<p>I like the larger class size of universities, more classes, more clubs, more activism, more diversity, more everything :D</p>
<p>“more everything”</p>
<p>More some things: TA’s as prof substitutes, grad students sucking up research positions, more chances to hide in the back of a huge lecture hall to avoid participating, more trouble getting classes, more trouble getting time with a prof.</p>
<p>^ eh its the name of the college game, you cant make anyone participate if they dont want to, but the other things are true, there’s a tradeoff for everything</p>
<p>“you cant make anyone participate if they dont want to”</p>
<p>For applicants considering LACs (or any school) with conference-style classes: participation is required! REQUIRED! If you want to hide in the back of the class, consider other schools.</p>
<p>vossron is correct. If you are not serious about your education, do not consider a LAC. I am graded on participation and the quality of said participation in my non-lecture classes.</p>
<p>I’m not looking into LACs at all. The two big reasons for me.</p>
<h1>1 SIZE SIZE SIZE SIZE SIZE. I’ve been going to small schools all my life. I refuse to apply to universities with <5500 undergrads. I honestly want >20000 but unfortunately most of the schools I’m applying to don’t have student bodies that large. I want to meet new people allllllllll the time, hook up like crazy without all of campus knowing, etc. Also LACs are HAVENS for prep school kids. I go to prep school right now, and EVERYONE is trying to go to Colby, Bates, etc. Kids from my prep school who went to LACs commented that their experience there is like “high school all over again”. YUCK.</h1>
<h1>2 Name recognition. While Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, etc. are AMAZING, they simply don’t have the same recognition as say, Duke, Notre Dame, and Stanford.</h1>
<p>^Oh yeah and at LACs you like can’t skip classsss hahaha and you have to participate. At a university if you’re in a lot of lecture classes and you feel like sleeping in one day…you can go for itttt</p>
<p>I can assure you, LACs are nothing like high school.</p>
<p>After reading all the replies, I’m starting to seriously wonder why anyone would choose Universities over LACs. Which is making me nervous about my college list which has a significant number of Universities which I like for many reasons, but LACs seem to score above them, even above Harvard! I’m wondering why anyone would choose even Harvard for undergrad when you can get a better college experience in a smaller LAC?</p>
<p>Lol, I came here intending to hear more plus points on Universities! So that I can motivate myself again about them! 
Apart from Scales1994 nobody bothered to praise universities much. Waahhh!!
Not so that I can fall more in love with LACs! I assure you I am their ardent admirer already. ;)</p>
<p>
Santeria, I am Indian. As bad hmmm? 
I sincerely hope to see you at Pomona next year if by some unbelievable luck I get in. It is next to impossible for internationals asking for lot of Fin. Aid to get in there, or so I hear.</p>
<p>PS- The overly dramatic manner of speech is only for a laugh; I’m very grateful to all the parents and other CCers who took the time to answer my questions and offer their opinions. :)</p>
<p>And while some LACs are famously preppy (like Colby and Bates), many have only a small contingent of prep school kids who don’t dominate the culture. The midwestern LACs, for example, are notoriously not preppy. </p>
<p>LACs are ‘like high school’ in so far as the classes are about the same size and the prof will notice if you don’t show up, don’t participate, and don’t turn in the work. If that’s a problem for you, then you probably would do better with a big school that has the large lecture classes, as Vossron said. And unlike high school, you have not been going to school with most of these kids since kindergarten. A survey at Grinnell (student body 1,600 - a rural LAC in Iowa) on student life found that kids recognize about 40% of the faces they see on campus. For some that would be too many familiar faces. For others, it’s a great social experience.</p>
<p>I’d actually expect most LAC classes to be about half the size of most high school classes. :)</p>
<p>You can make a large university small, but you can’t make a small college large…</p>
<p>Exactly. Some big U’s create small LAC-like colleges within; why on earth do they do that? ;)</p>
<p>I recently talked to a Harvard grad and professor at a top 10 university who feels that a good LAC gives the best undergraduate education. If you want the name recognition, go to graduate school at Harvard. Believe me, graduate admissions will be impressed with your Swarthmore/Williams/Amherst/Pomona… degree.</p>
<p>^<em>groans</em> I know, I know. LACs salute.</p>
<p>Now for some university praise too please? Isn’t there any at all? Aid at universities is generous but I’m getting more and more discouraged about my choices.</p>
<p>Debate has For and Against. Let’s have some ‘For’ please? :)</p>
<p>Here’s one: more classes in the same subject allowing more flexibility to take classes you want (if you can get in them). For example, S (at a university) was placed in Spanish 3. After 2 weeks, the instructor (a TA) sent some in his class to Spanish 2 and some to Spanish 4. D, at her LAC, needed to be switched out of her too easy Spanish class and never given the option.</p>
<p>Engineering school, wide variety of majors/courses, party scenes, cheaper, etc.</p>
<p>As far as prestige goes, universities still win. Not only are top universities MORE prestigious than top LACs (HYP vs WAP) but the top 30 universities are more prestigious than top 30 LACs.
Let’s put it this way. Only like 1/10,000 LACers make it into top LACs. So most likely you will end up at around the top 30 level.
If prestige is important to you, think of which schools are more prestigious: UVA, UM-ann arbor, Tufts, Boston College, OR Colorado College, Mt Holyoke, U of Richmond, Sewanee, etc.
Also LACs tend to be more rural, although you can find urban LACs (Barnard for girls).</p>
<p>Also, and I realize that maybe this doesnt matter to you, but my uncle (MSU Engineering '08) moved to Richmond, VA for a job with a big chemical engineering company. At work, he met a few MSU grads. No big deal. I believe this was the year MSU made it to the NCAA march madness finals and lost to UNC. Anyways, these MSU people had an immediate connection with him, and to this day they all meet up once a month or so to watch football or basketball or something.
I wouldnt go as far as to say there’s more of a connection between the grads, but Universities tend to have more school spirit, so the alumni networks actually tend to MEAN something.</p>
<p>A big U usually provides a better chance of employment in your major with a BA/BS (i.e., more “employment” majors). LACs tend to be more grad school prep institutions.</p>
<p>“Not only are top universities MORE prestigious than top LACs (HYP vs WAP) but the top 30 universities are more prestigious than top 30 LACs.”</p>
<p>Prestigious? Yes. Offer the better education that will make you more qualified? Certainly not. Employers do not focus solely on the name of your alma mater. If you look at this list:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1056222-top-30-colleges-highest-graduate-salary.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1056222-top-30-colleges-highest-graduate-salary.html</a></p>
<p>Schools like Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, Colgate, Bucknell, Lafayette, etc. have made the list and are obviously on the radar of employers.</p>
<p>“I wouldnt go as far as to say there’s more of a connection between the grads, but Universities tend to have more school spirit…”</p>
<p>I would disagree again. Having pride in a sports team does not mean having pride in your school, which many liberal arts colleges do. We have a common saying: “Love Reed”, because we do very much.</p>
<p>“A big U usually provides a better chance of employment in your major with a BA/BS (i.e., more “employment” majors). LACs tend to be more grad school prep institutions.”</p>
<p>Because many LACs do not have business majors (and the fact that many public universities have student bodies that are ~10-15x the size of LACS), there will definitely be a higher number of people hired in the US from large universities every year. However, that does not mean that you appear more qualified with a degree from a large university.</p>