<p>I keep hearing people in their 40s and 50s who tell me LACs are bull **** and that I'm wasting my money by going to one. They claim that the only thing the graduates know how to do is recite "Do you want fries with that?"
So what exactly is a Liberal Arts College? How are LACs different from National Universities? And is it true that you can't get a decent job if you graduate from one?</p>
<p>Not true at all. My employer (Starbucks) heavily recruits at Williams for its summer barista program.</p>
<p>^hahahahahahaha</p>
<p>LOL cherokeejew.</p>
<p>To the original poster, to clarify, you know some people in their 40s and 50s who think that going to an LAC is a waste of money and they are of the opinion that all people who get these degrees work in fast food restaurants for the rest of their lives. Despite the evidence to the contrary being all of the people who got their degrees from LACs and have gone on to careers outside the fast food industry you still are so worried that you needed to post this thread.</p>
<p>One thing they try to teach at an LAC is to think for yourself. Is that something you are interested in learning how to do? Because it clearly isn’t something you are able to do presently.</p>
<p>All seriousness aside, LACs tend to not have, e.g., business, computer science or engineering programs; they tend to be more grad-school prep colleges, and they do that very well. So it depends somewhat on your goal; if it’s a well-paying job with a bachelor’s degree, then an LAC may not be the best place. But if you like academia or scientific research, and LAC may be your best bet.</p>
<p>@ vossron</p>
<p>I don’t plan on stopping after getting a bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>A liberal arts college is ONLY a college that focuses its undergraduate studies on a liberal arts curriculum. The term LAC is generally used in contrast to large state universities which often include a more technical, vocational, or pre-professional undergrad program selection. People who say that attending a LAC means that you can’t get a job anywhere are delusional. Harvey Mudd, for example, is a top LAC that is widely regarded for its engineering program. </p>
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<p>:D!!!</p>
<p>Also, I think many who tend to put down LACs tend to ignore that research universities also offer the equivalent of a college in liberal arts. That’s were most of the humanities/social sciences are housed. If you were to major in English at UCLA, vs say Pomona college, you will still be in the same position of not having any “technical” skills to fall back on, at either school(unless you take classes outside your department or school).
In addition, majors like Econ, or anything pre-professional-like, at top LACs, you are not at a disadvantage. If you were to look up where CMC students place upon graduation or after graduation, you will note that they do fairly well.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve had relatives in their 40s and 50s condescend to me too. Old Asians who had studied nothing but science and math, won Intel competitions, went to college to study nothing but engineering and the hard sciences. Miserable wrecks now.</p>
<p>LACs lack trade schools for engineering, business, nursing, and all that jazz.
Spending your undergraduate years gunning toward one goal and learning nothing else is exceedingly practical, but simply “inhuman.”</p>
<p>^I agree, but of course, I’m a nerd who may very well end up asking people if they want fries (or whipped cream) with that right out of college. Pre-professionalism is for squares.</p>