Good College for Christian...and Science

[servant4ever]

My daughter is interested in Science and is looking for a good college. She is going into her senior year and would like to get into a good college that offers some good science majors. Especially things like physics, or perhaps environmental sciences.

She would also like to find one that is not entirely closed to design theory, is there such a place? She wants good science, not philosophy dressed up like science.

I'm sure some of you have some good ideas.

Also, any ideas for scholarships. We don't have the financial ability to totally fund her education. She has a good academic background and would be a good addition to a college's student body.

Hi JVD!

Since you said you live in Alaska, maybe I would look at the state colleges over there, I'm sure there are a few in Alaska Also, there is a website where you can search for colleges by your preferences and it also has a feature where you can search for scholarships. The website is www.fastweb.com. I hope this helps!

servant4ever

 

[Bushido216]

They aren't anit catholic. They just don't believe (as most fundies)that the Catholic church is just another denomination.

What? And us Catholics don't have our own fundies?

It doesn't really matter what baptists are pentecostals think, though, given that Catholics, as a denomination, make up more people than Islam.

 

[Sinai]

My daughter is interested in Science and is looking for a good college. She is going into her senior year and would like to get into a good college that offers some good science majors. Especially things like physics, or perhaps environmental sciences.

She would also like to find one that is not entirely closed to design theory, is there such a place? She wants good science, not philosophy dressed up like science.

I'm sure some of you have some good ideas.

Also, any ideas for scholarships. We don't have the financial ability to totally fund her education. She has a good academic background and would be a good addition to a college's student body.

If you are looking for a Christian university that is strong academicly and has a good science department, I would suggest that she visit Baylor University if possible. They also have many scholarships available, and your daughter might qualify for FAFSA support as well.

If you prefer a state university, check out the ones in your home state (since those would be substantially cheaper than out of state ones), or see if she qualifies for a major scholarship elsewhere.

 

[EdmundBlackadderTheThird]

Baylor is a great school for the most part, I have had a few friends that attended over the years. Their policy was a little harsh towards homeschoolers (it was easier for homeschoolers to get into Harvard), and I am not sure where that has gone, but they are academically sound and are Christian.

 

[JVD]

Wow...my old post revived!

I thank you for your input Servant, Sinai, Flesh and others.

My daughter is spending the summer the Summer Science Program in California mapping asteroids. Her mind is being taxed...severely for the first time I think.

Since we live in Alaska there is an agreement with Washington State for lower tuition. Does anyone have an opinion of the two State Universities...one in Pullman and one in Seattle for physics? The pysics departments in both schools have been wooing her.

It looks to me like she is going to have to forget about getting a good eduction in physics at a Christian College.

I don't think we can afford Baylor.

 

[Chi_Cygni]

The University of Washington is an excellent school for physics. Washington State is probably decent.

Remember, at most decent schools you can get as good as an education as you need in physics. The key is what graduate school you can get into after that.

If you want to go to the very best grad schools then you had better get at least a 3.9 GPA at the state school and average in the mid 700's on the general GRE and get a 95+ percentile on the physics GRE.

The problem with small state schools and the Christian colleges (for the most part) is that the good grad schools look down on them and don't trust the education you have received. Thus they then look really hard at the GRE scores. Conversely, if you have a great GPA from a really good undegrad school the GRE is of lesser importance.

I used to be in charge of graduate admission at my school (physics) and funnily enough we looked at the English section of the GRE more than any other. It was a given the Math and Logic sections would have high scores from our applicants - it turned out that the English score had the highest correlation with grad school success.

 

[Sinai]

My daughter is spending the summer the Summer Science Program in California mapping asteroids. Her mind is being taxed...severely for the first time I think.

Sounds interesting--and exciting. One of my daughters has worked as a national space science scholar the past two summers and thoroughly loves it. Hope your daughter also enjoys her work.

It looks to me like she is going to have to forget about getting a good eduction in physics at a Christian College. I don't think we can afford Baylor.

We couldn't afford Baylor either if it were not for the scholarships. You may wish to explore the possibilites (both with scholarships and grant programs such as FAFSA). I wish you the best....

 

[El Guapo]

Did your daughter take the PSAT? If she did and is a national merit scholar, which she very well maybe considering how intelligent she seems to be, I know Texas A&M University gives full ride to national merit scholars, even if you're out of state. I know of a few people from Alaska who attended the school and while she very well may learn about evilution in her biology classes (if that's a concern of yours), the school and surrounding area itself is rather conservative and generally a very, very pro-Christian environment.

And as for Chi_Cygni's comment about GRE English scores and corresponding success in graduate school, when I was taking the MCAT for medical school we were told as well that schools care most about the verbal scores because those are the ones that seem to be the best identifiers for likely success. Of course, oddly enough those were the scores that seemed to see-saw back and forth the most on most people's practice tests.

 

[bliz]

Don't rule Christian colleges out yet!!!!!

Until your daughter has applied, been accepted, applied for financial aid and received a financial aid package from a college, it is impossible to know what it will cost her to attend any given college. At present, you are looking at price tags and that, in addition to being very scary, makes it look like private education is out of the question. But in addition to government money, colleges have their own scholarship programs, and many offer full tuition, and even full tuition, room/board etc.

If your daughter has an interest in Christian colleges, by all means, check them out! Just make it clear to her that the final cost will be a major factor in deciding where she can attend. Apply to both Christian colleges and state universities and see how the money crunches out in the end. If she is a strong student, and it certaily sounds like she is, there will be some very generous packages awaiting her. Plus, colleges also use scholarships to attract students to various programs. The number of women in physics remains small, for example, so a school may be willing to put more money behind a woman majoring in physics then a woman majoring in education.

Also, she can start looking on-line now for scholarships she might be eligible for no matter where she goes to school. Searches like www.fastweb.com will do a search for her, but she should also do her own using search engines and searching for "women's physics scholarahips" "women's science scholarships" "Alaska scholarships" etc. etc.

Calvin and Wheaton are good choices... Closer to home, check out Seattle Pacific University and Whitworth in Spokane. Houghton college in NY (I know - other side of the country!) has an excellent academic reputation as does Westmont in Santa Barbara. King College in TN is also known for it's science programs. All of the above colleges offer majors in physics. These are also colleges that are solid academic institutions. 31% of King College graduates go on to graduate or professional school, 25% of Houghton's, 25% from Wheaton, 20% from Whitworth.. don't have the figures on the others. I know many graduates from Christian colleges who have gone on in education and found that they were very well prepared, often better prepared than their peers from better known institutions.

A great tool can be found at: www.christiancollegesearch.com

In the end it may still be too expensive to send her to a private college, but don't close the door without having checked out the possibilities.

 

[JVD]

Thanks! This is some of the best advice I have received anywhere.

She did score pretty high on the SAT's 800 on verbal and 700 on math. She is a national merit semi-finalist and I guess they send her an essay to complete to determine if she is a full national merit scholar. Her friend scored 800 on both and did get a full scholarship at Oklahoma State I think. They didn't even shop for schools but just took the one scholarship that was offered.

I appreciate the advice about Grad school and will pass it on to her. It's up to her to make the grade

I don't think I am too worried about the evolution issue in the colleges. I know she is going to get it and will have to work under those basic assumptions. The creation/evolution question is not the huge one in my mind anyway. I always go back to two basic question concerning my faith. One...is there a God? Two...Is Jesus God incarnate? Honestly...I look at the second question to answer the first.

We will take all of your advice and act on it. Thank you again