AboutBruce Expertise Choosing a college, college admission processes, admission for homeschoolers, preparing for the college interview, searching for scholarships, Christian colleges & universities, colleges in general.
Experience 22 years in higher education, including eight in admission and financial aid, 15 years interviewing students for admission and places in honors programs, academic advising, transfer counseling.
Education/Credentials BA psychology. MA Behavioral Science
Question Hi Bruce,
I don't want to go to far from NYC. Maybe something in an hour/hour and a half radius. My strongest academic areas right now are math and science.
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Followup To
Question -
Hi Bruce,
I hope you can answer my question seeing as though I didn't know where else to ask.
1. Up to how many majors can you take in college?
2. What can you do with 18 college credits upon graduating high school?
3. Are there colleges that are known for having strong law/political sciemce programs?
Answer -
Hi Ariel,
Sorry for the delayed answer here. I thought I'd replied a few days ago, but apparently I didn't complete the process quite right and all experts asked me to try again. I'm glad to do so.
The number of majors you take depends on what those programs will require, how well you can schedule the classes you need and how long you wish to be in school.
Generally, two majors is doable, three is pretty tough to pull together. Keep in mind that most colleges offer minors that allow you to explore a subject area in some depth, but at a level somewhat less than a full major. With good scheduling, you should be able to do a major and multiple minors (if not a full double major). The credits you have earned in high school will help.
I am familiar with pre-law advising. Before suggesting schools, can you tell me if there is a region of the country you are interested in, and what your strongest academic areas are? I'm most familiar with schools in the eastern US (though basic pre law advising applies to pretty much any college).
Hope this helps. - Bruce
Answer If you anticipate needing financial aid, there may be incentives for you to stay in your home state, since you can't take NJ/NY aid across each other's borders.
My advice as far as pre-law goes, is to major in what you like. Law schools will be interested in your overall grade point average (GPA) and your score on the LSAT (entrance-aptitude test for law school) more than what you major in. If you study what interests you most, your GPA will show that. Having said that, you should make sure that you take some non-major courses that will help you in law school; philosophy (logic), speech and debate, accounting 1 & II, government, business law, economics and a couple of writing classes. It would not be hard for you to pick these up outside of your major area.
Once you arrive on campus, there should be a pre-law advisor to work closely with you. The courses I suggested are things I've learned from talking with law school students, and lawyers.
As far as specific colleges go, I encourage you to find a school that is smaller, rather than going to a large university right away. That's my personal bias. Some good smaller schools in the metro area include:
Drew University (NJ)
Ramapo College (NJ)
PACE University
Manhattan College
Brooklyn College
Farleigh Dickinson - Madison Campus
Rider University
Dowling College (Long Island)
You may also want to think about a couple schools in the Lehigh Valley of PA. They aren't that far away.
Muhlenburg College
Moravian College
I hope this is helpful. E-mail back if you have any more questions.
