<p>I like LACs for their focus on learning and their small student body..but I want to do business (or maybe science) as my career. Does that go against everything LACs stand for? Will I be able to get an education (or a broad education..) in those areas? What kind of jobs do students get upon graduating?</p>
<p>While LACs do lack a business major, what you do your undergraduate degree in does not restrict you to that field. However, a specialized degree such as accounting/financing is often preferred by employers in the business industry.</p>
<p>Science is probably better at an LAC than a university because you’ll have the opportunity to do research with professors. Grad students at universities usually don’t let you do that. Jobs obviously depend on the school and the individual. I don’t think an LAC will hinder your chance at a job, though- even in business. Business firms recruit at top LACs. Understand that LACs are just colleges without a graduate school. They’re also smaller.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies~!</p>
<p>Business firms recruit at top LACs even though they don’t grant business-related majors? Do LACs have career infos on their sites?</p>
<p>They do have economics majors. Look at Claremont McKenna for a top economics LAC. CMC also has a financial economics major. Pomona, Amherst, Williams, etc also hire well. East coast may do a little better on wall street, though. Investment banks don’t require any major when they hire. They hire like most jobs- if the individual is qualified. See my post on
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1056503-econ-major-help-narrowing-college-search.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1056503-econ-major-help-narrowing-college-search.html</a></p>
<p>This is from what I’ve been told by friends/adults involved in IB. I was interested it in at one point.</p>
<p>They go to grad school.</p>
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<p>This in incorrect. When I was a grad student at a university we had three or four undergrads working in our laboratory every term. It is very common for university undergraduates to do research if they so choose. My daughter was offered a spot in a lab during her Jr year at her university.</p>
<p>It may a take a little legwork (contacting professors) to locate a lab that has an opening and is working on something of interest to you, but the opportunities are certainly there.</p>
<p>There are many good reasons for choosing an LAC, but thinking you can’t get the opportunity to do research at a university is not one of them.</p>
<p>^ What coureur said! My daughter started working in a physics lab at a major research university in the spring semester of her freshman year. She did well academically in the fall semester and contacted a prof over winter break which led to an interview and a place in the lab.</p>
<p>Of course you can do research in the sciences at a LAC and many do. Some LACs (like Grinnell) even provide significant funding to support student research. Nor do the students have to compete with grad students for that opportunity. But that isn’t what the OP asked.</p>
<p>OP, lots of kids at LACs, especially those who major in economics, go into business. Check with the career planning and placement center at the LACs you visit to see what kind of resources and recruitment contacts they have. You may also want to consider an urban LAC for greater internship options during the school year.</p>
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<p>I am hoping to NOT go to grad school. I heard Wharton graduates don’t even need a MBA…and I want to do business with science as a hobby, so ability to do research is not too important…</p>
<p>I’m looking into Amherst, who is need-blind for me (an international). What do you all think?</p>
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<p>Most of them in professions that have nothing to do with their undergraduate major.
Anything else?</p>
<p>@Coureur- Maybe I said that too much as blanket statement. Yes you can at a university, but it’s generally more difficult and there’s more competition. You just stated yourself that you’re a grad student doing it. That means that you took up an undergrad’s spot in that lab. At LACs, the professors need undergrads to help them. The top LACs will actually give you significant grants to do research with professors. At universities, the professors are paid to do research (as opposed to teaching), and they usually do their research with grad students. I personally know the head of the biology department at Stanford, and she told me that she doesn’t care about her undergrads. And she’s won “best undergrad prof” multiple times at Stanford- she laughed about it. (That may seem like a far-fetched story, but I promise it’s true- she told me not to apply to Stanford). You’ll also have smaller classes at LACs. Intro science classes at LACs are usually 30-50 people max (maybe up to 80 for some classes), while at universities it’s not rare to have 300-500 people in them. A friend taking an intro chem course at Claremont McKenna had 14 people in his class- with two professors. You’ll also be taught 100% by full-time professors, never TA’s. When you get to more specialized science classes, it’s not uncommon to only have 5 people in your class. The small classes, intimate environment, and ability to easily do real research with professors makes LACs better for science in my opinion. Top universities certainly offer great science classes, but I think students learn more with what an LAC can offer. </p>
<p>Before we start an argument, just go to the “University over LAC’s?” thread. </p>
<p>@op: Wharton is probably a special case. It’s one of the few undergraduate degrees that mean something when looking for a job. I don’t think you can go wrong with Wharton, but it’s certainly not the end of the world if you don’t get in. The main advantage a university has over an LAC in getting a job is a larger alumni network- that depends on the university, though.</p>
<p>Many of them become CEOs: [CEOs</a> and Liberal Arts](<a href=“http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/libart/ceolibarts.html]CEOs”>http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/libart/ceolibarts.html)</p>
<p>A career-specific degree may be more useful for landing an entry-level job right out of college, but a liberal arts degree is essentially education for long-term leadership.</p>
<p>I think some LACs are more represented in business than other LACs. I’ve heard, for example, that Colgate grads frequently go to Wall Street.</p>
<p>santaria - I certainly think it is appropriate for you for you to speak of the advantages of an LAC from your experience as an undergrad at one, but you seem to perpetuate many of the stereotypical opinions about research universities that I see from other LAC promoters here on CC without having the experience to back it up. From the experience of my daughter at a peer school to Stanford and my own experience decades ago at a top public it is not difficult for science students get research experience. Yes, the grad students will have primacy for research work since that is what a PhD requires, but these institutions do so much more research than LACs that there is plenty of room for undergrads. Undergrads that think they will go on to grad school also get the advantage of interacting with grad students to really learn what that involves. And these undergrads have the opportunity to take grad level classes (usually as seniors) which is not a possibility at at strictly undergrad college. Class sizes are larger than typical of a LAC. But often there are multiple series of introductory classes of the sciences so that the chemistry or physics majors are taking different classes from the masses that are fulfilling their distribution requirements and therefore the 300-500 class population is not applicable to the science students.</p>
<p>Colgate is also known for science, great science building (labs) and good geology major. Many people go work down in TX. Colgate is probably more pre-professional than other LACs. </p>
<p>Liberal arts education is a very good foundation for many careers you want to pursue in the future, and employers recognize it as such.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is well known for pre-med, pre-law,and business careers(many CEO’s and Wall Street). HC recently built $70 million science building and has a very high med school acceptance rate. Williams, Holy Cross, and Colgate do very well in the recent Payscale salary ranking.</p>
<p>People who graduate from LAC’s have nothing to do. They just end up poor and homeless. Kidding. But seriously, LAC’s do offer sciences and economics degrees. Heck, there are national universities that don’t offer business degrees or finance degrees yet are still recruited by top med schools and wallstreet. I wouldn’t worry about it. Liberal arts just usually means a stronger focus on undergraduate.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response everyone. Forgive my lack of research, but will LACs have courses such as finance? I’m only looking at Amherst (for its need-blind policy) and I’m thinking of doing business and I do want to work on Wall Street or similarly big firms.</p>
<p>Generally finance classes would only be found in business programs. If a school (LAC or University) does not have business majors, then you will be hard pressed to find a finance class. That is why many students choose economics as the closest alternative.</p>