For whom is a SLAC/LAC?

[Anonymous]

Two of my kids went to UVA. Another went to a prestigious liberal arts college. Good fits for all three. Depends on the kid.

[Anonymous]

The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who attends a small liberal arts college or liberal arts college these days? Is it a back-up school if student can't get into state public flagship? Does each state have a well known liberal arts college, or are LACs mostly in the northeast region of US, along east coast US and east-midwest US?
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1284381.page

People who don't want to go to a football school, and who instead value small class sizes and accessible faculty members.

Ugh, this trope again? Schools with football can also have excellent academics, small-medium class sizes, and accessible faculty members. Imagine!

[Anonymous]

In MD, the other state universities other than UMCP aren't great so a LAC it is.

[Anonymous]

My daughter wanted a small school and I have to say it exceeded all expectations. I went to University of Michigan and it doesn’t hold a candle to my daughters small, midwestern LAC. She had such close relationships with faculty, like could pick up the phone and call with a question. Wonderful, close relationships with classmates. Just the best

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In MD, the other state universities other than UMCP aren't great so a LAC it is.

Which LACs? Washington college, Goucher, where are the LACs in MD? In VA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In MD, the other state universities other than UMCP aren't great so a LAC it is.

Which LACs? Washington college, Goucher, where are the LACs in MD? In VA?

Is Goucher considered a LAC in MD? Don't hear much about MD LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter wanted a small school and I have to say it exceeded all expectations. I went to University of Michigan and it doesn’t hold a candle to my daughters small, midwestern LAC. She had such close relationships with faculty, like could pick up the phone and call with a question. Wonderful, close relationships with classmates. Just the best

Oberlin?
Denison?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.

Lol no

[Anonymous]

LACs are not backup schools for state schools and state schools are not backup schools for LACs. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of colleges—students often have a preference towards one type.

LACs attract students looking for more intimate settings with smaller class sizes and more opportunities to get to know professors.
LAC students are much more likely to be seeking a broader education and state school students may be more interested in specialization. Moreover, state school students are much more concerned about career focused education than LAC students (which is why state schools will have popular majors such as nursing, education, and engineering while LACs will have popular majors such as mathematics, english, economics, and biology.

They also tend to value smaller communities and are more comfortable somewhere where they see lots of familiar faces. This contrasts the large state school where you see tens of thousands of different people.

Overall, they can be great colleges for a student seeking a tight knit, intellectual atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.

It does not.
Some are not selective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who attends a small liberal arts college or liberal arts college these days? Is it a back-up school if student can't get into state public flagship? Does each state have a well known liberal arts college, or are LACs mostly in the northeast region of US, along east coast US and east-midwest US?
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1284381.page

Intellectually curious kids with interdisciplinary interests and less certain of committing to a major. Those who like the intimacy and personal touch of small undergrad only colleges and classes vs the anonymity and impersonality of large universities. Those who prefer collaborative versus competitive environments. This is not a value judgement of one being better than the other. They are just different environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In MD, the other state universities other than UMCP aren't great so a LAC it is.

Which LACs? Washington college, Goucher, where are the LACs in MD? In VA?

Is Goucher considered a LAC in MD? Don't hear much about MD LACs.

That’s because college options in MD suck beyond UMD-CP and JHU.

[Anonymous]

only worth it if you can get a winning lottery ticket to the top 2 or 3 - after that a hard pass

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.

My whole life SLAC meant small liberal arts college. Then I came to DCUM.