<p>I've contacted a student at one of these colleges, and I am very afraid that if I choose to go to a LAC, it would be high school all over again - "cliques", people nice on a surface, etc</p>
<p>If that stuffs would happen, I think it can be in any private or public universities… not only LAC - -.</p>
<p>It’s true that LAC’s tend to be on the small side, but even those that are perhaps the size of high schools ought to offer you a significantly different experience. Students at selective LAC’s want to be there – sort of a contrast with the majority of the HS students who engage in the behavior you’re afraid of, you know? No school is going to offer the perfect experience, but I would think that the environments at LAC’s are as different as those across other universities, as jellyya suggests. Vassar, for example, will offer a very different atmosphere than Hamilton, just as Berkeley will be different from Vanderbilt. Don’t write off an entire classification of colleges based on a friend’s experience at one – there are so many different varieties! As a senior on the tail end of the application process, the one thing I regret is not applying to a few LAC’s! Good luck in your search :)</p>
<p>Why do you get that impression? Just the size?</p>
<p>I attended a LAC. There were 356 people in my high school class. I wanted to be friends with ~50. There were 351 people in my college class I wanted to be friends with 340. Of course it all depends on which college you attend. My LAC was amazing, nearly all were smart considerate, outgoing, well balanced and productive.</p>
<p>My experience at Rhodes was VERY different (better!) from my experience in high school. highopes hinted at what I think makes the difference: self-selection. As he said, everyone there <em>wants</em> to be there. You’ll choose a school based on what feels “right”, and other students who choose the same school will choose it largely for the same feel. You should find that you’re around a lot of people who you’ll fall in with.</p>