What do the kids do at a LAC in a sleepy town?

[Anonymous]

As we are college touring, I am finding many LAC’s very appealing in their small classrooms, working with undergrads, “college feel”, etc... My daughter is undecided between humanities and science, is already from a small rigorous school that she loves. Assumed she would prefer a 2000 kid school. Dual majoring is a major interest and many LAC have that. But she has been disappointed in most because they tend to be out in the middle of nowhere. She is comparing them to larger suburban or urban schools she has visited and surprisingly seems to be leaning towards the latter.

What do the kids do in the small schools during weekends? If there is no where to really travel to or really go off campus, does the college hold more events?

We are trying to figure out the good and bad. Ones that we looked at are Amherst, Kenyon, Denison, and Lafayette. Tufts even felt a tad isolated but we didnt get to see the connected town and know they are close to Boston.

[Anonymous]

There are some LACs that are in closer areas. There's a train station from the Tri-Co colleges (Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Haverford) to Philadelphia. Wellesley has a train station to Boston. The Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Claremont, Mudd, Pitzer, Scripps) border a train to Los Angeles. Some LACs are actually in a city, like Macalester (St. Paul), Portland (Oregon), and URichmond (Richmond). Easy to go out for a weekend and even to do internships. Some LACs are truly isolated, but not all of them are.

[Anonymous]

Whoops, I meant Reed (Portland, OR)

[Anonymous]

They tip cows.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you used Niche?

You can read reviews from students about what the day to day life encompasses, and it aggregates them into grades. For instance, Amherst is rated a B+ for student life (https://www.niche.com/colleges/amherst-college/campus-life/), Kenyon is an A- (https://www.niche.com/colleges/kenyon-college/campus-life/). Isolated as all heck Grinnell is rated an A (https://www.niche.com/colleges/grinnell-college/campus-life/). It seems that students at those more isolated schools are still finding high quality of life experiences.

[Anonymous]

I went to a SLAC in a small town (Beloit, fine, whatever, outing myself somewhat). NOT much to do in the town itself. We hung out with friends on campus, slept in, ate long meals in the campus cafeteria, went grocery shopping, did homework, occasionally went to Chicago or Madison, sometimes did community service activities in the town, exercised, watched movies, etc.

[Anonymous]

At Amherst the students will go to Boston or NYC sometimes. Within walking distance in the town there are several good restauarants, a movie theater, some shopping. There are usually some music concerts and/or plays on campus on the weekends. There's a free bus system which goes all around the area to all the basics of city/suburban living. There are 5 colleges in the area so if partying is what the kid wants, it can be found. If it's nature/outdoors, there are lots of trails, biking, skiing nearby. After freshman year, a lot of kids have cars and drive around the area - it's not nearly as isolated as Williams or Kenyon. And even at a school like Swarthmore, right on the train line into Philly, I understand that most kids rarely go into the city.

[Anonymous]

I went to Middlebury and have no recollection of being bored by the location, and i grew up in NYC...as I recall we would do as a PP said, sleep late, have a casual brunch, study. We also spent a lot of time doing outdoorsy stuff like hiking, skiing or just hanging around the campus (and warm beautiful day was a treat). We went to Burlington on occasion but it never felt too isolated. YMMV

[Anonymous]

I went to Scripps and rarely felt the need to go off campus. I love those small campuses. It gives you the chance to really bond and become friends with your peers. I went to law school in an even sleepier town (not one single coffee shop or stop light) and I loved it as well.

[Anonymous]

Weed

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, their relative isolation is the best thing about them. Fewer distractions, easier to focus.

[Anonymous]

Beer, weed and sex. Good times. Maybe study a little.

[Anonymous]

I think this is all about personality. It was really important to me to go to college in or near a city. I ended up at Northwestern, and I made good use of Chicago, traveling into the city for performances, and museums, and working and volunteering at various places off campus. I think that I would have found a school without those opportunities to be stifling, in part because I wasn't a kid who loved the social life of college. I had good friends, and enjoyed quiet times in the dorm with them, but I had no desire to go to a sporting event or a frat party.

My brother, who is more social than I am, went to a rural LAC. All of his social life and work life and volunteer life was on campus. He built sets for the school plays, and had a radio show, and worked a campus job. He loved it.

There are urban and suburban LAC's. I'd look at those. It's hard to know which ones to suggest without knowing your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beer, weed and sex. Good times. Maybe study a little.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do want fries with that.

[Anonymous]

I went to Vassar 15-20 years ago. There was a lot going on on campus every weekend--plays, school-sponsored parties, those kinds of things. I rarely left campus and wasn't bored. They advertise proximity to NYC as a plus, but it wasn't close enough to go regularly (hour and 45 minutes by train).