<p>A decent speech, indeed. Quite good.</p>
<p>By definition, any given university has, essentially, a liberal arts college/department within it. It will also have, perhaps, a business school, an engineering school, an education department, etc. etc. A school is a university because it has these various departments and graduate schools.</p>
<p>A liberal arts college is just that, it is comprised of just that one "college/department" and the majors that would fall under that. LAC doesn't have the various other departments, grad programs, etc.</p>
<p>So with a LAC you have this limited number of disciplines being addressed. But, such lack of specialty is not a bad thing and there are many pluses to the LAC experience.</p>
<p>First, the typical LAC objective is to teach you how to think, how to utilize your intellect to face a broad range of challenges, issues, etc. rather than to be trained in a specific skill/discipline that say a BusAd dept. might provide.</p>
<p>Many LAC's may not have the resources of a University, however many do so check out the endowment of an LAC and related factors.</p>
<p>Perhaps the true beauty of an LAC is that its function, focus and purpose is the undergrad experience, ONLY. There ain't no grad students getting the attention. There are no grad students serving as TAs. If a prof needs an assisstant, again, no grad students, and you, the undergrad, get all that attention.</p>
<p>Typically, LAC are small schools, so if you want that intimacy, attention, focus on you and your education, The LAC experience is tremendous. I think you just need to make sure the school has the dough, has the resources etc. which many may be lacking with some when compared to a (larger) University.</p>
<p>A liberal arts college is an institution of higher education found in the United States, offering programs in the liberal arts at the post-secondary level. They encourage and often require their students to take a substantial number of classes in topics which may not directly relate to their vocational goals, in an effort to provide a "well-rounded" education. They may be distinguished from colleges offering programs primarily in business, engineering and technology, the trades, the fine arts, theology, or other specialized subjects. Liberal arts colleges have sprung up outside the U.S. as well, such as in The Netherlands and Canada.</p>
<p>Liberal arts colleges usually focus on tertiary education leading to a bachelor's degree in a program designed to be completed in four years' worth of study, though some include post-graduate programs. They tend to be relatively small, private, and predominantly residential. As such, they may offer a more uniform student experience than at a larger university with more diffuse course offerings. While they lack the name recognition of larger schools, the top liberal arts colleges are highly selective and compete with elite universities for students. Although private liberal arts colleges tend to be very expensive, there are also a number of state-supported institutions modeled on traditional liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Some institutions referred to as "liberal arts colleges" are distinguished from universities not so much by a difference in kind, but a difference in size, taking the form of small universities, complete with subsidiary schools dedicated to a particular specialized course of study and offering a limited set of graduate degrees. In this sense, large liberal arts colleges and small private universities occupy similar niches.</p>
<p>Furthermore, university units whose faculty and curriculum encompass the traditional liberal arts and pure sciences are frequently labeled "liberal arts colleges." Indeed, some are explicitly named a "College of Liberal Arts," or a variant such as "College of Arts and Letters" or "College of Arts and Sciences" to distinguish them from units focused on the manual arts and applied sciences. Both colloquial and professional references to "liberal arts colleges" generally refer to standalone institutions, excluding such units.</p>
<p>What aboutBryn Mawr, which grants PhD's and MA's?</p>
<p>A university will have graduate depts: (sometimes all on the same campus)
Legal dept (or school)
Medical Dept (or school)
Seminary or Theological Dept (or school)
Engineering dept.
business dept.
-simply put, at a university, you can take it to the next level (masters) without having to change schools.
For me, it makes it much easier, because I do not have to re-apply for my g.i. bill all over again at another school.</p>
<p>Like any other upcoming seniors during this summer break, I have a college dilemma. I really have no idea where I want to go. Rankings don’t mean nothing to me but what I really want is a QUALITY education. I came across a really good post:
</p><p></p>
<p>I’m a independent girl, who makes a home out of anything. I love having options and I’m very extrovert. I like saying “hi” to strangers. But I like a place where I can make my own family and have my hand be held. LAC likes me, Universities like not, Universities like me, LAC likes me not….SOS!!!</p>
<p>I am a big believer in LAC for undergrad and U for grad schools. It plays to both strengths. LAC will make you take classes outside your comfort zone and they will teach you to read, write, and think. All of which are in short supply in the real world.</p>
<p>Once you are liberally (classical meaning, not GOP spin definition) educated go to grad school where they have the most resources. That is a large U. There you will learn more and more about less and less. Which is the whole point when you want to become a specialist in a field.</p>
<p>I'm a recent graduate of a LAC (Oberlin College) and a newly minted science grad student and TA at a large, top-tier public university (U of WA). You've got to make your decision based on your own needs. Personally, I don't think I could have learned as much or grown as much as a person without the intimate atmosphere and close contact with other students and faculty as at Oberlin. I feel sorry for my students who still are being divided up into smaller discussion sections with grad students even at the junior/senior level Bio class that I TA.</p>
<p>At that point in my undergrad career, I was taking courses with no less than 15 students and where anytime I had a question or even just a personal problem I could walk into a professor's office and start talking without an appointment. I even got help on upper level labs from professors who didn't teach the course I was taking (my professor wasn't as good at explaining some concepts and they were always willing to help). I took upper level courses in non-science disciplines without some necessary prerequisites because I simply said I was interested in the topic. I didn't just get face time with faculty in my major, but I spent some good hours talking about interesting ideas with politics and religion professors as well. Those kinds of things aren't going to happen at a large university. I also spent 2 years directing my own research project, giving me lab experience its hard to have even at research oriented institutions.</p>
<p>But, I chose Oberlin carefully because these were the things I wanted. Not all LAC are going to have as good science programs and not all LACs will have as positive a student/faculty interactions. Also, self-motivated students can usually form good relationships with faculty and good research experiences at big universities. Some of my fellow grad students who came from big universities seem appalled that I would want to have such intimate interactions with every professor for even your non-major classes (eating dinner and doing the hokey pokey in the dean's living room not a plus I guess)</p>
<p>You've got to decide, but if you choose a good school LAC or big university, you should have the opportunities to succeed regardless.</p>
<p>I just thought of something more to add. 10 years ago there was a report on the state of undergrad education at big universities called the Boyer Report, most universities are still using this as a measure of how well they teach their undergrads. They had 10 specifics recommendations, if you're considering a big university it'd be worth your while to see whether the university, the college you'd be in at that university, or your department have programs suited to these goals (such as Freshman experiences/seminars and Capstone projects for seniors)</p>
<p>The full report: <a href="http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf/673918d46fbf653e852565ec0056ff3e/d955b61ffddd590a852565ec005717ae/$FILE/boyer.pdf">http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf/673918d46fbf653e852565ec0056ff3e/d955b61ffddd590a852565ec005717ae/$FILE/boyer.pdf</a></p>
<p>The Chinese don't care about LAC. They are the past</p>
<p>which is preferable fo engineering major, harvey-mudd or stanford?</p>
<p>off topic: what is the age restriction for colleges in the U.S., im 16 and leaving high school soon(next year)</p>
<p>It simply depends on what your preferences are. Both schools are highly regarded as top engineering schools and you wont be screwed for going to one over the other. </p>
<p>There is no age restriction for college here, at least at those two institutions.</p>
<p>thanks for the info seiken, someone told me that id have to be 18</p>
<p>
This is the best post I’ve read EVER on this site. Kudos :)</p>
Ｔｈａｔ＇ｓ ｎｏｔ ｔｒｕｅ．
＂The Chinese don’t care about LAC＂ ｉｓ ｎｏｔ ｔｒｕｅ！