Hi everyone.
I was wondering, for economics major students, how to compare large research universities with smaller liberal arts colleges.
I got offer both from Ohio state university and University of washington, and liberals arts colleges that ranking top 40s on US news.
I understand that with fewer population and lower student-teacher ratio, liberal arts college can give students more attention. Meanwhile, those large universities means more oppotunities and wider course range and various students organizations.
I hope you can give me some advice on how to compare them.
More so than with considering general college rankings, you may benefit from seeing where your choices fall in these analyses, which rank schools based on faculty scholarship in economics:
You were specific about the research universities but vague about the LACâs. Why? It will depend on the specific schools. I have had two kids got to LACâs so far (and I went to a research university), both in the top 1-15 (depending on the year or the ranking), and even between the two of them the level of resources varied substantially based on their endowment size. Both definitely had close interaction and involvement with faculty and research opportunities as undergrads. But one of them virtually guaranteed every interested student paid research opportunities, handed to them on a silver platter (the professors literally went to my student who didnât have to apply or even inquire). I had a great experience at a large university so itâs hard to regret my decisions, but the amount of resources per student is definitely way, way higher for my kids at LACâs.
In some ways - you are talking about 50K students with huge sports, greek life and social life vs. a school thatâs probably 2K or less. A school in society (Ohio State) whereas many LACs arenât.
I think when you step foot on both campuses, youâll immediately know.
Our first visit was Dennison and my daughter hated it. On the same trip she was at Ohio State and it was just too big.
She visited a few mid sized and they ended up being right.
My son goes to Alabama and has told me - if you want to get paid research, you just ask. They have far more need than students applying. His GF makes $10 an hour doing something with engineering research.
Iâm sure you can find opportunities at LACs too.
Typically, itâs the student and not the school that will impact the quality of the student experience (in my opinion).
Fit of the school is likely the biggest factorâeither you like small liberal arts school setting or you like the big university settings. After that, the next question is what is the goal of the undergrad econ training. Get a job at graduation? Training for graduate training in economics? Doing something else?
Depending on the goals, that may affect college choice. Ultimately, an undergraduate degree will be mostly about what you put into rather than where you go since the training will be fairly similar across the schools. However, if the goal is later graduate training in economics, then more math work will be needed. If job placement at graduation is the key goal, many of the econ programs will have placement data on the destination firms of graduate and may also have info on graduate school placement which can be helpful.
For the actual academics, an economics major program typically has these requirements:
Introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics (may be 1 or 2 courses).
Intermediate microeconomics.
Intermediate macroeconomics.
Econometrics.
Math and statistics prerequisites for the intermediate economics courses.
Elective upper level economics courses.
Where they differ:
Math intensity. You can check math prerequisites for the intermediate economics and econometrics courses (some departments offer options of different math intensities):
Low math: calculus not required.
Moderate math: single variable calculus required.
High math: multivariable calculus and/or linear algebra required.
What elective upper level economics courses are offered. You might find courses like:
Business or managerial economics.
Financial economics.
Behavioral economics.
Environmental economics.
Labor economics.
Economic history.
Mathematical economics.
etc.
If you are interested in going on to PhD study in economics, more math is better, and the expectation is to take additional upper level math and statistics courses like real analysis and probability theory.
Thank you so much! I have heard that LACs have more resources. I was wondering where I could find that information about the research opportunities? I attended a few sessions, but it seemed hard to compare. Sewanee has the âSewanee pledgeâ that guarantees one summer research and one study way opportunity for every student. On the other hand, Furman has the âFurman Advantageâ that encourages students to do research and study aboard.
Thanks for the advice. Sadly, I am an international student which means I couldnât visit the colleges because of the COVID. I get to know those colleges through YouVisit and virtual sessions. It feels different than in-person
Thanks a lot for your advice! I havenât made up my mind about which way to go. Seems like a Masterâs degree is attractive, however, I am not sure if I would like to stay in school for such long. Guess I have to decide soon since May 1 is coming.
Thank you for the information! I was wondering if a research university has more courses on Math intensity and electives? Seems like the course lists of LACs are short. But I didnât pay much attention to the course life of big research universities.
This is not always the case, by any means. At LACs, which tend to have strong alumni networks, it can be very easy to get internships, research positions, and jobs. As an example, my own kid (attended an LAC) secured her current job when an alumnus contacted the department of her major.
Because you will get to know professors right away, you can secure good letters of recommendation at an earlier stage of your college career. Letters of rec can be extremely important. Professors often hear about research positions, and in fact, often do their own summer research, for which they recruit students at the college.
At bigger universities, you might be competing against a lot of upperclassmen for such positions. It is harder to get to know professors. Your classes might be very big and you might have little classroom interaction with other students and professors.
Now of course, universities can offer all the same opportunities, but itâs a mistake to think that itâs a big challenge to do these things at smaller schools. My kid did research while in college as did many of her friends. The career center at her college was very helpful and she landed a different job directly through them.
It would be helpful to know which colleges you are trying to choose between. Just as all universities arenât interchangeable, neither are LACs.
Edit: LACs might offer classes in alternate semesters or years. So the course catalog of an LAC might not reflect all the classes available in an academic year.
IMO nobody can or should tell you which type of school would be better for you. Big research universities and LACs both offer great opportunities. You really need to decide which environment youâd prefer for the next four years.
FWIW my D, who thrives in smaller close-knit communities, attended a LAC and absolutely loved it â she did research with professors, made great friends, had close relationships with some professors, was involved in ECs etc. On the other hand my S visited one LAC and found the size to be stifling â he had an equally wonderful experience at a larger university.
Thatâs so helpful! Thank you so much for your detailed replying
I am choosing between Furman University and Sewanee: the university of the south, and UW & OSU. It seems like both LAC has a lot of opportunities like Sewanee Pledge, and Furman Advantage. They promise students opportunities.
I also got into the Humanity Scholar program at OSU. I am not sure what the scholar program is. Seems like members would hold events and activities regularly.
Thanks a lot for your helping . I think I would love the environment where students can discuss and interact(?), I am also good at big lectures I think(Where I think the study pace is faster). Itâs hard to choose. I also wanna make a lot of friends and participate activities, will big research university has a more wonderful campus life? I was wondering what is ECs?
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I have heard that LACs have more resources. I was wondering where I could find that information about the research opportunities? I attended a few sessions, but it seemed hard to compare. Sewanee has the âSewanee pledgeâ that guarantees one summer research and one study way opportunity for every student. On the other hand, Furman has the âFurman Advantageâ that encourages students to do research and study aboard. 
I also wanna make a lot of friends and participate activities, will big research university has a more wonderful campus life? I was wondering what is ECs?