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Comparing colleges based on special focus or affiliation

There are different types of colleges with special focuses or affiliations, such as arts schools (e.g., Juilliard, RISD), military academies (e.g., West Point, Naval Academy), single-sex colleges (e.g., Wellesley, Smith), historically black colleges (e.g., Howard, Spelman, Morehouse), and religiously affiliated colleges (e.g., Notre Dame, Georgetown). These schools offer unique experiences and opportunities while still granting standard BA or BS degrees.

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  • leaf red style avatar for user Julian Delgadillo Marin
    A military academy is free? what programs do they offer?
    (4 votes)
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    • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user lrplaid
      In the United States, the five main military academies are "free." If you apply, are admitted, and attend, then you don't pay for your books, rooming, tuition, the whole deal. The catch is that you then have to serve time in the the military as a form of payment.

      As far as programs, the academies train soldiers in fields the military needs experts in. You can study languages, engineering and other sciences, or more humanities-based topics like history. Check out the admissions websites to learn more - the admissions process is very involved.
      (10 votes)
  • winston baby style avatar for user Amanda
    About what age do your grades actually start to count?
    (2 votes)
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    • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user Nick
      Primary school is important for secondary school, secondary school is important for university college and university college is important for employment. I am assuming you want to know what grades universities look at. Universities will look at your GPAs for each year of high school, from your freshman year to your senior year. An improvement of your GPA every year can help if you did not do well your freshman year, but a low freshman GPA can still harm admissions.
      (6 votes)
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user Flanny
    Why are there single-sex colleges? Education is not different whether it is given to men or to women, is it?
    (4 votes)
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  • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user lara ross
    can someone please explain to me the difference b/w concentrations , majors and minors ?
    and do majors and concentrations qualify for the same thing ?
    (2 votes)
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    • leaf orange style avatar for user Benny C
      Your major is your main field of study and what will appear on your diploma/degree. Many of your classes will be in this field. So if you're a psychology major, you'll have a lot of classes like Personality, Perception, Child Psychology and Development, Research and Statistics, Abnormal Psychology, Criminal Psychology, etc. It'll take up a lot of your credits.

      A minor is like a supplement to your major. It's a smaller focus, and will only require about 5 or 6 classes to complete. So if you're a Psychology major, maybe you want a minor in Biology, either because you're interested in it, or you want a stronger (but basic) understanding of the science. Psychology does have a strong biological component. It's important to note that your major and minor don't have to be related at all. You could major in Business Management but take a minor in Philosophy.

      A concentration is a certain track within a major. Take Physics for example. Some schools will offer different concentrations. Looking at Brown University, they have 3 different tracks for the Physics major depending on your interests: Mathematical Physics, Biological Physics, and Astrophysics. They require their own courses to complete the concentration.
      (4 votes)
  • leafers ultimate style avatar for user Yusraafzal1
    what does B.S or B.A mean in reference to what he is saying and in general.
    (2 votes)
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    • leaf orange style avatar for user Benny C
      B.S. stands for Bachelor's of Science, while B.A. stands for Bachelor's of Arts.

      B.A. degrees are offered more for liberal arts subjects like Music or Philosophy. B.S. degrees are focused more on math and science subjects like Physics or Engineering.

      However, some subjects are offered in both, particularly the social sciences. You might see a college offering either a BS or a BS in History. The difference lies in the coursework you're required to take.
      (2 votes)
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user JohnShrestha
    At , he talks about military school. Can international students get into this kind of university?
    (2 votes)
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  • leafers seed style avatar for user Alecia Petridis
    when do USA kids search for college outside USA because of financial issue for top ranking colleges?
    (2 votes)
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  • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user Katie Bartlett
    Are there any schools that are primarily STEM schools? Specifically Biology?
    (2 votes)
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  • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user lara ross
    what happens if i had changed schools each yr of high school ?
    and if in my country high school is of only 2 years ?(11, 12th grades)
    (2 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Rashad Stephens
    what does B.S or B.A mean in reference to what he is saying and in general.
    (1 vote)
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Video transcript

- [Voiceover] We're here with Sean Logan, director of college counseling at Phillips Academy. Sean, in addition to deciding between a public and a private school or a university versus a liberal arts college, students often times consider schools with special focuses or affiliations. Can you talk us through a little bit about what's out there, what are some of the options? - [Voiceover] Sure, so as students start to get into the research process and really do some reflection and really thinking about what they want in a four year experience, they may start to come across schools that have real particular interest for them. Again, there are many different schools that may fill that interest for them. Let me give you a few examples. So there are arts schools out there. I think some of the ones that students might know are schools like Juilliard, RISD, which is the Rhode Island School of Design, Savannah College of Art and Design is another one. These specialty arts schools allow a student to get a four year degree, so that Bachelor of Arts, but really being specific in an area that they're interested in. Military academies are another one that popped to mind. Again, West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, these four offer students a very specific opportunity and may be very appealing to them in what those schools offer, especially 'cause all four of them would be free, but certainly have to give back years of service time after that. There are single sex colleges. I think the ones that come to mind are schools like Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Scripps, and Bryn Mawr College are some of the all-female schools. Again, as a woman in this process, they may be really appealing for the education that they give. There are historically black colleges that students may find very interesting and appealing to them. So again, Spelman, Morehouse, Howard are examples of that. Probably another group that would have interest for students might be religiously affiliated colleges. I think some of the nationally known ones that students would know are like places like Notre Dame, and probably Georgetown, and Boston College that are Catholic schools. There are other schools that are out there, Yeshiva University, BYU, and so forth that have other affiliations that students could be very interested in. So this is one of those areas that may very much appeal to students as they do research. - [Voiceover] Great, and in all of these schools, Sean, do students still get the standard BS or BA degree? - [Voiceover] They do. So again, these are four year colleges, they get the four year degree, but the schools themselves have a very particular mission and opportunities that they offer that may really appeal to students.