<p>The family-like atmosphere and pure intellectual pursuit are all appealing but on the 'practical' side, the employment opportunities after college seem very limited. </p>
<p>Why might one decide to go to a liberal arts college? (I don't mean to be disrespectful in any way) Perhaps I'm narrow minded in equating college education to well-paid jobs.</p>
<p>I think that their are different schools for different people, no matter which type you choose there will be those who love and hate each type of school. Choose the school that you fit into not the school that has the highest starting salary.</p>
<p>JMO</p>
<p>employment opportunities are the same as in universities. i would say the biggest difference is between urban (where you can have internships during school) and rural (where you cant) schools, not lacs and universities.
a lac might give you more personal attention and help you forge closer relationships. you will have a greater ability to stand out there and feel a part of the community. all of these things will help your self-esteem, charisma, and sense of identity, making you a stronger candidate for any jobs you hope to pursue afterward.
bigger schools might have bigger alumni networks for job contacts, but they usually seem to be more dedicated at smaller lacs (this is obviously not the case for every school, though).</p>
<p>tlqkf, wherever did you get the idea that for LAC graduates "the employment opportunities after college seem very limited"? </p>
<p>The top LACs just like the top universities have excellent career placement services and alumni/ae networks in a wide range of fields. </p>
<p>Another advantage is that at an LAC you're likely to know your professors personally and they are accessible and willing to write letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>Chose the type of college that suits you in environment and learning style. If you are happy you will do well. If you do well in college most likely you will be healthy, wealthy and wise in your career.</p>
<p>Pros of LACs:
1) Resources purely devoted to undergraduates.
2) Intimate social atmosphere
3) Close interaction with faculty at the introductory level</p>
<p>Cons of LACs:
1) Limited course offerings
2) Claustrophobic social environment</p>
<p>I am with momrath--many top LACs have very good alumni-networking and internship opportunities. Disadvantage could be a very small department --only one or two profs in your major-- some LACs have affiliations and exchange opportunities at nearby universities that help to counteract this.</p>
<p>IMO, if your goal is to get a job immediately after undergrad, from this one perspective universities might well be better overall than liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>But don't take my word for it, or various unsupported opinions. Look for yourself. Someplace on the internet there are stats on the number of recruiters coming to each college's placement office. I looked at these numbers during my daughter's search. I suspect you'll find, as I did, that some very well-known LACs, in relatively isolated locations as is often the case, get only a handful of recruiters coming to their campus.</p>
<p>That doesn't mean these people can't get jobs, it just means it is more work for them than for others who have adequate numbers of potential employers coming to maybe hire them.</p>
<p>My own "common sense" tells me there are other obstacles to employment. Fewer people have heard of your school. Smaller alumni network.</p>
<p>There are other stats avaialble also; # employed after xxx months.</p>
<p>My d is at an LAC anyway, so for her this was hardly the sole consideration. She fully expects to go to grad school afterwards. But people have different priorities.</p>
<p>Also some LACs do have an adequate recruiting situation. And some are even very strong. You just have to look, individually.</p>
<p>"Perhaps I'm narrow minded in equating college education to well-paid jobs."</p>
<p>Well I think so. Others don't.</p>
<p>In the end, I believe what you are is correlated most closely to YOU. Who you are. What you can do for someone. What you can do for yourself. What are your capabilites, personally and professionally? Forget where you went to school, what can YOU do?</p>
<p>So I believe one might best think more broadly, beyond a first job. Where are you most likely to thrive? Develop your skills, abilities interests? Make yourself a more interesting and valuable person? Enhance the quality of your life and life experiences, for the benefit of the rest of your life? Both in the workplace, and, importantly, out of the workplace?</p>
<p>
[quote]
The family-like atmosphere and pure intellectual pursuit are all appealing but on the 'practical' side, the employment opportunities after college seem very limited.
[/quote]
Liberal arts colleges typically do not offer education in "vocational" fields like business or engineering. So yes, an undergraduate degree from a liberal arts college is less "practical", in terms of employment opportunities after graduation. The same may be true, of course, for liberal arts degrees from large universities. </p>
<p>On the other hand, many people do not plan to look for work with their undergraduate degree. For such people, the bachelor's degree is just the beginning -- they expect to go to graduate school or professional school for further specialized training before entering the workforce. And in this case, the LAC degree holds a significant "practical" advantage. </p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal recently surveyed top business, medical, and law schools, to determine which undergraduate programs were most successful at "feeding" their graduates into top professional schools. Their conclusion:
[QUOTE]
Beyond the top Ivies, things tilt quickly in favor of small schools, like Williams at No. 5 in our survey, Amherst at No. 9 and Swarthmore at 10. Indeed, of our top 20 colleges, seven have a senior class smaller than 600 -- and only one graduates more than 2,000 students a year. Grad schools told us these small liberal-arts colleges tend to do a better job of advising their students, in areas like picking courses that look good on an application. And when students work directly with professors in small classes, they tend to get better recommendation letters.
[/QUOTE]
Small LACs like Macalester, Claremont McKenna, and Bates may not be household names, but the WSJ found that they place a higher percentage of their graduating class in top professional schools than UC Berkeley does. <a href="http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/college/feederschools.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/college/feederschools.htm</a></p>
<p>The survey has many issues talked about throughout this website (such as only using a few specific schools), but it's clear that many LACs have a higher percentage of students going to professional or graduate schools after graduation than large universities.</p>
<p>DRab, the rate at which the students at a university go to graduate schools is not an indication of the quality of that university...but rather, a reflection of the type of student that university attracts.</p>
<p>That's true.</p>