Life after SLAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it looks like most people do some sort of Masters program to be successful after a SLAC. Can't you do that same program after a regular college? Does goign to SLAC confer any advantages in the admission process to a top business/law/medical schools?

It's a tough world, and kids need to get the skills to earn a living, but I think it's sad to see a SLAC solely in terms of the earning power of the alumni. The main reason to go to a SLAC is because it's a privilege to study serious things with serious people for four years

This thread is turning like CC where everyone's touting their stats like, "6'3", $100,000/yr., 10 inches." Isn't the purpose of a liberal arts education to produce educated human beings first and foremost? Life is not all doctors and lawyers with money rolling in. Life also throws in a pottery maker, a furniture maker, a chef...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to a West Coast (small)LAC. 15 years out, I'm a tenured professor at a flagship research university.

In almost all cases, I recommend undergraduate education at a SLAC rather than the kind of flagship where I work.

I'm not so sure. I went to a top 10 SLAC. One of my DCs went to a top 25 SLAC. The other went to a Big10 flagship in the liberal arts college. My experience was pretty good, DC at a SLAC was just okay, DC at Big10 was great.

OP, I worked for a few years after SLAC and then went to a top MBA program. I've been in management consulting since then.

Agree i wish i had not spent the money I did on my SLAC. DC at top flagship is getting a far better education.

And I feel the opposite. I went to a top flagship and my kid at a top SLAC is having a much better experience, from more interaction with professors to more attention from career services and alumni.

[Anonymous]

SLAC in the Midwest. Went on to grad school, now a government contractor. Former classmates I'm still in touch with are a psychologist, several engineers, several lawyers, several doctors, a nurse, a minister, a physicist, several professors in humanities, a few middle school/high school teachers.

[Anonymous]

Eventually got a PhD in a different field than my bachelors and am now a government economist.

Had no regrets until lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eventually got a PhD in a different field than my bachelors and am now a government economist.

Had no regrets until lately.

I did this too (not in economics) and know quite a few other SLAC graduates who did also. I was accepted into a top PhD program in a different field with no prior master's. I wonder if that's a benefit of the more generalized curriculum of a SLAC: you're not as defined by your major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it looks like most people do some sort of Masters program to be successful after a SLAC. Can't you do that same program after a regular college? Does goign to SLAC confer any advantages in the admission process to a top business/law/medical schools?

It's a tough world, and kids need to get the skills to earn a living, but I think it's sad to see a SLAC solely in terms of the earning power of the alumni. The main reason to go to a SLAC is because it's a privilege to study serious things with serious people for four years

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