<p>What are important academic differences between LAC and University for a non-research/science major?</p>
<p>(Other than the obvious stronger emphasis on Liberal Arts at LACs.)</p>
<p>Generally research opportunities and class size. Another thing to consider is how many/what classes are available in your area of study.</p>
<p>Do you have a more specific question? There can be as much variability within LACs as there is between LACs and universities. For example, Columbia (a large research university) has a strong emphasis on a liberal arts education with their Core curriculum, as does Chicago. Babson, on the other hand, is focused specifically on business. Also, some elite small LACs may have better research opportunities than some smaller regional universities. So it just really depends on what you want and what kinds of schools you are comparing.</p>
<p>Yeah. At a place like Williams you’ll probably get some fantastic opportunities for research with professors because of how close you’re able to get to them with things like the tutorial system. </p>
<p>@juillet My ideal college would be the following:</p>
<p>A large university with small class sizes. Major: CS Minor: Economics (Ideally Finance). Rural area but near a large city. Plain Rural is fine.</p>
<p>I haven’t found one as I have described, so I’m looking at LACs. I’d prefer a larger undergraduate student body, but I absolutely need small class sizes. And yes @Guest15 Williams is at the top of my list. </p>
<p>I don’t need or want research opportunities, but I do want good internship/job opportunities if possible. My question was basically to help me decide between going for a LAC or just a University, since I can’t find one that sort of mixes the 2.</p>
<p>If anyone has heard of a college/university that sounds like what I described above, please comment.</p>
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<p>What do you mean by that? The sciences – and math – are part of the liberal arts.</p>
<p>I agree with juillet, it depends on the LAC. Some have stronger math/science programs than others. </p>
<p>In comparison to large universities, LACs offer smaller classes generally taught by a professor, more professor face-time, close faculty relationships which are important when it comes to recommendation writing. At an LAC the professors are there to teach, period.</p>
<p>Have you considered Brown? While it’s a reach school for pretty much anyone, it definitely has the feel of a ‘liberal arts college’ within a university. Oh, and its CS program is very strong, from what I understand. </p>
<p>@momrath I understand that, which is why I am now leaning towards LACs more than universities. However, I’ve been at small schools all my life, and I’d appreciate a larger student body. </p>
<p>@Guest15 I am actually considering Brown, even more so if it is true that they have a strong CS program. Thanks!</p>
<p>They do. If you look at the graduate school rankings, you’ll see that Brown is one of the top schools - that’s a pretty good gauge of faculty quality. Another place you might want to consider (which is again, very reachy) is Caltech, which is small and has a small student body, but has immense research opportunities. </p>
<p>@Guest15 First, let me thank you again for your responses.</p>
<p>I’m avoiding Caltech, because, like you said, it is an extreme reach, and I’m not insanely smart at computer science (My main goal is MBA later on, and CS is vital to today’s business world.). Also, it is something like 60% men, which freaks me out a little. </p>
<p>I’ve thought a lot about what type of school I want to go to, today, and I know it may change. What I really want is your average LAC with a strong graduate research program. I want to be able to access researchers as a source of information, while studying. I’m not the research type of person, so I don’t need to have research opportunities. In fact, I would prefer that there were few undergraduate research opportunities. </p>
<p>So my next question: does Brown have a strong graduate research program? And, if you think of any other schools that match my description, I’d love to hear it.</p>
<p>Look into Tufts, Brandeis, URochester (not LACs but small) or William and Mary, Geneseo (larger LACs)</p>
<p>“So my next question: does Brown have a strong graduate research program? And, if you think of any other schools that match my description, I’d love to hear it.” (I haven’t figured out how to quote on here yet).</p>
<p>Yeah, Brown has a very strong computer science research program. It’s ranked the 20th in the United States, which isn’t too shabby - especially considering most of the places ranked higher tend to be much larger universities. </p>
<p>MYOS1634 made some great suggestions. Another place for you to consider is Carnegie Mellon, which is a bit bigger but has nearly 70% of their classes with under 20 students, which means you’ll be getting lots of close interaction with professors. What you describe, “A Lac with a graduate research program” is nearly impossible to find - most liberal arts colleges are defined by the fact that they have few, if any, graduate programs.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Thank you! I have looked at U of Rochester, and it’s probably going to be one of the colleges I apply to. I’ll look into the others.</p>
