<p>Susan, I too, don't think job placement and grad school placement will be a problem for LACs. I know top consulting firms and Wall Street investment banks recruit at an LAC I know about. Many seniors already have 2-3 job offers in the Fall of senior year. Originaloog seems to be implying that job placement might be an issue. I don't really know enough about Computer Science at this LAC to make an apples to apples comparision. I just know that I have been in the computer science field for 24 years now and recruit for my own group and for my company. At the entry level, we are looking for smart people who are intellectually curious - not necessarily people who know how a particular technology very well.</p>
<p>interesttedad - I go to a LAC with 4000 undergrads. they DO exist :)</p>
<p>I think they even have more than that fendergirl
almost 6500 including part time and grad students. But I think 4000-6000 is a nice size for a school, especially considering many students attended high schools larger than some of the LACs and may find a school of 1500 claustrophobic</p>
<p>More BS from Achat! "kathiep, I could not have said it better. And many lacs do offer generous merit aid. I forgot that aspect of it. My son's girlfriend got very generous merit aid from Colgate."</p>
<p>From the Colgate website: "Does Colgate offer any merit aid?
No, all aid awards are strictly based on financial need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid."</p>
<p>Achat, your son's girlfriend must have been truely outstanding to convince Colgate to abrogate their stated finaid policy!</p>
<p>Colgate does offer very good aid. While it is I assume need based, they can also determine who has "need". For example two of my nieces attend Colgate. One receives a grant for tuition but pays her own room and board. Her sister doesn't even have to pay for room and board! Also once you are attending there are many, many merit awards that don't look like you need to submit financial information to receive.</p>
<p>ORiginaloog, I wouldn't be too harsh on Achat for believing what her son's girlfriend told her. I doubt she was trying to "BS" anyone. I've seen other cases where kids get financial aid and tout it to friends and acquaintances as a "merit award." Even some high schools fall into this - we have an awards ceremony every spring where seniors get their "scholarships" recognized. Most people would assume that "scholarships" were merit money but every year I see that many of the "scholarships" are to schools that don't give merit money, only need-based aid. I think it's a common mis-understanding.</p>
<p>Carolyn, no, I wasn't trying to BS anyone. I just repeated what my son's girlfriend told him. But she certainly is not needy but I haven't seen her family's FAFSA.</p>
<p>Hmmm...well, Achat, Originaloog is correct - Colgate doesn't give any merit awards to either freshmen OR returning students. Only need based aid is awarded by Colgate. But, as you say, there could be more to the story - perhaps she got some kind of private scholarship that she is using at Colgate. Who knows? In any case, I know you well-enough to know that you aren't one to spread manure here on CC. :)</p>
<p>I'm with Carolyn on this. Also many schools have merit within aid awards. They are scholarships that may have a history of going on a merit only basis but some schools have evolved to the point where they give money only on a need basis. So kids who qualify for financial aid are the ones considered for these awards which are very nice as they are not loans or work study. Harvard offers many of these sort of awards. Sometimes these awards will give money above and beyond what the need formulas prescribe as well, to provide some extra money for those who do qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>I also noticed that Colgate offers "Book" awards for seniors in high school that are not need based</p>
<p>Emerald, None of those awards involve money - they are all strictly honorary. The book award is just that, a book, not a scholarship of any kind. The Colgate financial aid page specifically says "we do not offer merit awards, only need-based aid."
See: <a href="http://www.colgate.edu/DesktopDefault1.aspx?tabid=602&pgID=2410%5B/url%5D">http://www.colgate.edu/DesktopDefault1.aspx?tabid=602&pgID=2410</a></p>
<p>Hm...well, thanks to originalloog, I will certainly not open my mouth without knowing all the facts. I thought Colgate offered merit aid. </p>
<p>But I thought we had agreed to use more courtesy in this forum than the way he attacked me.</p>
<p>Emerald, whoops, I stand corrected - I do see the words "prize scholarships" on the link you gave. So, who knows? But it has always been my understanding that money at Colgate only goes to those who demonstrate need.</p>
<p>My daughter has friends attending schools in different parts of the state and out of state, mostly LAC's and just about all have full or partial scholarships. None of them would qualify for need based aid as far as I know. Many do have other siblings in school so I guess that helps but all are two income professional families. I agree with Carolyn that schools often give this aid in the form of scholarships. </p>
<p>And as long as I'm posting again, I think job placement is more according to what field the degree is in rather then the school. I know two people that graduated two years ago in marketing, one went to a medium size LAC and the other to a local State University and neither have jobs in their field.</p>
<p>The job placement facts that I mentioned are from my son's LAC and only for this year and I don't know about any other. RPI does have an excellent reputation with employers in this area. My company (investment banking division of a major bank) is going there after the new year to recruit.</p>
<p>But without BS-ing, I can say that I know a lot about recruiting for my company and other companies I worked for in the past. They are looking at certain schools for campus recruiting but for entry level they look for intelligence, maturity and a desire to learn. Also problem-solving skills etc.</p>
<p>Katiep and Achat - You are BOTH right - LOTS of liberal arts schools give out nice juicy merit awards. Sorry that we were side-tracked with Colgate, one of the few who doesn't. :)</p>
<p>Ok, then can we go on without calling each other BS-artists!!</p>
<p>hmm ... if I could do my college search over again I would seriously consider LACs ... however, eons ago when I did my search I only looked at larger research universities ... why?</p>
<p>1) They are better known ... I was the first person in my family to go to a college other than a "State U" ... so our starting point was the who's who of big schools</p>
<p>2) My interestes were engineering, math, architecture, and computer science ... technical fields are available at LACs but much more prevelant at bigger research schools ... especially finding schools that had all of the above in case I changed my mind.</p>
<p>3) Athletics ... I wanted to run at the highest level at which I could compete and Div I schools (which tend to be bigger) tend to be better at sports (a high level DIII program may well have been a great fit also but I didn't know that then)</p>
<p>4) Fit ... I liked big schools in small college towns .... it felt right to me.</p>
<p>When my 3 kids finally pick schools I hope they check out the different types of schools and figure out what is right for them ... if it is a LAC environment - great ... if it is a bigger research school environment - great ... as long as they pick a place they will learn, grow, and be happy.</p>
<p>emeraldkitty - i know we have more than that, but he had said that he didn't think a school with 4000 existed ;)</p>