<p>Regarding research opportunities, you shouldn’t get the wrong idea: for a motivated student the U may have somewhat more research opportunities overall and better-known scholars in their fields than an LAC, but those programs will more directly involve the faculty themselves and graduate students than undergrads. Professors at the best LACs may conduct smaller-scale research with smaller budgets but again, these projects will be more accessible to undergrad participation and may be designed specifically with undergrad participation in mind. So there are gives and takes, you will need to explore these things at the particular schools your are interested in. Also, you raise a very good point about Poly Sci vs. IR, for example: many LACs not only offer fewer majors thatn a U but also less course selection/specialization within a given major. But again, I don’t think you would find the better LACs lacking too much in this regard. I would say that Us and LACs would tend to have equally good study abroad programs, it will again depend on the specific school not the type of school.</p>
<p>Hoping- If you are interested in IR you may also want to look at Macalester, Carleton, and U of Chicago as alternatives to Williams,</p>
<p>Alright, thanks so much! I really appreciate this! I really like U of Chicago’s rep for creative essay questions. That really appeals to my type of personality. This might be a stupid question, but would that be a good indicator of my fit, or the type of students that attend the school? All those schools have sent me info, so I’ll definitely read over them, since I have a tendency to disregard college mail :P. </p>
<p>Also, random question: Do colleges screen who they send mail to? Cuz I’ve gotten mail from all the top U’s and LAC’s, this might be reading to much into it, but does that mean anything?</p>
<p>It means you scored above their cut-off line in some category, like PSAT. It doesn’t mean much at this point.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks for the link :)</p>