<p>Hey! I've found a great college near me that offers a great liberal arts program, packed with study abroad, research, and internship opportunities...plus they send so many to the peace corps which is something I'd LOVE to do before enrolling in grad school. </p>
<p>I just feel like I'd learn so much at this school, and find out who I really am, even though it's not a huge state school (which is my other option). </p>
<p>My parents are worried I won't get a job though because of the "liberal arts" education - they think my education won't be focused so I'd be at a disadvantage. </p>
<p>How true is this? It worries me :(</p>
<p>Thanks in advance! Sorry my questions are sort of dumb, it's really confusing being a first-gen US college student :)</p>
<p>Why don’t you contact the career center at this liberal arts school and see if they can provide you with information on what happens to its graduates–what kinds of jobs its graduates get etc.</p>
<ol>
<li> The MBA was created for liberal arts graduates. Fact.</li>
<li> Liberal arts graduates get good jobs and become great business people. Fact.</li>
<li> Liberal arts graduates go onto law school and medical school. Fact.</li>
<li> Liberal arts graduates understand and embrace critical reasoning. A valuable skill in business.</li>
<li> You can minor in business if you want. Fact.</li>
<li> A business degree is no guarantee of success either. Fact.<br></li>
<li> You have one chance in life, in undergraduate school, to pick what you want to do and explore different ideas, with impunity…and hopefully discove a lot about the world and YOURSELF. Fact.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>My parents are paying for most of it. They see it as their responsibility to help me pay though. </p>
<p>It is pricey but they offer great scholarships.
I expect for my stats, I’ll get a pretty nice offer for financial assistance. We’ll have to see. </p>
<p>But for now I just want to know how a liberal arts education is viewed in the workplace, and in the eyes of an employer. </p>
<p>Many adults have a perception that a liberal arts college can only give you a degree in liberal arts. There are majors, just like any university or college. Liberal Arts usually means that you have to study a core of classes, which now a lot of universities and colleges are also doing. I would think you could show them the success after graduation and that could help too</p>
<p>See stuff like this is what scares me off. </p>
<p>I know I’ll learn more from liberal arts colleges, and get the personal attention I need. But it’s unfortunate some employers (apparently) can’t see that. </p>
<p>When it all boils down, I know it sounds sad, but if I don’t get any money out of what I’m doing then…what’s the use? Even if it’s something I love…</p>
<p>Although, like fourkidsmom mentioned, I do plan on majoring in something, not just liberal arts.</p>
<p>Small LACs, like medium and large universities, come in a variety of flavors. Some are prestigious, some are not. You just can’t generalize based on size.</p>
<p>If you compare ranking to ranking, e.g., the top 10 small liberal arts colleges to the top 10 universities, you will find that job and graduate school placement is equivalent.</p>
<p>My son graduated from a small LAC and found an excellent job before graduation through his college’s career placement service. He also held a well paid high profile internship while an undergradutate. Three years after graduation, he and two of his best friends are enrolled in highly selective graduate programs. The third is in the Peace Corps.</p>
<p>“Liberal arts” is a misleading and fairly meaningless label. All universities offer the liberal arts which comprise humanities, social studies AND sciences. Even if you go to Big State U, you may well end up studying the liberal arts.</p>
<p>Small liberal arts colleges are so named because they generally don’t offer graduate programs or professional programs. There are exceptions, however. The quality of education is excellent but the name recognition may be low. I accept this may be an issue in job recruiting, but on the balance many LACs offer superb career placement services. Also your professors know who you are and write personal recommendations.</p>
<p>There’s no question but that it’s rough out there in the job market. Hopefully things will have loosened up by the time your graduate. My opinion is that you should choose the college that best fits YOU academically and socially. You’ll do best where you’re happiest and the rest will fall into place.</p>
<p>If your parents graduated from a university in another country, they may well never quite “get it” about a liberal arts college. To help them get a handle on higher education in the US, have them read through the information at [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov/]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov/)</p>
<p>The best benefit of a liberal arts education can be summed up by my daughter’s calculus teacher. He said, a liberal arts education gives you the tools to confront the unknown and know what to do. Getting an education just to get a job is fine as far as it goes, but a liberal arts education gives you the ability to think, analyze and reason. And those skills make you infinitely more employable in the long run.</p>
<p>In general, I would focus more on who you want to be – we are the personae we create.</p>
<p>Generally, data are less deniable than their subjective counterparts. I would talk to the career services at the LAC (as suggested), and get a sense of job placement, including specific numbers/percentages. Then, your parents’ fears will either be validated or revealed as vacuous.</p>