Why is DCUM so obsessed with small liberal arts colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SLACs, even the best, are relatively easier admits compared to selective national universities. Personally, I agree that SLACs provide a great education, but I can understand why some consider them bastions of privilege for smart kids who couldn’t get into comparably good national universities. I understand that student preferences and fit are different for each student. I’m just saying that this is the “dig” that some parents would make to parents of SLAC admits. Essentially, they want to say that Harvard is better than Williams, any day.

I know numerous kids who got into HYP and not into Swarthmore or Pomona.

[Anonymous]

I suspect much of the difference in earnings for schools with similar levels of selectivity comes down to the mix of majors at the school and the cost of living where graduates tend to settle.

[Anonymous]

OP is like asking why spend $1000 or more on a smartphone when a landline or a $50 flip phone does exactly what the smartphone does - make and receive phone calls. They are just as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is like asking why spend $1000 or more on a smartphone when a landline or a $50 flip phone does exactly what the smartphone does - make and receive phone calls. They are just as good.

They are completely different. Can’t say that they are just as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t read the whole thread, sorry, but my guess is that a fair amount of people in this area went to a SLAC, had a great time, and make a reasonable salary. And they want other parents to realize the benefits of a liberal arts education.

I went to Wesleyan in CT and my spouse went to a huge UC school, so we’ve seen both sides. Both of us were STEM majors and we got STEM PhDs from the same grad school. My spouse is constantly startled at how much I learned and retained in my really amazing non-science classes - I’ll happily expound for hours on American art from 1865-1945, social psychology, government (political action committees, gerrymandering), John Stuart Mill, etc. I actually think I enjoy life more because of this liberal arts education. We do fine financially as well - I made 3x what my spouse makes; however, his job is a labor of love and “good for the world”- which is made possible by my salary.

+1

I went to a NESCAC school and DH went to UDM-CP. He has the same reaction to my broad-based general knowledge of history, the world, government, philosophy, foreign languages. I make 3x what he does and like PP, make his lower-paid work possible.

Our kids both attended/attend LACs.

Hey, either PP, were you full-pay at your respective SLACS? I got into one and the financial aid on offer was inadequate. 1990s, btw. I ended up at our state flagship. State flagship actually gave me freshman year for free, which was nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My student at a larger university spends a lot of time at course selection tine trying to access all the smaller, seminar style classes. DC is managing to get many of them with perseverance but at a SLAC, are not almost all the classes like this?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The earnings in that link don't look dismal. What are you seeing?

OP here, Grinnell’s average salary ten years out from graduation is around $77K which is quite concerning. Same thing with Skidmore and other selective, but not too selective, LACs.

I'm a teacher. That is close to my salary 10 years after starting (mine is $71K). Is that "quite concerning" to you? No? I didn't think so.

If my kid was smart enough to get into Grinnell and choose to become a teacher, yes, that is quite concerning

What a disgusting comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The earnings in that link don't look dismal. What are you seeing?

OP here, Grinnell’s average salary ten years out from graduation is around $77K which is quite concerning. Same thing with Skidmore and other selective, but not too selective, LACs.

I'm a teacher. That is close to my salary 10 years after starting (mine is $71K). Is that "quite concerning" to you? No? I didn't think so.

If my kid was smart enough to get into Grinnell and choose to become a teacher, yes, that is quite concerning

What a disgusting comment.

A lot of students who go to Grinnell are from the Midwest (though it has 25% international students and students from all over the US). Might explain the salaries.

[Anonymous]

People. The WSJ stats that started this off are from 2008. You're arguing over some out of date stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t read the whole thread, sorry, but my guess is that a fair amount of people in this area went to a SLAC, had a great time, and make a reasonable salary. And they want other parents to realize the benefits of a liberal arts education.

I went to Wesleyan in CT and my spouse went to a huge UC school, so we’ve seen both sides. Both of us were STEM majors and we got STEM PhDs from the same grad school. My spouse is constantly startled at how much I learned and retained in my really amazing non-science classes - I’ll happily expound for hours on American art from 1865-1945, social psychology, government (political action committees, gerrymandering), John Stuart Mill, etc. I actually think I enjoy life more because of this liberal arts education. We do fine financially as well - I made 3x what my spouse makes; however, his job is a labor of love and “good for the world”- which is made possible by my salary.

+1

I went to a NESCAC school and DH went to UDM-CP. He has the same reaction to my broad-based general knowledge of history, the world, government, philosophy, foreign languages. I make 3x what he does and like PP, make his lower-paid work possible.

Our kids both attended/attend LACs.

Okay but this thread is about comparing SLACs to HYPs, not UMD, which is one of the worst public colleges in this entire country. Had your husband gone to UVA, maybe this would be a different conversation. But it is not.

Hey, either PP, were you full-pay at your respective SLACS? I got into one and the financial aid on offer was inadequate. 1990s, btw. I ended up at our state flagship. State flagship actually gave me freshman year for free, which was nice.

[Anonymous]

"It takes a somewhat smart & mature kid to make it through large lecture halls. You are not doing your young adult any favors by trying to shelter them. They will fail in real life if you do."

Please give some examples of real life that require the skills one acquires in a large lecture hall. I went to a pretty big school with those large lectures. I didn't learn any great skill from that experience other than to get copies of other people's notes whenever possible because no one person can capture everything the prof says. Passive listening is also not the best way to learn for most people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"It takes a somewhat smart & mature kid to make it through large lecture halls. You are not doing your young adult any favors by trying to shelter them. They will fail in real life if you do."

Please give some examples of real life that require the skills one acquires in a large lecture hall. I went to a pretty big school with those large lectures. I didn't learn any great skill from that experience other than to get copies of other people's notes whenever possible because no one person can capture everything the prof says. Passive listening is also not the best way to learn for most people.

A smart and mature kid can also realize that they get a lot more out of smaller seminars and seek then out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"It takes a somewhat smart & mature kid to make it through large lecture halls. You are not doing your young adult any favors by trying to shelter them. They will fail in real life if you do."

Please give some examples of real life that require the skills one acquires in a large lecture hall. I went to a pretty big school with those large lectures. I didn't learn any great skill from that experience other than to get copies of other people's notes whenever possible because no one person can capture everything the prof says. Passive listening is also not the best way to learn for most people.

I used to TA a large lecture hall. In a class of 50 or so, you can always expect several 10-page term papers that are identical, word for word. This is what large lecture halls teach students - how to scam.

[Anonymous]

Why? Because old fart parents remember the early 1980s, when SLACs were popular "colleges." Now, it's a hedge against a UVA rejection and the sting that comes from that in nova. That is, the wealthy white parent peer group will still vaguely respect a sweatshirt or decal from one of the "top ranked" SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why? Because old fart parents remember the early 1980s, when SLACs were popular "colleges." Now, it's a hedge against a UVA rejection and the sting that comes from that in nova. That is, the wealthy white parent peer group will still vaguely respect a sweatshirt or decal from one of the "top ranked" SLACs.

WHAT? If you are a middle aged person that actually cares what other parents or family members think about where your child goes to college you have huge issues. Therapy!!