<p>^^To piggyback on what catpb said, having gone to an LAC, my son is a very good writer who’s gotten good feedback from reviewers when submitting papers to scientific journals.</p>
<p>My younger one is looking into LAC-like small schools where one can do pre-med and have enough of a good liberal arts and humanities environment for pre-law as well (not sure which way). So our mix includes Georgetown, Emory, Tulane, Miami, and the like. Mandatory warm climate :).</p>
<p>turbo, I’m confused, those universities are just not LACs or LAC-like. The difference between my and my husband’s Georgetown education and my daughter’s Williams education is qualitatively and quantitatively different. The depth that Williams wants students to look at across disciplines is something neither one of us encountered until grad school and even then, not necessarily at the level of her expectations. </p>
<p>She is a Bio/History major and both are great. Anyone looking at math will be well served at Williams.</p>
<p>Re: #82</p>
<p>Pre-med intentions are much less constraining than the OP’s situation of a student who is super-advanced in math and is likely to major in math. Hitting a ceiling in pre-med courses is not likely to happen like it may for the OP’s student in math (pre-med courses are mainly common lower division courses that are offered at almost any decent college).</p>
<p>Pre-law intentions are even less constraining since there are no specific pre-law course or major requirements, although course work which includes substantial reading, writing, and logical thinking (check the sample LSAT questions and note that math and philosophy majors do well on the LSAT) should help.</p>
<p>Well, as a product of humongous state universities (HSU) myself anything under 5 figure enrollment and without engineering registers as an LAC to me. Obviously there’s a lot of middle ground there.</p>
<p>I do not think a true LAC would meet our requirements or our student’s, but there are lots of great schools out there that have a reasonable size - not HSU but not true LAC - that could work.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful input. Lots of great advice and things to think about. UCB, you are correct in that my S intends to delve deeply into math and / or whatever field of science / CS he decides to study. If he decides to apply to med school (which is absolutely the furthest thing from his mind right now, but we all know how fickle college students are), he woulld have no trouble finding the required courses at any of the schools discussed as these courses are more introductory in nature. </p>
<p>Thanks also to those who have PM’d me with information. It’s very much appreciated!</p>
<p>Turbo - lol about the warm climate. My S wouldn’t rule out warm climates, but being an avid skiier (and all other things being equal, of course), I think he’d prefer a school where he could hit the slopes in the winter from time to time!</p>
<p>Based on </p>
<p>" Mandarin
…
he plans to pursue a (funded) graduate degree
… [and]
hit the slopes"</p>
<p>Reed college is worth a close look.
Very strong in math and sciences as prep for graduate school.
Also there’s the chance to study Chinese language/culture in several departments.
Plus the school has a ski cabin, near to a ski resort that is open 12 months of the year.</p>
<p>You would have to see if the aid would be enough. But there will be no application fees for the coming year, so it doesn’t “cost” anything to try and find out.</p>
<p>Don’t overlook Tufts’ School of Engineering and Center for STEM Diversity. A somewhat larger school than the traditional LAC, but with the character of one, plus all that Boston affords.</p>