<p>Unless you like small environments, I would recommend you go to a research university. While it’s harder to get access to all the facilities since there are more students, you most definitely can; it’s not as difficult as you think. Even at a large school like Berkeley or UCLA or UW-Madison, it isn’t terribly difficult to get in on the research/facilities/programs since there’s so much of it all.</p>
<p>While LACs do have a high grad school placement, I have a feeling it tends to be in the arts/humanities/social sciences.</p>