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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My daughter did well in the small setting, because it was less intimidating and required her to step up.

Having said that, you are falling into the trap of only discussing very selective schools. Remember to visit and praise some less elite schools also,  or we may be hearing you lament one year from now like many who have come before you.

(Check out St Olaf’s for example)[/quote]

I think that friendly big schools can be as good for shy kids as small schools are, but I think any small school that has good science programs will be better for STEM kids (with the S being defined so as to exclude social sciences majors) than most big selective schools.

The problem is that (after adjusting for socioeconomic status, test-taking anxiety, etc.), a kid with 1510 on the SATs is just OK  in terms of academic readiness when compared with typical STEM student at a T40 school or in the honors college at a solid state flagship. A big school will be focusing on turning the kid into an economics or poli sci major.

I think that a small school that’s fine with STEM kids staying in STEM is a lot more likely to let regular bright kids stay in STEM.

If a kid likes geography and likes STEM, maybe one approach would be to major in logistics or agribusiness at a big, friendly state school. My guess would be that those programs are easy to get into, attract many shy students, tend to require scientific literacy, and lead to fun, useful, lucrative jobs.

[/quote]

WTF?[/quote]

Well, to shorten that: a 1510 for a STEM major at a top research university is weak. Affluent kids who go to a good high school, prep and have no
problems with test taking, then get a 1510, are going to have trouble getting a bachelor’s in physics or engineering from
a place like MIT or Cornell, because, all things considered, they’re way below average by MIT or Cornell standards.

And an engineering class at MIT, Cornell, etc. may be the worst possible environment for a kid who ends up with a 1510 because of test-taking anxiety. Programs like that breed a lot of terror. [/quote]

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