<p>I'm a junior exploring my college options. I've researched a few top liberal arts colleges, and I've noticed a common trait. Liberal arts colleges seem to lack strong engineering/science programs compared to universities.</p>
<p>I'm currently undecided on my major. I want to take a few creative writing/english classes, and probably major in engineering or science. Should I avoid liberal arts colleges? Or is this a bad generalization?</p>
<p>Liberal arts colleges are focused on “liberal arts” by their very definition. Otherwise they would be some OTHER type of colleges. So, no, not a bad generalization…</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is the only LAC I know of that can compete with universities in the maths and sciences</p>
<p>I disagree. While most LACs don’t offer engineering (Swarthmore is an exception among the top LACs), many have very strong science programs with many opportunities to work closely with faculty on research projects, small classes even in the intro levels, and they produce a high percentage of future PhD students in the sciences. S is at Grinnell, where the facilities are state-of-the-art, no science class is larger than 30 students, and he routinely drops in to chat with his profs. Granted not all LACs are strong in all sciences-you will have to do some research to figure out which schools are strongest in which areas, but the same is true of many larger schools.</p>
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The sciences are part of the liberal arts. Engineering, however, is not.</p>
<p>There are LACs that offer engineering. Not many, but some. Some of the more notable:
[ul][<em>]Bucknell
[</em>]Harvey Mudd
[<em>]Lafayette
[</em>]Smith
[<em>]Swarthmore
[</em>]Union[/ul]
If one expands the search to include small universities, one could add Trinity (TX), Rice, Case Western, Dartmouth, Rochester, and many others.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I agree with M’s Mom and strongly disagree that the sciences are weaker at all LACs. Less specialized, perhaps, but not weaker.</p>
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<p>True, but the “liberal arts” include science and math by their very definition. Liberal arts are not the same thing as the arts. Some can LACs can provide an excellent undergrad science education. Engineering is another matter. With a handful of exceptions, LACs do not normally offer engineering.</p>