This week: College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine
Everyone at College of the Atlantic majors in Human Ecology. But that’s not the most important thing to know about it. The most important thing to know about it is why everyone majors in human ecology. It’s because of what they believe Human Ecology to be: a perspective that integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experience that allows people to investigate, and ultimately, to improve the relationships between human beings, their social, and natural environments. With that in mind, this mission guides everything that people do at COA.
Learning at College of the Atlantic is highly interdisciplinary. If you like your social sciences to stay out of your biology, this is not the school for you! Problems are seen as complex with interdependent and interconnected parts which cannot be solved in a single way. Collaboration between students and also between students and faculty is highly regarded here. Flexible thinking, creativity, communication are all highly valued so if you’re a science person who is thrilled you’ll never have to write an English paper again? Um, COA? not a good choice.
But if you are serious about changing the world and you’re looking for an eco friendly place full of eco minded people to do it with, COA might be just the right fit for you. Just because you major in Human Ecology doesn’t mean it’s the only area of study. You can study all kinds of things: sustainable business, art and design, policy, international studies and pretty much anything you can imagine because you can and are encouraged to design your own programs. Their theory is that if people harmed the world the only way it’s going to get fixed is through people’s actions, products, plans and applications, and that means creative and out of the box thinking and solutions.
Some Pros:
Everyone at College of the Atlantic majors in Human Ecology. But that’s not the most important thing to know about it. The most important thing to know about it is why everyone majors in human ecology. It’s because of what they believe Human Ecology to be: a perspective that integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experience that allows people to investigate, and ultimately, to improve the relationships between human beings, their social, and natural environments. With that in mind, this mission guides everything that people do at COA.
Learning at College of the Atlantic is highly interdisciplinary. If you like your social sciences to stay out of your biology, this is not the school for you! Problems are seen as complex with interdependent and interconnected parts which cannot be solved in a single way. Collaboration between students and also between students and faculty is highly regarded here. Flexible thinking, creativity, communication are all highly valued so if you’re a science person who is thrilled you’ll never have to write an English paper again? Um, COA? not a good choice.
But if you are serious about changing the world and you’re looking for an eco friendly place full of eco minded people to do it with, COA might be just the right fit for you. Just because you major in Human Ecology doesn’t mean it’s the only area of study. You can study all kinds of things: sustainable business, art and design, policy, international studies and pretty much anything you can imagine because you can and are encouraged to design your own programs. Their theory is that if people harmed the world the only way it’s going to get fixed is through people’s actions, products, plans and applications, and that means creative and out of the box thinking and solutions.
Some Pros:
- Lots of internships, independent study, research opportunities
- Plenty of hands on work, and real life applications
- It’s really small. You’ll know everyone and get personalized attention
- SATs and other standardized testing is considered if submitted, but not required
- Lots of credit granted for APs
- Student Faculty ratio – 10:1
- Design your own major
- Folks here are driven and self-starters. If you need to be reminded by mom to get up in the mornings, or take out the trash, COA isn’t for you.
- It’s small. Really, really, really small. 378 total students.
- It’s private. Cha ching.
- No Greek life
- No sports teams (there are intramurals)