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<p>@intparent Can you please provide the basis for this statement?</p>
<p>OP, the LAC/university topic has been debated ad-nauseum out here for years. I went to a prominent public university (U of MIch), and my kids both went to LACs (one a tier 2 LAC on the east coast, the other to an LAC/STEM college). Some differences:</p>
<p>LAC - smaller classes, closer relationships with professors, more classes taught by professors vs TAs or adjuncts, professors tend to be hired more for teaching skills than research skills (but they do research), research opportunities are all for undergrads with no competition from grad students.</p>
<p>Universities - intro classes tend to be very large for first couple of years but move down to smaller classes as you get further in your major, some universities have more research funding (but more students competing for research opportunities and grad students getting many of the better research opportunities), larger pool of people for social scene and in some cases more campus activities to choose from, can be less expensive but high quality if you are in-state for a top university like Michigan, Berkeley, UT-Austin, UNC, or UVA.</p>
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<p>You have no basis for your original statement other than something one alumni said. I do have a nephew who went to Williams. It is just another top tier liberal arts school. There is nothing magical about their alumni pool compared to Amherst, Wellesley, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Carleton, Pomona, etc. They don’t have better jobs from Williams or seek out students to offer them jobs or whatever you think they are doing to “guarantee” a job to Williams alums. It is a comforting thought to a student about to attend a school to think the alums will prove very helpful in the job search, but it is going to be 95% you and 5% college name and connections in the end.</p>
<p>OP, one thing to think about is that there are fewer internship opportunities sometimes during the school year. A lot of companies ramp up their internship programs for hiring in the summer (I have been on the receiving end of that request to see if we have work for interns for an upcoming summer), but since there are fewer interns available during the year, they also don’t hire as aggressively. Some companies have interns year around, of course. But I am not sure that is as big a bonus as you think it is.</p>
<p>I just think you are too focused on the idea of internships and work off campus when what you are paying for is the experience and learning you do on-campus. If you believe that your outside work experience trumps what is going on in the classroom (and I would not dispute that you will learn a ton and different stuff than you do in class), then apply to Northeastern and forget all the top tier schools. </p>
<p>@intparent I love both Dartmouth and Williams, and I really wish they could be combined. There are academic programs within each school that I hope to participate in. I am basically moving down a list of concerns for the LAC vs University topic to help me decide which one is best. </p>
<p>I don’t believe outside experience trumps the school experience, but it is definitely nice to have the opportunity there to do some work during the school year. While businesses may not actively seek out interns after Summer, I don’t think many would turn away an undergraduate seeking an internship. </p>
<p>I started this thread for the topic of internships and jobs. It certainly isn’t my primary concern, but while I’m here and you’re here, I am trying to get as much information as possible. </p>
<p>Remember that while you are interning off campus, you are not taking classes on campus. You may miss something you want to take that is only offered every other year or have to really plan carefully to stay on track for sequences in your major.</p>
<p>I think you have no idea how businesses recruit and hire interns. Saying “not many would turn away an undergraduate seeking an internship” is laughable. They don’t just magically create a position because they got your resume. They plan how many interns they want during a given period, recruit for those positions, and evaluate all the applications they receive.</p>
<p>Just as an aside, have you read the Washington Post article on Dartmouth that has been running for the past couple of days? Suggested reading…</p>
<p>@intparent Obviously, I don’t know anything about college-life and the job market. However, in the Hanover area near Dartmouth, wouldn’t there be quite a few undergraduates seeking internships due to their D-Plan? </p>
<p>I have read the articles. It is a social problem, but I don’t think it affects the Academics too much. If the problem grows in some way, I would change my mind. Plus, I have 2 years until I go to college, so hopefully it will die down enough by then. </p>
<p>Lol…this has been a problem for many years, very difficult to clean up. And if you don’t think the social life of a campus is intertwined with academics, you don’t have a very clear view of what college life is like. </p>
<p>I don’t think the D-Plan students are getting internships in Hanover. They are off campus during those terms, not working locally. </p>
<p>You need to be focusing your energies now on test scores, grades, and ECs so you have a range of colleges to choose from when the time comes. Get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and read about the whole college experience, not just this small slice (internships during the year). Plan some visits to safeties, matches, and reaches next year. Next year run the net price calculators on colleges you are interested in.</p>
<p>You seem to have focused in on this one area as super critical. IMHO, it isn’t anywhere near the most important factor in a college search. And you can’t “love” Williams and Dartmouth if you haven’t even visited them.</p>
<p>My son was in humanities, but he and his classmates had no problem finding internships during their school years and jobs and/or top graduate schools after graduation. They also received grants for summer travel that could be considered enriching experiences, for their resume or just for their own intellectual growth.</p>
<p>The Williams name and network was definitely a factor. the career counseling center and the various graduate school advisers are also quite strong. Would you find this level of engagement at any LAC? Maybe not. Would you find it any top rated academically rigorous LAC? Probably.</p>
<p>I don’t think that holding down a serious internship during the school year is all that common or feasible at Williams – the academic workload and extracurricular activities plus some sleep are enough to fill up 24 hours. You can network with alums, talk to visiting professors and lecturers, attend seminars, volunteer etc. but the advantage of being at an academically intensive college is to take advantage of what it offers. </p>
<p>Williams does have Winter Study which offers opportunities to study/work off campus for a month. Look at this course description <a href=“Williams College”>Williams College;
<p>If you’re drawn to Carleton, apply, visit, talk to them about where their students end up. Same for all of the colleges on your list. See for yourself how you like the environment when you’re on campus. There are some terrific LACs in the midwest – Carleton, Grinnell, Kenyon, Oberlin to name a few – but I would note, however, name recognition is somewhat regional. Not for graduate schools who know them well, but for your friends and neighbors (if that’s important to you). Actually the same is true for Williams and Amherst once you get out of the Northeast.</p>
<p>I think “make sure the college I go to is in a city” is misleading advice. Do you think that graduates of Dartmouth, Williams, Cornell, Middlebury etc. etc. never get jobs in New York or Boston? That’s ridiculous. Choose the environment that you like best and the college that fits you best. It might be a city, it might be a suburb, it might be a mountain village. Do well, build on your resume and you’ll end up healthy, wealthy and wise.</p>