<p>@Guest15 Yes, I just did some research, too. I love Brown’s A.B CS-Economics concentration. </p>
<p>I have looked at CMU, and I’ll definitely apply there. It has a great ranking in both Economics and CS, which is what I am looking for, academically. Now that I know it has small classes with a bigger population, I love it even more. (I do actually like bigger populations, by the way, but I want smaller classroom sizes.) </p>
<p>Sorry about my quick and misinforming description. CMU would probably be a great example of what I actually wanted. By “your average LAC,” I meant a school with small class sizes and a great liberal arts curriculum. So, a university, like CMU, definitely works if it has small class sizes. </p>
<p>Why don’t you look at a degree in information systems within a business school at a university? If you aren’t great at math and science, going down the rabbit hole of detail in a CS major just so you can have good knowledge of computer systems later when managing a business seems like overkill to me (and I work in IT, and have an MBA).</p>
<p>@intparent I’m more than fine with math and science. I just haven’t studied CS yet, although I plan to next year. I guess, I don’t think I’m fit for Caltech because I didn’t start programming when I was 5 or something. I’m definitely interested in CS, but not enough to code all day. </p>
<p>Anyway, I won’t be able to go straight to management, and CS is interesting enough for me to use it as a skill. I assure you both my math and my science skills (or more important my logical processing of thought) is good enough for me to pursue CS.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Information Systems seems more useful and interesting. Is it at most universities? I don’t seem to have noticed it before.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon’s computer science program is as hard to get into as Caltech. I would suggest you apply to the business school (also highly rated) and minor in computer science if you are interested in CMU.</p>
<p>@Picapole Sorry I’m not clear about the admission process. Must we indicate which program we would like to go to when we apply, or can we do that afterwards?</p>
<p>Information Systems is typically a major (concentrations at some schools) offered within a business school at a university. Different colleges call it different things, and they change the titles from time to time! But at Ross (U of Michigan), it would be part of the Technology & Operations concentration for a BBA student. Wharton (at Penn) has a couple of related concentrations – Operations & Systems Management has separate tracks for information systems management, data analytics, or decision processes. And Wharton also has a secondary concentration in Managing Electronic Commerce. At Carroll (Boston College), the concentration is called Information Systems.</p>
<p>So I understand why it doesn’t jump out at you as a major. One thing you can do is major in information system and add a few CS classes as electives. This combo might allow you to skip the MBA option (with the added expense and opportunity cost of two years out of the job market), too. Just something to think about.</p>
<p>@intparent Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It certainly sounds very interesting, and if I do get into one of those extremely selective schools, I will definitely consider it. I will probably do a little more research on the major itself before I dedicate any time to looking for other colleges that offer this. </p>
<p>Quick question though (Specific to UPenn, if you know about this): Will the Information Systems track at Wharton teach me to program beyond AP CS level? And, will there be enough elective spots for me to take Finance courses and (if no to the first question) CS courses?</p>
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<p>In general, such stats are unreliable in determining the class sizes of courses that you may be interested in. You need to look at the actual on-line class schedules to find out the class sizes. Note that economics is a generally popular major, and computer science has experienced a surge of popularity everywhere in recent years, so class sizes in those subjects tend to be on the large side for any given school.</p>
<p>CMU’s class schedule is here:
<a href=“https://enr-apps.as.cmu.edu/open/SOC/SOCServlet/search”>https://enr-apps.as.cmu.edu/open/SOC/SOCServlet/search</a>
Although capacity and enrollment are not listed, you can make a pretty good guess by the number of discussion or recitation sections for courses that have them (these are usually 20 to 30 students, but it depends on school and department policy). For example, the introductory-level course 15122 has two lectures, one with eight and one with six discussions. 15451, a common advanced course for computer science majors, has a lecture with eight discussions (however, many of the advanced courses have no discussions, so you cannot really tell). Economics appears to be smaller than computer science at CMU, as the intermediate economics courses 73230 and 73240 each have two lectures, with two discussions for each lecture.</p>