<p>So, my public school of choice would be University of Washington. Good research, nice location, but massive. But I do like the idea of east coasting. Obviously I'd probably pick any ivy league over UW, but what about the smaller east coast liberal arts college located in towns of the same name? What and how did you decide?</p>
<p>Often LACs have agreements with universities that allow students to do research. Davidson, for example, has research ties with Columbia in neuroscience/biophysics. Sometimes LACs even have as good or better resources than universities- Davidson processes some of Harvard's archaeological finds because Davidson's chem department has better resources in that area. You can definitely have research opportunities at LACs, not to mention you don't have to compete with grad students! :)</p>
<p>its comparing night and day. If you're a senior this isn't a good post because by now you should have made visits to samples of many types of schools (large U, small LAC, urban, rural, etc) to discover what you prefer. A LAC will have small classes with professors who know you personally, but they tend to be small and some prefer schools with larger enrollments. At a large U classes are large, especially in the first two years. Profs focus on research and their grad students, and its up to you to go to office hours if you want personal contact.</p>
<p>This post just scratches the surface of the differences between the types. I'd suggest talking to students of different types, visiting if you can, etc. to learn more about them. Furthermore the "smaller east coast liberal arts college located in towns of the same name" are not stamped from the same cookie-cutter. They differ in terms of their atmosphere, the students they attract, town/gown relations, and so on.</p>
<p>I'm a junior. I didn't mean to group all LACs together, I'm just trying to figure out to what extent should I examine those small schools on the other side of the country, when there is a decent school nearby. As for the towns of the same name, the reference was to Seattle vs. a small town (though I guess Seattle University is a LAC in a town of the same name...). Granted, some are very near large cities, but some are not. I will be visiting this spring, and maybe summer, but I was just hoping for a slice of others' reasons for either.</p>
<p>For a good comparison, I'd take a look at Amherst College vs. UMass Amherst, there's a good article from USNews comparing the two, Seattle University and UofWashington is a very uneven, comparing 1st tier to 3rd tier.</p>
<p>Just note that many liberal arts colleges, like Colgate and Richmond have great research oppurtunities. It all depends on your field and the school.</p>
<p>I'm glad to hear the OP is a junior, not a senior. Take a look at the article cre8tive1 mentioned, as well as other stuff you can read. You ought to read "Looking Beyond the Ivy League" by Pope, a book with a clear bias that nevertheless makes a strong case for what a LAC can provide.</p>
<p>And while you can't treat all LACs as identical, which was my worry if you were applying this year, you still can make some generalizations since there are some family traits they share. Surely in your neck of the woods there are some LACs that you could visit. Talk to the students, maybe meet with a prof, try to get a sense of what the school is like. Visit a few and you'll start to get a feel for what is common to LACs and what can vary based on campus.</p>