<p>I finally understand what an LAC or at least I think I do. It's basically a undergraduate division of an big universities. It has no graduate schools. Since it has no grad schools, more attention is given to the students. If it has all these advantages, then why don't more people apply to LACs? What are the disadvantages?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>A lot of times it costs more.</p>
<p>Also, not everyone wants to go to a smaller school. I myself prefer a very large, well-known school with a good athletic program and a politically moderate student body...ie most state schools.</p>
<p>a) The LACs are not as well known. Most students don't dig that deep in researching colleges.</p>
<p>b) There are certain types of kids that would be better served academically at a larger university. For example, if you want to major in a very specific field (Muslim studies or Eastern European History), there might not be enough course offerings at a small school. Also, there are students who are so advanced in an area that they will run out of college level courses and will need access to grad. level courses. These situations are the exception rather than the rule, but they do occur. In fact, one of the Swarthmore professors gave a talk during the pre-frosh weekend telling the accepted students which of them would be better off going to a different type of school.</p>
<p>c) Some kids just plain prefer the breadth of social options in a larger environment. There is no question that a large university town with 40,000 students has an "energy" level that is higher than a small college. Just like a big city is more "happening" than a small town. Conversely, no large university can match the kind of close-knit community at an LAC. There are pluses and minus to both.</p>
<p>some large universities have more resources than lacs. and everyones different, so why should we all want to do the same thing?</p>
<p>I go to a LAC and, for the most part, mine is cheaper than the public schools in my state. (other than community colleges). this semester i have about 10-15 people in each class (except 1), i also know all the kids in each of my classes and i know all of my professors pretty good as well. we hang around after class and talk, email each other links that we find interesting, etc.. it's a great environment.. also, we have no football team (football teams really drive up the cost of tuition), but people do participate in sports and activities on campus. i'm a member of the college democrats and anime club as well as habitat for humanity.</p>
<p>interesteddad, don't you mean islamic studies? haha, sry but muslim studies doesnt exist. unless there are classes just studying muslim people?!</p>
<p>It's like asking why people would want to live in crowded cities when they could live in the nice, rural country and have backyards and dogs for their kids to romp with, etc. Just different tastes.</p>
<p>Since I've already ruled out LAC's from my list of schools to apply to, I'll tell you why I chose that way. LAC's are small. Now small schools aren't bad, but I went to a small elementary/middle school (combined), and frankly it's not an experience I want to repeat. At a small school, that sense of community makes people a little too close; they know too much about you and there can be some nasty experiences. I'm at a big high school now, and love it. It's big enough so that not everyone in my class knows me, but I'm still known by plenty of people. I can blend in a little bit. I want to go to a bigger school (not huge, but big), so that not everyone will know me. Weak argument maybe, but it's my personal preference. I'm also not wild about having such small class sizes. Small is fine, but, not as small as at most of the LAC's. And I really like the concept of having a grad school associated with the school I go to. A lot of the schools I'm looking at have the 5 year masters programs, so that'll work quite well for me. I like the state university here in NH a lot, and am really leaning towards it. It's also A LOT cheaper than the LAC's in New England, and I'm not going to another part of the country just to get a less expensive education. I have researched a lot of LAC's, even took a look at some. Each one I looked at had an uptight, snobby feel to it. Maybe I was looking at the wrong ones, but that was the impression I got. Obviously that does not apply to all and I'm not saying it does, but it ruled out any previous interest I had had in some of them.</p>
<p>monarch's</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with your logic at all. I recommend that students look at all three types of schools: small college, mid-sized university, and large state university. Weigh the pros and cons and decide for yourself which set of tradeoffs appeals to you. I don't think one size is inherently better than the others. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>I would, however, caution against applying "high school" experiences to college. It's very different.</p>
<p>DD has begun looking for colleges. We have done as Interesteddad suggested. So far her favorites are U of South Carolina (a large state U), College of Charleston and Southern Methodist University (both mid sized u's) and Davidson (a very small LAC). Go figure. By the way...her hs graduation class is 195.</p>
<p>"I finally understand what an LAC or at least I think I do. It's basically a undergraduate division of an big universities."</p>
<p>LAC = Liberal Arts College</p>
<p>" It has no graduate schools. Since it has no grad schools, more attention is given to the students."</p>
<p>Some people like graduate schools, like teaching assistants, and don't like too much attention. (Please don't call on me - I will just sit in the back and take notes. I prefer not to attend class. I will do the reading and take the final exam, etc)</p>
<p>" If it has all these advantages, then why don't more people apply to LACs? What are the disadvantages?"</p>
<p>Some students enjoy going to a stadium full of 100k people to watch their team on Saturday. Some students feel stifled at a very small school, especially if it is in a small town far from the big city. </p>
<p>"Thanks"</p>
<p>you are welcome! :)</p>
<p>I like many LACs for undergraduate education. I just wanted to make that clear. However, reasons people don't go there are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They didn't know about them. Many kids hear about the IVYs or the Carnegie Mellons or state universities. Few LACS are promoted among kids and parents.</p></li>
<li><p>Price: LACS tend to be very expensive. They are small; thus, you have to amortize their costs over a smaller number of students.</p></li>
<li><p>Very small student body: Many people don't want to attend a college that is smaller than their high school Many LACs have around 1300 kids in total. You get to know everyone's business, and they get to know your business. </p></li>
<li><p>Limited offerings: Many LACS have limited offerings. For example, few LACS offer majors in business or accounting. These are just two of many examples.</p></li>
<li><p>Big School spirit: At some of the bigger schools, you get some great school spirit because of a multiplicity of clubs and sports. Bigger schools have more things to do and can have some top notch teams. To my knowledge, LACs may have some sports,but not of the quality of a large school like Syracuse or Miami.</p></li>
<li><p>Most LACS ( other than the Claremont sister schools) are in bad weather areas. The climate at most LACS leaves a lot to be desired.</p></li>
<li><p>Smaller alumni network: This may not seem important,but if you attend a large school like Michigan,NYU or even Miami, you will find a huge alumni support network for both jobs and grad school placement. I attended University of Miami Law School. There were lots of jobs offered Miami graduates by their alumni for many jobs.</p></li>
<li><p>Science offerings: Science, especially physics and some engineering ,can be very expensive to run and maintain, especially if you want a cyclotron. LACS don't generally have the same money to spend on these programs as the larger universities and state universities. Obviously, there are some good science LAC such as Harvey Mudd, Rice etc; however, LACS tend to be stronger in the liberal arts than the sciences for this reason.</p></li>
<li><p>LACs provide less intensive study in majors: LACS generally require a broader base of core courses, which leaves less room for majors. For example, Skidmore, which is a reknown LAC, is particularly known for thieir art program. Yet, if I went to RIT, or Syracuse or an Art school such as Pratt or RISD, I will get a lot more courses in my major than I would take at Skidmore. The same is true for many other majors at a lot of LACS. </p></li>
<li><p>Better financial aid: Some schools may give better financial aid to students than a LAC: My son attends Towson University, which is an inexpensive state school to begin with. They give every honors kid some merit money as well. I haven't seen LACs give a lot of merit money to large numbers of kids.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It is true that you do get a broader based education; however, you have to weigh this against the negatives. I may have had a few more reasons if I had more time to write this.</p>
<p>taxguy, it just isn't true that science education is not good at LACs; and by the way, I don't think Rice is an LAC. Here is an article from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute on biological sciences at an LAC.
