<p>Hello everyone
I've been looking at colleges, big and small, and am trying to find the most personal and tight knit LACs. Ranking doesn't particularly interest me because it doesn't always entail closeness and quality. But if it isn't terribly ranked that would be a plus. Somewhere with engaging, interactive, intelligent professors and a welcoming community.
All of your help is greatly appreciated :)</p>
<p>You didn’t express a preference about region, but if you can see yourself in the Pacific Northwest take a look at Whitman College, it’s known for its tight knit community and strong academics. </p>
<p>@bopambo that’s one of my problems when I look at schools, I don’t have a preference about region. I’ve lived in places with hot summers and cold winters, in humid places, in “perfect weather” places, I’ve visited cold places and don’t mind. I’m pretty okay with everything. I don’t particularly want to go to a college in Texas or in California because I’ve spent a good chunk of time in those two states. Otherwise I like most of the states. </p>
<p>Bennington College? Haverford College also comes to mind. </p>
<p>Most highly residential LACs with good retention and graduation rates have an outstanding sense of community. I’m hard pressed to think of one which doesn’t. Perhaps schools with overwhelming traditional Greek life or those in extremely urban environs without a campus (just hazarding a guess. I honestly don’t know)?</p>
<p>I agree with whenhen. You’re going to have a list a mile long. Tight knit supportive communities and small classes with nurturing professors who are there to teach undergraduates are what small LACs are all about. </p>
<p>Within that context, however, you’ll find a wide range of personalities from sporty to political to artsy to Greek to crunchy. These are stereotypes, of course, but they are reflective of the prevailing culture. The cultural ambiance is difference from diversity. Many small LACs achieve a reasonable level of diversity – racial, ethnic, economic, geographic, political etc – but are still culturally cohesive.</p>
<p>@momrath crunchy? I’m not quite sure what that means…</p>
<p><a href=“Urban Dictionary: crunchy”>Urban Dictionary: crunchy;
<p>Look into Mount Holyoke College. We just returned from the Accepted Student weekend and all the attendees were talking about how fabulous the sense of community is there. Really remarkable. It’s a very academically challenging environment but not in a stressy, tense way: the students are only competitive with themselves in that they work really hard and push themselves, but are super supportive of one another. Very friendly, lots of really community-oriented traditions like “gracious dinners” and “milk & cookies” every school night (study break/socializing). I met about 25 professors who were all really warm, passionate about the community as well as their subjects and clearly VERY accessible. Classes are small with LOTS of interaction. It feels VERY welcoming and also the students seem really passionate and engaged. It’s one of the original Seven Sisters schools and has a terrific reputation, and is part of the 5-college consortium in the Amherst MA area, so you can take classes at Amherst College, Smith, Hampshire, and UMass Amherst.</p>
<p>momrath is right, LACs by virtue of their smallness tend to be tightly knit communities, but can vary quite a bit in their prevailing cultures. Some LACs are quite competitive environments, others are challenging but collaborative. If you haven’t already, I suggest you invest in a Fiske College Guide, it will give you a brief overview of the academics, social scene and location of all the schools you might be interested in, it’s a great place to start.</p>
<p>Check the “Colleges That Change Lives” website: they’re an excellent place to start. They have colleges all over the country, ranging from highly selective schools like Reed to open-admissions colleges like Evergreen State. There are conservative colleges like Hillsdale, and ultra-liberal colleges like Hampshire. You haven’t mentioned your academic qualifications, or whether you think you’d like an urban, suburban, or rural college. You also didn’t mention financial need, but the “CTCL” include some very affordable options, and some schools with generous merit aid. If you are interested in urban colleges, you might like either Eugene Lang/New School or Fordham-Lincoln Center in NYC. </p>
<p>woogzmama has a good suggestion. Whitman is right up there with Reed as far as selectivity, and is part of the “Colleges That Change Lives” website. The colleges profiled on the website are all the ones that author Loren Pope wrote about in his book by the same name. Pope was originally the education editor for the New York Times who became deeply immersed in educating people about the life changing experiences students have at schools that aren’t household names. In fact, he makes very persuasive arguments for choosing a school based on a “good fit” instead of hunting for prestige. He also wrote a great book called, “Looking Beyond the Ivy League; Finding the College That’s Right For You”, it’s very interesting. </p>
<p>Take a close look at women’s colleges with the academic program you’d be interested in. Make that a baseline list. Just one way to approach it. </p>