Why Study in a Liberal Arts School?
This article was written by Maretta Simon, a tutor here at IB Lounge!
Image: Yale-NUS
Before starting on the Whys, I guess I should explain what exactly a Liberal Arts school is first. Because I was just like one of you students (or parents!) wondering at what kind of school is a liberal arts school. To clarify, a Liberal Arts school is a type of college (or university, as some may prefer to call it), where undergraduates do not need to choose their specific majors yet until the end of sophomore year (as an example, that’s the case in my school, but it varies depending on what institution you go to). In my case, you will graduate after 4 years with either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science (both in Honors) in your major, say in PPE (Philosophy, Politics, Economics) or Life Sciences.
Now that it is clear what kind of school a Liberal Arts school is, the reason why I chose to go for it really boiled down to how I would like to approach university. As you may know from my other article (check that out here), I myself am an IB graduate too. And by going through the IB curriculum, I was able to pinpoint certain things that I knew I would not enjoy (strictly doing Sciences or any of those which requires a lot of lab work) despite being a Science student all my life (a pretty good one I would say, hahaha), and other things that really sparked my interest (Economics). However, I sincerely believed that at 18 (or younger) it was very unfair to be asked to choose to go for a very specific areas of study and just do that for the next 4 years. I was sure that I needed to find an institution that groomed my different areas of interest in Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Humanities in a deeper, more intellectual level before choosing one specific area that I would like to really be great at. And thus, I went on a lookout for a place that allowed me the room to do so, and Liberal Arts school was naturally the fit for me.
However, I am strongly against the idea that all IB graduates should be a fitting candidate for a Liberal Arts school. Although it is true that most people in my school come from an IB background, some IB graduates, perhaps maybe even yourself, do know for sure what kind of path they would like to pursue. This is especially so if you would want to go for a professional degree such as being a doctor, or lawyer in your undergraduate years. And that is great for you! But for me, it was more of the mindset whereby I knew for sure I did not like to do physical sciences, but I could not pinpoint where exactly my one specific interest is. I wanted to challenge myself by going deeper into several areas I was already interested in. And after a year in, I can say that attending a Liberal Arts school really suited my aspirations (but of course there are downfalls too!). For example, only after being in university that I found out how interesting philosophy really is. And it is that one class that I always read all the readings (ok maybe like 85% of them haha) and participate very actively in class as well as talk to my Professors outside class time.
All in all, I think it is so important for current IB students to realize that the IB experience is what you make it to be, and how you see it impacting your academic life. If you hate how broad it is now, and you are not open to further exploration of topics from various areas in a deeper level, then maybe the Liberal Arts way of approaching Tertiary education is not for you. If you share the same sentiment whereby 18-year-olds should probably not be asked to make such a huge decision to study just that one thing (like me then), then maybe you should look more into what a Liberal Arts school is. Reflect, think about what your priorities and goals are, and apply if you are keen. Lastly, good luck to all IB students reading this, I was once in your confused shoes, and I just want to say that: you got this! Really!!!!
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