I’m thinking of applying to Soka University of America in California which is an extremely small liberal arts school and since I’m a Wisconsin resident to UW Madison. I’m sure I would be happy at Madison but I would prefer to go to Soka due to their location and superior financial aid policy, but would going to Soka limit my post graduation opportunities compared to going to a well known public school like uw Madison?
I wouldn’t say so, but Soka is unique.
Do you still want business or political science? Because this is what the Soka website says.
“There is only one major at Soka University of America, a B.A. in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Environmental Studies, Humanities, International Studies and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Degree offerings and concentrations will increase as enrollment grows.”
For the benefit of other users, I will give a general answer. I don’t know Soka, though I have seen the name. Employers are well aware of LACs and your degree from one is the same as from a university. If you want to apply to this college, do so without reservation.
In this particular case, many students would find Soka’s academic offerings to be limiting:
http://www.soka.edu/academics/Academic-BA-Program.aspx
Whether that applies to you is something that you need to decide.
Other small liberal arts colleges may be much less limiting in that they offer a wider selection of traditional liberal arts majors than Soka does.
Yeah, Soka is the key factor here, and it’s neither well-known nor well-established. Perhaps equally worrisome are it’s very narrow focus and lack of breadth.
Narrow focus isn’t necessarily a bad thing - there are Great Books colleges as well as other small LACs with limited offerings or specific foci (like Babson, which only has business majors, or Emerson, which only has communications and media majors, or College of the Atlantic, which focuses on human ecology) that are well-respected places.
I don’t subscribe overly much to USNWR rankings, but Soka is tied for #45 with Centre College and is ranked higher than Connecticut, Gettysburg, Sewanee, Furman, Rhodes, and St. Olaf, and just below Bard, Trinity, and Occidental on the top LACs list. Students there are above average in test scores and typically come from the top quarter of their high school class. Wikipedia says about a third continue onto graduate school.
I don’t see the harm in applying and comparing financial aid packages in April. In the mean time, you can investigate SUA’s career services and other post-graduation options.
I’ve been to the Soka campus many many times (I used to live within walking distance) and knew a student that has since graduated. If you know you would be happy at UW Madison, you almost certainly will not be at Soka.
Correct that narrow focus in itself isn’t a problem, but when combined with Soka’s relative novelty and lack of long track record (distinctly unlike St. John’s, Babson, and Emerson), it’s something I’d worry about. UW Madison is much bigger, of course, but also very well respected and extremely strong in pretty much every discipline.
Have you looked at other schools in the southern CA area, such as Chapman, Occidental, Loyola, or Pepperdine? Not sure how you feel about religion, but Loyola is Catholic and Pepperdine is Christian. Soka, I believe, is Buddhist.
This article might be relevant to anyone seriously considering attending Soka:
[Soka University of America Is a School On a Hill](Soka University of America Is a School On a Hill – OC Weekly)
And [an update](Former Soka University Professor Loses Appeal in Religious Discrimination Case – OC Weekly).