The Foreign Service Journal, December 2018

100 DECEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT American colleges hold an advantage: traditional U.S. institutions allow you to dabble for your first two years of college, declaring your major in the spring of sophomore year so that youmay start to specialize during your last two years of college. Then there are the block system col- leges, like Colorado College or Cornell College in Iowa. At these, you will study one subject at a time, very intensely. Imag- ine six weeks of nothing but archaeology: going on digs and field trips, reading, writ- ing, watching documentaries and hearing lectures. Some students prefer—and are more successful with—this intense focus. Other nontraditional colleges in the United States include those that allow you to create your ownmajor (e.g., Hamp- shire, Marlboro, Evergreen State, among others), including some that do not have specific course requirements. At the other end of that spectrum are the two St. John’s Colleges (one in Annapolis, one in Santa Fe) that teach a classics-based curriculum with no choice of electives. And then there are practical universities like Northeastern, where you alternate studies with work in your field, taking five years to graduate but getting tons of on-the-job experience. Finally, consider single-gender colleges like Mt. Holyoke or Smith for women; Wabash or Morehouse for men. Most are excellent and not as difficult to get into as their coed equivalents; and they’re usually located near other colleges or universities where you can also take classes. Barnard, for example, is literally across the street fromColumbia University, so it’s not as if you’re living in a convent. Once you’ve considered these factors and have an idea where and how you might want to undertake your course of study, it’s time to find the colleges and universities that are strong in the field or You need to hold a very important conversation with your parents, who presumably will be paying for some or all college expenditures.