<a href="http://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/summer2004/wellspring/passion.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/summer2004/wellspring/passion.html</a></p>
<p>Here is another article on the quality of science education at LACs:
<a href="http://www.collegenews.org/prebuilt/daedalus/cech_article.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegenews.org/prebuilt/daedalus/cech_article.pdf</a></p>
<p>Weather- I think there are plenty of LACs in good climates. Davidson, Sewanee, Southwestern, Austin College, Colorado College etc.</p>
<p>I would also question taxguy's assumption that LACs don't offer good financial aid. While it is true that merit aid is not prevalent at LACs, many LACs have huge endowments compared to the size of their student body and are generous with need-based aid.</p>
<p>For me, I just don't like their locations...</p>
<p>Plunk Amherst, Swarthmore or Carleton in the middle of NYC or Chicago, and I'd be dying to go.</p>
<p>I'm a city-boy--I can't live in a college town four hours from anywhere.</p>
<p>That part is totally understandable.</p>
<p>LACs in Ca
Mills- Scripps-Occidental-Harvey Mudd-Pomona-Claremont-Pitzer-
I know Pomona and Harvey Mudd are both highly acclaimed in the sciences and give good need based aid as well.
Many top schools don't give solely merit based aid, this is true, it is assumed that all students are top scholars I assume and thus they don't need to attract students just by merit. My daughter attends an LAC, she receives a package meeting our EFC that is mostly grants. Many LACs vow to meet EFC but your package may depend on academic potential.
Colorado College is another top school not in a frigid climate along with St Johns in New Mexico both unusuals schools.
Several top LACs are very rural & or where it gets very cold. St Olafs and Carleton and Colgate and Hamilton come to mind.
I agree that many people don't know about LACs, but grad schools do. I think many who choose an LAC are probably planning to attend grad school and so the broader based education is a benefit.
Rice is on the large side for an LAC about 3,000 I think in undergrad and about a 1,000 more grad students so techinicaly it is called an university.
I also had to look up what a "cyclotron" was. I don't know if they have one at Reed but they have a nuclear reactor!
I like that it is broader based science education , students aren't limited to their dept and while they can pursue topics in greater detail, they also can gain perspective by working with students /profs in other depts.</p>
<p>1.) More bang for the buck. Since there are less students you have a better chance of finishing in 4 years. I don't know many students at publics that have been able to get all their classes when they need them. Just look at the rate of graduation in SIX years at public schools.</p>
<p>2) Great Alumini network and endowments. There's a very tight bond with students that go to small colleges and they often know a high percentage of their fellow students. </p>
<p>3) Sports are more personal. The majority of students at my daughters school play a team or intermural sport. So what if they don't have big stadiums full of fans? They play because they enjoy the sport and because it's not so intense they can concentrate on the reason for college - learning.</p>
<p>4) Good peer pressure. You don't want to screw up because, yes, everyone would know what you did. </p>
<p>5) Merit aid actually makes private school cost the same as a public. Wonderful for us middle class familes with smart kids. Not talking ivy league here, guys, just good lac's.</p>
<p>6 and 7) LAC's are everywhere. Is North Carolina a bad weather area? Elon, Guilford, Wake Forest - all with Business majors. In fact, I think business is at just about every LAC I looked at including my daughters tiny private LAC.</p>
<p>8) Science and Math. Some LAC's do this especially well. Juniata in PA is known for a high placement of graduates to medical school. My son and I are going there next week for an Information Technology day. My daughters tiny LAC built a solar car that has placed in the top 10 of the last few solar car races above vehicles from Engineering Colleges. This year there were only two cars from the US invited for a special Olympic solar car race in Athens - one from Yale and one from her college. They've never lost to Yale.... is that an LAC??</p>
<p>9) It's all about fit. I loved the feel of Penn State: the energy, the feeling of lots of choices, the actually tasty food at the dining hall, but one must feel comfortable and that wasn't possible for my Daughter at least at any of the non-lac's that she visited. I feel sorry for so many kids whose guidance counselors give such little information about non-state schools and whose parents don't go to CC for answers and discussions.</p>