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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think that most accredited colleges, LAC or otherwise, offer students more educational opportunities than they can take advantage of.  I think that the quality of education any student at any college receives is determined more by the extent to which they apply themselves and take advantage of those opportunities than by the name of the institution awarding their diploma.  Therefore, I think it is better to find the best college for a student, that will best motivate and facilitate that particular student, than to assume that some published ranking of “best” colleges will provide that particular student with the best outcome.[/quote]
What a ridiculous statement. You're going to get a better education at Stanford or MIT than Williams.[/quote]

A better undergraduate education? Probably not. What would actually make you believe that you would get a better  education at either school? The faculty aren't superior for undergraduate teaching than at a top SLAC. The resources aren't superior to a top SLAC. The student bodies are basically identical to those at a top SLAC. The class sizes are smaller at a top SLAC. The access to professors is actually better at a top SLAC. The access to research opportunities that are actually appropriate to level of experience are typically higher at a top SLAC. Overall a top SLAC provides a superior educational environment for student outside of those looking to study CS or engineering. [/quote]
The research opportunities available are significantly less, and there's also much better undergraduate teaching at Stanford and especially MIT than at these SLACs for STEM subjects. I'm sorry, but you seem more biased than anything else; MIT is pretty much the gold standard for providing STEM education with significant depth and breadth, while also maintaining work that an undergraduate student can handle, often pushing more towards graduate level education in its problem sets and pedagogy. SLACs are great if you aren't sure you want to do STEM and need 1-on-1 to solidify your choice, but if you know what you're getting into, you have a much better experience and education coming out of Stanford or MIT.[/quote]

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