<p>Obviously there are a bunch of sites who have their own rankings, but I'd like to hear everyone on heres opinion. So top 10 LACs and if you're feeling it a short explanation. </p>
<p>Sent from my Droid using CC App</p>
<p>In no particular order: amherst, bowdoin, carleton, haverford, middlebury, oberlin, pomona, reed, swarthmore, wesleyan, and, williams (NOTE: I’m not including any LACs with finance as a major because I don’t consider finance a liberal art. And, yes, I realize I’m being hypocritical by including Swarthmore, but, not Harvey Mudd, both of which have engineering as a major which isn’t a liberal art either – but, maybe it’s just a matter of degree and emphasis. :p)</p>
<p>1) Amherst
- Pomona
- Swarthmore
- Williams
- Harvey Mudd College
- Bowdoin
- Middlebury
- Claremont McKenna
- Haverford
- Wesleyan</p>
<p>Davidson needs to be in the lists above.</p>
<p>Pure opinion here, of course…</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvey Mudd</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Carleton</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Vassar</li>
<li>Grinnell</li>
<li>Reed</li>
<li>Pomona</li>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
</ol>
<p>It depends on your intended or possible major. Small LACs often are not big enough to have good depth in all of their majors and departments. Some have obvious well known reputations for emphasizing certain subjects (e.g. Harvey Mudd), but it appears that the subject strengths and weaknesses of many others are not that well known.</p>
<p>For example, someone intending to major in math or physics would rank Amherst rather low compared to Carleton.</p>
<p>Is Carleton math that good?</p>
<p>Yes, Carleton math is that good.</p>
<p>And Amherst is relatively weak in math and physics (check the course listings).</p>
<p>Any list of the top 10 that does not include the triumvirate (Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst) at or near the top should be looked at with great suspect.</p>
<p>It is entirely reasonable for a top 10 list for math and physics majors to not include Amherst.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus this thread isn’t about asking for only math/physics. It’s asking for general rankings and one of the above posters listed a general ranking which does not include Amherst at all.</p>
<p>The OP is asking for personal opinions and preferences, not official rankings. People are free to pick whatever schools they like best.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus is right. I am surprised that Amharst Math seems to be very weak based on their course listing.</p>
<p>The point is that general rankings are even more unreliable for small LACs than they are for big universities, since the academic quality of a small LAC is much more likely to be subject and major dependent than the academic quality of a big university.</p>
<p>Is Amherst or Harvey Mudd better? It depends on your intended major.</p>
<p>@NYU2013, if someone wanted the U.S. News rankings, they could always do a google search. For instance, I don’t include Williams because I’m not a fan of the huge value put on sports and, as a foreign language major myself, I’ve heard multiple people remark that the foreign languages at Williams are lacking. I’m sure other people can find plenty of things to like about the school, but the OP was asking for an opinion. Please don’t deride people whose opinions differ from your own.</p>
<p>Fact of the matter is that the triumvirate holds top spots in rankings consistently; that’s not a matter of opinion. Williams is more selective than some of the other LACs you’ve listed. OP asked for the top 10 LACs, whether or not you’re a “fan” of Williams or a particular program within Williams is not relevant when giving a ranking, unless you’re trying to further a personal agenda. Fact of the matter is that Williams is one of the most selective LACs and has had a reputation for being one of the best for a number of years; to not include it simply because you believe (no evidentiary basis) it to be “lacking” in a particular area is simply a disservice to the school. I have no particular attachment to Williams, but I still recognize that most any ranking for T10 LACs should include Williams. If you want to make a ranking based on Foreign Language Programs, then feel free to state “for foreign language programs based on my own opinion”. But, you posted as though it was just a general ranking and that your belief that Williams is “lacking” in foreign languages excluded it from your list without any detailed reasoning as to why. Williams is a T10 LAC, I don’t think that’s an arguable point. If you want to make rankings on non-academic influences, then I don’t think you would have to include Williams. However, since every academic/stats-based ranking out there includes it as a T10, I don’t see why you’re excluding it. </p>
<p>“Well, it’s personal opinion” isn’t quite going to cut the mark here because you’d be going against large consensus that Williams is a T10 and you would need substantial evidentiary basis to claim otherwise.</p>
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<p>Nor is that relevant to this thread, which doesn’t ask for an aggregation of different college rankings.</p>
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<p>Again, a personal agenda is exactly what we’re supposed to be furthering, given that the OP can get the data you’re talking about elsewhere, and was clearly not asking for it.</p>
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<p>Having an opinion that contradicts some other opinion is hardly unfair to the thing you have an opinion about.</p>
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<p>The fact that the lists in this thread are all based on people’s opinions and colored by their particular values and areas of interest and expertise is implied. That’s exactly what makes it more valuable than a regurgitation of US News’ top 10.</p>
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<p>Because we’re not putting together an academic/stat-based ranking.</p>
<p>Because this is all a matter of personal opinion.</p>
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<p>The OP didn’t ask for a survey of available college rankings; the OP asked for posters’ opinions.</p>
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<p>Its Physics alums end quite successful in whatever it is that one does with a Physics degree.</p>
<p>Post-graduate information about all eleven Physics graduates of the Class of 2002:</p>
<p>Stanford, PhD (Molecular & Cellular Physiology, 2005-???)
Brown, MD (2005)
CalTech, PhD (Physics, 2007)
Northwestern, PhD (CompSci, 2010)
UMass-Amherst, PhD (Biology & Ecology, 2009-)
Yale, PhD (Physics, ???)
Longy School of Music, MMus (2006)
Princeton, PhD (Physics, 2008)
Michigan, PhD (Physics, 2010)
MIT, MSc (Physics, 2004)
Harvard, PhD (Physics, 2010)</p>
<p>Won’t argue with you about Amherst Math, but don’t mess with Amherst Physics.</p>
<p>@Ghostt</p>
<p>If it’s not an academic ranking then what are you ranking? This one has more trees than that one; this one has more things of the color green than that one. If you’re going to rank something such a college it’s, unless otherwise stated, assumed that you’re ranking the academic quality of each institution as compared to each other institution. Especially when you’re a website such a CC and the OP has asked for the top 10 LACs. If you want to rank things based on which has more green things or more grass, than you need to specify your criteria for having such a ranking. Otherwise, it’s assumed that these rankings are supposed to reflect the academic quality and reputation of every school within the ranking, based on generalities; not program specific or how many things of the color green there are. If OP had wanted program specific rankings, OP would have specified. If OP had wanted ranking of who has more things of the color green, OP would have specified. However, since this is CC it would be rightly assumed that you’re ranking the academic reputations and quality of each school generally, on non-specific terms.</p>