unicycles at MIT or into folk dancing or Tolkien.

It doesn’t mean that…but it’s how people try to put a positive spin on their kids with LDs and other problems.

It also doesn’t result in good advice for a kid with LDs vs a kid that is actually quirky.

Is the varsity soccer captain quirky if they are also in the dungeons and dragons club or draw anime? What if the valedictorian with 16 AP classes likes heavy eye makeup, wears black clothes and is kind of goth-ish? All-star quarterback who is gay?

What is quirky? Blue hair? On the spectrum? It means something different to everyone who says it. Ridiculous word.

IMO, "quirky" describes the person who always gets irrationally angry whenever anyone uses the word quirky.

Or perhaps justifiably angry whenever anyone uses the word quirky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bizarre that NT is so rare now that "quirky" means ASD etc.
Used to be the kids riding unicycles at MIT or into folk dancing or Tolkien.

It doesn’t mean that…but it’s how people try to put a positive spin on their kids with LDs and other problems.

It also doesn’t result in good advice for a kid with LDs vs a kid that is actually quirky.

Is the varsity soccer captain quirky if they are also in the dungeons and dragons club or draw anime? What if the valedictorian with 16 AP classes likes heavy eye makeup, wears black clothes and is kind of goth-ish? All-star quarterback who is gay?

What is quirky? Blue hair? On the spectrum? It means something different to everyone who says it. Ridiculous word.

IMO, "quirky" describes the person who always gets irrationally angry whenever anyone uses the word quirky.

Or perhaps justifiably angry whenever anyone uses the word quirky.

This sounds like a you problem.

[Anonymous]

Brown. First rate physics department with several Nobel laureates. Lots of research opportunities for undergraduates. Competitive to be admitted but collaborative and chill once there. Open curriculum provides the flexibility to not take (or alternatively take advantage of) humanities and social science courses — your call. Seriously smart and often quirky people in this major at Brown, with majority going on to grad school and generally getting into the top PhD programs. Physics at Brown skews male and generally introverted so likely not appealing to those seeking a vibrant social scene, but for that the rest of the campus is welcoming socially. Highly recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brown. First rate physics department with several Nobel laureates. Lots of research opportunities for undergraduates. Competitive to be admitted but collaborative and chill once there. Open curriculum provides the flexibility to not take (or alternatively take advantage of) humanities and social science courses — your call. Seriously smart and often quirky people in this major at Brown, with majority going on to grad school and generally getting into the top PhD programs. Physics at Brown skews male and generally introverted so likely not appealing to those seeking a vibrant social scene, but for that the rest of the campus is welcoming socially. Highly recommend.

A kid with no ECs is not getting into Brown. Come on.