What makes an LAC "good"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can use IPEDS to view colleges by their number of majors in a field. For example, Swarthmore graduated five "first majors" in history in a recent year:

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Swarthmore&s=all&id=216287#programs

I would go deep on the faculty - who they are, how long-term they are, their research interests, etc.

I'm a flagship grad, as is my husband, but we both went to smaller grad programs.

It's a problem when you have to take classes from a department chair or a small set of faculty that you don't vibe with. At a big school, you have lots of alternatives. At a small school, it seems like high school 2.0 with only one person who teaches some particular thing. And to get great scholarships to grad school, you absolutely need a few faculty members to write glowing letters. So to me, alignment with the departmental faculty would be key. If you can't understand or relate to their research areas, that's going to likely make their special classes kind of boring...senior seminars, fun electives, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can use IPEDS to view colleges by their number of majors in a field. For example, Swarthmore graduated five "first majors" in history in a recent year:

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Swarthmore&s=all&id=216287#programs

I would go deep on the faculty - who they are, how long-term they are, their research interests, etc.

I'm a flagship grad, as is my husband, but we both went to smaller grad programs.

It's a problem when you have to take classes from a department chair or a small set of faculty that you don't vibe with. At a big school, you have lots of alternatives. At a small school, it seems like high school 2.0 with only one person who teaches some particular thing. And to get great scholarships to grad school, you absolutely need a few faculty members to write glowing letters. So to me, alignment with the departmental faculty would be key. If you can't understand or relate to their research areas, that's going to likely make their special classes kind of boring...senior seminars, fun electives, etc.

Definitely depends on your research area. As a stem grad from an lac, most of your important rev letters come from research programs, not just faculty at your school- and it’s expected you’ll have research experience outside of directly what you’re applying for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can use IPEDS to view colleges by their number of majors in a field. For example, Swarthmore graduated five "first majors" in history in a recent year:

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Swarthmore&s=all&id=216287#programs

As an opinion, a student interested in history may prefer a school with more than 5 graduating majors. As a minimum, 11 or 12 might suffice, with the upper teens or greater indicating a desirably diverse history community.

[Anonymous]

Accessibility of professors, academic rigor, and commitment to undergraduate teaching. Amherst, Pomona, and Carleton are highly ranked in these areas—hard to beat them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can use IPEDS to view colleges by their number of majors in a field. For example, Swarthmore graduated five "first majors" in history in a recent year:

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Swarthmore&s=all&id=216287#programs

I would go deep on the faculty - who they are, how long-term they are, their research interests, etc.

I'm a flagship grad, as is my husband, but we both went to smaller grad programs.

It's a problem when you have to take classes from a department chair or a small set of faculty that you don't vibe with. At a big school, you have lots of alternatives. At a small school, it seems like high school 2.0 with only one person who teaches some particular thing. And to get great scholarships to grad school, you absolutely need a few faculty members to write glowing letters. So to me, alignment with the departmental faculty would be key. If you can't understand or relate to their research areas, that's going to likely make their special classes kind of boring...senior seminars, fun electives, etc.

+1. Good if you can get an idea of who you will be working with, because there often aren’t many options.

[Anonymous]

It “a” LAC, not “an” LAC.

[Anonymous]

If you want good writing or arts faculty, pick as school that's near where writers or artists want to live. This is an underrated aspect of LACs within two hours of a city - they can get interesting visiting professors who commute in to teach. It is much harder for remote schools like Colgate and Hamilton, which is why they have to offer "emerging writing" fellowships to get a young writer to move there for the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It “a” LAC, not “an” LAC.

I've always pronounced it "Lack" in my head, ie, treated it as an acronym, not an initialism like ATM.

[Anonymous]

As a potential aspect to consider, math and history can be combined through a data science major, in which history could be chosen as an applied domain. This approach would not preclude additional majors or minors in math and history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It “a” LAC, not “an” LAC.

I've always pronounced it "Lack" in my head, ie, treated it as an acronym, not an initialism like ATM.

Exactly. No one says their kid goes to an "el ay cee".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It “a” LAC, not “an” LAC.

I've always pronounced it "Lack" in my head, ie, treated it as an acronym, not an initialism like ATM.

Exactly. No one says their kid goes to an "el ay cee".

Actually, many do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It “a” LAC, not “an” LAC.

I've always pronounced it "Lack" in my head, ie, treated it as an acronym, not an initialism like ATM.

Exactly. No one says their kid goes to an "el ay cee".

Actually, many do.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you distinguish between the LACs when they're all similar, especially amongst WASP schools? They all have small class sizes, pretty campuses, and strong academics. DD is interested in a math/history double major, but the schools and offerings are so so similar that it seems like we are just splitting hairs deciding.

I wouldn’t restrict to just those 4 anymore than I would restrict a university list to just HYPMS but…

A few things that come to mind to learn about:

Distribution of majors, courses available, major requirements, grad requirements, feeder rates to different grad programs, region, town, campus features, facilities, traditions, alumni giving, legacy blind, extracurricular scene (including % athlete), research opportunities, faculty interests, access to airport, access to nature, access to major city, expert opinions, financial aid, health services access, faculty compensation, and transparency (eg availability of common data sets.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It “a” LAC, not “an” LAC.

I've always pronounced it "Lack" in my head, ie, treated it as an acronym, not an initialism like ATM.

Exactly. No one says their kid goes to an "el ay cee".

Actually, many do.

+1

-1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you distinguish between the LACs when they're all similar, especially amongst WASP schools? They all have small class sizes, pretty campuses, and strong academics. DD is interested in a math/history double major, but the schools and offerings are so so similar that it seems like we are just splitting hairs deciding.

By department quality and appeal.

I attended a SLAC in the 30-50 ranking range, but my major was absolutely exceptional. Curriculum design, course offerings and professors were top notch, lots of flexibility allowed me to focus on areas of interest, etc.

I’d dig deep into these aspects of your kid’s target majors at each school (most of this info is available on websites).