<p>So I just checked out various schools' programs/majors at College Navigator. I have never before been to that site (forgive me, for I am a newbie).</p>
<p>Am I understanding correctly that only one or two people may graduate with a degree in a certain major? Why would anyone want to go a school with such a small number of students (and likely, teachers and course offerings, too)? My son wants a small LAC, but geez, will he only know a few kids in his major? I was surprised at the larger schools that also have only a few students graduate with a certain degree.</p>
<p>Some fields of study don’t have a lot of students in that major. Period. Think of Math or Physics at many liberal arts colleges or Ancient Greek at just about any institution. This is nothing to worry about. People in those departments are used to not having many majors, and the students get to work very closely with their professors.</p>
<p>When you are the only Ancient Greek major, chances are that you will have your general Classical Studies coursework with the three or four Latin majors and a handful of majors from the History, Art, and Political Science departments. There also could be a few random Math or Physics or Dance or You-Name-It majors in the classes as well because they are interested in the subject, are pursuing a romantic entanglement with someone who is interested in the subject, are fulfilling a distribution requirement, or just plain couldn’t find anything else that fit their schedule.</p>
<p>None of my friends from my recognizable-on-CC-selective-LAC were in my department. They were in my dorm. None of my friends from my recognizable-on-CC-selective-U graduate school program were in my department. Heck, I’m not even in touch with the people who were in my lab group! All of my friends there were either from the graduate residence hall where I lived, or were friends of those friends.</p>
<p>If your son is reasonably sociable, he will be just fine.</p>
<p>All LACs will have a relatively low number of teachers in any field, and especially in fields that don’t attract a lot of majors. That’s just part of the deal. I am familiar with one such department at a very prestigious LAC. The major isn’t all that unpopular – 4-5 students/year have it. Arguably – maybe unarguably – this college has the best department in this field of any LAC in the country. The department consists of 3-1/2 permanent faculty, one regular adjunct who teaches a single course, and a slot for a visitor one semester every other year. All of them know all of their major students really, really well (and vice versa) – it’s all very personal and chummy.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t presume that having only one or two majors means that there are inadequate faculty resources or course offerings at an institution, but I wouldn’t presume that wasn’t the case, either. I would check. I would also look carefully at the catalog, because many LACs list courses that are rarely, if ever, actually offered.</p>
<p>I would also wonder whether a department with only one or two majors was a department with something amiss that caused students interested in the subject to give it a pass. That is sometimes the case, too.</p>