What makes an LAC "good"

[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,most do.

[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.

Easzee Peaszee: Among Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, & Pomona, you distinguish by which one(s) accepted you and those which rejected you.

[Anonymous]

Beyond small class sizes, your daughter may benefit from considering schools by the broader concept of classroom experience:

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=best-classroom-experience

[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,most do.

Correct.

[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,most do.

Correct.

Agreed. I have actually never known anyone who doesn’t say “el ay cee.”
We’ve sent two kids to LACs and met many families, faculty, and staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Easzee Peaszee: Among Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, & Pomona, you distinguish by which one(s) accepted you and those which rejected you.

Something tells me no distinction will be made: rejections all!

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to a WASP, which she chose over another WASP. IMO, the four WASP schools are much more similar than different in terms of overall quality. The important differences are in location, vibe, and certain career paths (e.g., if want Wall Street, Williams and Amherst; if you want Tech or academia, Pomona and Swarthmore). And, quality-wise, I don't really distinguish Wellesley, Bowdoin, and Carleton from WASP either.

[Anonymous]

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

I cannot vouch for the other two institutions (though they’re academically excellent), Pomona has a fantastic history departments, and it’s alum tend to be recipients of the most prestigious fellowships and grants from the college.
Last year, both downing scholar recipients were history majors: https://www.pomona.edu/news/2024/06/12-downing-scholarship-funds-leo-alaghband-24-and-zongqi-tim-zhai-24-study-cambridge . Pomona has a lot of academic and emphasis in STEM, but history is one of its best departments.

[Anonymous]

For a statistical perspective on Pomona's history program, Pomona graduated seven first majors in history in a recent year.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Pomona&s=all&id=121345#programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a statistical perspective on Pomona's history program, Pomona graduated seven first majors in history in a recent year.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Pomona&s=all&id=121345#programs

Sounds like they get a lot of attention if true; they have 10 tenure/tenure track faculty alone. Add CMC’s 14 tenure/tenure track history faculty and you have access to a very large pool of resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a statistical perspective on Pomona's history program, Pomona graduated seven first majors in history in a recent year.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Pomona&s=all&id=121345#programs

Sounds like they get a lot of attention if true; they have 10 tenure/tenure track faculty alone. Add CMC’s 14 tenure/tenure track history faculty and you have access to a very large pool of resources.

And all of that sounds wonderful…but you have to get in, and they hardly take anyone from the DMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.)

On the accessibility topic: Southwest is adding a direct flight from BWI to Ontario, CA (yes, that's California) starting June 2025. That airport is 18 mins from the Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Harvey Mudd) and the flight time is 5 hours and 15 mins nonstop.

[Anonymous]

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

All small LACs are highly rated in these areas. That's what makes them SLACs.

[Anonymous]

For perspective on Pomona's difficulty of admission, this site places it as the 16th most selective school in the nation:

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For perspective on Pomona's difficulty of admission, this site places it as the 16th most selective school in the nation:

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750

It's not that difficult to get into. A lot of under qualified students apply. The academic background of most students is poor.