<p>Are the opportunities more or less the same in all colleges? And when I talk about research, I mean actually working to solve a problem, not just cleaning the beakers or something.</p>
<p>bump 10char</p>
<p>From what I understand, “research universities” are called that for a reason. LACs, from what I understand, focus more on teaching and less on research. Many larger, top schools are known for research. It can be difficult to get into research as an undergrad, but many schools have programs that can get them into it. Freshmen might be stuck cleaning the beakers, but after that you can definitely get to the problem-solving.</p>
<p>The downside is that your professors might be more into research than teaching, but if you are really focused on research, that might be okay.</p>
<p>Thanks! How different is the teaching between LACs and research universities?</p>
<p>You are more likely to be cleaning beakers at a research based university than at a LAC where you have more opportunities to engage in independent research. LAcs do have some research activity and they are coordinated by the undergrads, the professor and a research assistant.</p>
<p>Thanks, few more questions!</p>
<p>Does the equipment available to me vary greatly between LACs and research universities?</p>
<p>Is it more likely to be able to publish at a LAC or research university?</p>
<p>I am biased as I have always loved LACs. </p>
<p>As an undergrad you are more likely to published if you attend a LAC simply because you are only competing with other undergrads to work in the lab. There are quite a few LACs and not all should be lumped together. You need to check out websites, etc. to see how much is published each year. I believe LACs like Urisnus ¶ and Rhodes (TN) do a great job of publishing and these are not “top” LACs.</p>
<p>However, note that since the profs your are working with at the LACs also teach quite often, you will not be working alongside “the best research” profs. </p>
<p>What I would suggest you do is look at a variety of schools and contact the school (department directly) and ask the percentage of students in your attended major who are published. </p>
<p>Also, ask yourself what is your goal – Do you want a lot of hands on? Or do you want to have the name recoginition that you worked with “so and so”? </p>
<p>Also – realize that no matter what type of school, not all those in a given major will have the opportunity to work in a lab and publish.</p>
<p>You may want to post this question to the grad school section of this site and see how many did “real problem solving.”</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I’d prefer hands on experience over name recognition.</p>
<p>Which LACs would you recommend? I’m picky; I don’t want to live anywhere that snows or gets really cold in the winter. All the schools on my list right now are in California or Florida!</p>
<p>I will post this in the grad school section and see what responses I get.</p>
<p>Mathlegend</p>
<p>I just checked out your other posts and you seem to have a great list of schools – Were there specific LACs you were considering? That would help us answer your question better as we could compare to the Research Uni you are considering.</p>
<p>I also have to reply to something you state about Drexel having “unhappy” students – I am in the Philly region and Drexel has this rep for 3 reasons – 1. many profs are not American by birth and some students have a difficulty understanding the lectures. 2. The campus is next door to Penn; Drexel kids can’t help but compare to the “extras” Penn gets (more grassy areas; larger diversity of activities). 3. The co-ops in the current economy aren’t as wonderful as they used to be. All in all, I think the Princeton Review “unhappy” students list does not give a true view of Drexel.</p>
<p>The school list is pretty much the same, except with ones in colder winter weather taken out, since I’ve realized that I really hate living in the cold. There aren’t any specific LACs I’m considering. One that pops into my mind is Harvey Mudd, but I think it’s a big reach for me. Otherwise I don’t think I’m too picky yet, except on weather. The schools that are already on my list are on there basically because they are UCs, USC because it is good school in CA, and Miami for the BS/MD program.</p>
<p>I didnt know Drexel is on the Princeton Review list for unhappy students. I just heard that they’re unhappy; I may be wrong.</p>
<p>You could take a look at how much external funding colleges are getting from institutions such as the NIH ([NIH</a> Awards by Location and Organization (Beta) - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT)](<a href=“http://report.nih.gov/award/organizations.cfm]NIH”>http://report.nih.gov/award/organizations.cfm)) and the NSF ([NSF</a> - Award Search - Awardee Information](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/]NSF”>NSF Award Search: Simple Search.)). This will not give you a full picture of research at any institution, but it will give you an idea of what research is going on and how well the research is funded.</p>
<p>Thanks I will take a look at that</p>
<p>An LAC that may be a consideration is Furman University. It is known for having one of the highest percentages of students participating in research projects and studies. They also have a lot of internship opportunities. My D chose Furman based primarily on these opportunities. The school also has a great Chemistry program. You won’t need to worry about cold weather.</p>
<p>A few other LAC’s that we visited that had impressive opportunities for undergraduate research included St. Olaf and Kenyon (both colder than you might like) and Franklin & Marshall. There are many, many more examples but these are the ones we visited that impresssed us from a research opportunity standpoint. Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>I assume that the ultimate goal is to do research, not just as an undergrad.</p>
<p>The grads of any school that requires a senior research thesis have an advantage, because they have already proven to grad schools that they know how to do research.</p>
<p>Thanks, I will look into Furman.</p>
<p>The ultimate goal is either MD or PhD, not too sure yet.</p>
<p>How are schools like Pomona and Occidental for undergraduate research?</p>
<p>Actually, I think I wil change my mind about the weather to see what kind of schools I can find. Are there any suggestions?</p>
<p>Have you checked out the Washington Monthly college tables?
Their site has one table for national universitites and one for LACs. You can sort either one on “Research”, which they measure 5 ways for universities and 2 ways for LACs.
[Washington</a> Monthly (national universities)](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/national_university_rank.php]Washington”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/national_university_rank.php)
[Washington</a> Monthly (LACs)](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/liberal_arts_research.php]Washington”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/liberal_arts_research.php)</p>
<p>Like any ranking, these won’t perfectly reflect your own interests or your needs. They do devote a page to their methodology, including comments ([A</a> Note on Methodology by the Editors | Washington Monthly](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/a_note_on_methodology_1.php]A”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/a_note_on_methodology_1.php)). One controversial point is this:
By this standard, some large public universities (UCSD, Wisconsin, Washington) outrank some smaller private universities for Research (Chicago, Rice, Rochester, Brandeis). Large public schools tend to get more federal funding for Big Science research in high-interest areas such as medicine, defense, climate and agriculture. Some of the smaller schools tend to to graduate more future PhDs on a per capita basis (and their research may be less driven by public funding). You’d have to decide which factor is more important to you.</p>
<p>I havent seen that before, thanks for the links!</p>
<p>My D loves biology and looked at LACs with good sciences. We were impressed with the published articles from Davidson students. It snows just a bit there.</p>
<p>For the LAC supporters, I have two simple questions…</p>
<p>1) How can an LAC undergraduate be exposed to cutting edge research when none is going on at that institution.</p>
<p>2) How does a faculty rec for grad school–specifically the component based upon the student’s undergrad research experience and performance–carry more weight from a LAC professor who the grad department’s admissions committee has never heard of than that from a research professor who they may consider a peer, a colleague and possibly a collaborator?</p>
<p>It seems like the LAC crowd wants it both ways. They want to trumpet the absence of research when it suits their argument, then suddenly expect others to believe in the wealth of research opportunities available when the question changes.</p>
<p>Realistically, each type of school does have its strengths, and I certainly concede areas where an undergraduate education at a small LAC is superior to that of a major research university. Research opportunities, however, are not among them.</p>