<p>Hello, I am a Junior attempting to narrow down my search. I am looking to strike a balance between a great overall education and potential for future success and I have having a tough time deciding if I should look more towards liberal arts colleges such as Carleton, Colgate, Bowdoin etc, or look more into schools such as NYU, Emory, Wash U, Northwestern ect. I am looking for a great education, but not at the expense of not setting myself up for success after college. In an ideal world I would like to attend a college like Carleton or Kenyon, but I was wondering if it is realistic to think that after graduating from such a school I would be set up for success in the real world....any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Liberal arts college grads do very well - whether they go into the job market right away or into graduate school.</p>
<p>I'm a senior who applied mostly to liberal arts colleges and will be attending one this fall (over two of the schools you named). I'm curious why you think a liberal arts college won't prepare you for a job after college. Unless you are in engineering, nursing, undergrad business, or a similar pre-professional program, you will be studying the liberal arts at a university anyway. </p>
<p>All of the schools you listed will give you an excellent education and will prepare you for the real world (note that those are not two mutually exclusive goals). It really comes down to personal fit. Personally, I prefer the smaller liberal arts environment. The classes I saw at LAC's were smaller, more interesting, and (it seemed) better taught than those I saw at the university I visited.</p>
<p>actually, coming from a family where everyone went into math or one of the sciences, I've heard of Liberal Arts colleges as always being downplayed. The whole idea that a liberal arts college creates "leaders" doesn't seem to stick, at least not for me. Then again, I'm aiming at a biomedical engineering program, so I'm bound to be biased. Either way, if you want anothers view, the person I intern with considers universities to have all that any liberal arts college can offer plus great resources and research as well.</p>
<p>LAC's like Wiliams, Davidson, Holy Cross, Bowdoin, Colgate have tremendous alumni networks.</p>
<p>Attendance at the kinds of small colleges you mention would NOT compromise your success at all! The things you have to decide are: 1) how sure are you of a major, or alternatives for a major? One thing a large university tends to offer is a wide array of offerings that the LAC may not. If your interests change radically while you are in school, it is nice to be able to pursue them without having to change schools. 2) whether you feel most comfortable in the small-school or large-school environment. Just as an example from many years ago: I went to a small liberal arts school out of high school because I liked the sound of small classes and a more close-knit feel to the environment than a larger school would have. But after about 2 years I thought I was going to suffocate! That was just me; you have to decide how you feel and go for where you will be happiest.</p>