Thanks for posting! Have forwarded to S1, class of '07. He will not be passing it on to his new wife, H class of '08. She’s a non-believer, LOL!
Fun article, thanks. Having both a Swattie and a Harvard student home for the summer, this article is quite personal at our house. Fortunately, both students have been able to get to know some terrific professors. It certainly is a different experience at the schools… not better or worse, just different according to this (I will not have a favorite college) mom :">
Yeah I’m like you; had one just graduate from Yale, one a rising sophomore at Swat. I’m a Swat alum, my husband is a P’ton alum. So we cover all the bases. I do think that the LACs offer a lot of intangibles that are widely overlooked by those impressed by the “name” schools.
Agreed @donnaleighg, the intangibles at LACs are often overlooked. My Swattie chose Swarthmore over Harvard and a lot of folks couldn’t understand how you could pass up Harvard and the Harvard name. The experience at Swarthmore has encouraged him to grow holistically and the relationships with faculty are simply amazing. The Swarthmore professors care so deeply about their students and teaching. My Harvard student has done a good job seeking out small classes and excellent professors but I think the student has to navigate more intentionally there.
I tried reading the article but could not get past the paragraph containing the sentence, “Yes, you heard correctly—some courses at one of the world’s most prestigious courses (sic) are taught by fellow undergrads.” The sentence is misleading. Some select undergraduates lead discussion sections or grade assignments, but they are not the instructors of record. It is standard procedure at research universities for graduate students and some undergraduates to lead discussion sections. (It is more common for undergraduates to lead discussion sections for technical subjects such as computer science and math.) It is good experience for the teaching assistants, and it provides the students in the course with an alternative perspective. Having said all this, I agree that the LAC route is better for some students. Like other posters, we have one Ivy grad and one LAC student, and each is happy with the choice she made.
That article is hard to get through. Their comment on Rutherford B. Hayes, whose undergraduate alma mater is Kenyon, also makes little sense.
Regarding a LAC vs. Harvard decision by a modern public figure, this is what then candidate, now Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker said when asked to take the Proust Questionnaire by the Boston Globe:
Q: What is your greatest regret?
A: Not going to Hamilton College. I never really felt comfortable at Harvard.