<p>
</p>
<p>That’s not what I heard from several high school alums who were math majors with advanced standing at many well-respected LACs…including my own. So long as they chose an LAC with strong Profs in their areas of interest, they’ve managed to bypass this issue by taking private readings and/or doing special research projects with their Profs. Some of the latter could be combined with collaborations with other math departments or research institutes. It is also a good preparation for expectations of grad school as if students are already at a level ready to take actual grad courses* by junior year…they’re also expected to take much more initiative and independent role in their own education process than your average undergrad. </p>
<p>And I am coming at this from the perspective that an average undergrad should already be responsible for around 90%+ of his/her education/learning process as he/she is no longer in high school where teachers, counselors, and parents are still keeping daily tabs and reminders to ensure the students are staying on top of their academics and ECs. </p>
<p>I’d see the purported “LAC constraint” more of an issue if we’re talking technical or natural sciences due to access to expensive cutting-edge laboratories. However, the negative impact of this issue varies by specific LAC* as my undergrad college has been known for its STEM departments…especially neuroscience, bio, and chem. </p>
<p>Several classmates who majored in those fields and math have gone on to do grad-level work at various topflight STEM PhD programs including Harvard and MIT. </p>
<ul>
<li>Just because a particular university has labeled a course as a “grad course” does not necessarily mean it is taught at a higher level than an equivalent undergrad course at a respectable LAC. From my own experience and those of various classmates at various elite unis…including some Ivies…the level is often no different and sometimes, even lower than what we experienced in our LAC’s intermediate-upper division courses. I heard this is even more true if we’re talking about lower-tiered universities or grad fields such as education.</li>
</ul>