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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Eh, my child that graduated a NESCAC received a far better education than my child that graduated an ivy. [/quote]

How do you know?  Did you go to class with them?[/quote]

New poster here.  I went to a SLAC.  A couple years after graduating, I went to Harvard Law School.  As a 3L, I took an undergrad class I was interested in.  (Classic SLAC grad behavior--being interested in learning for its own sake.)  I can directly compare my experience in classes at my SLAC to my experience in a Harvard undergrad class.

There is no comparison.  The Harvard kids undoubtedly were smart, though not as smart as they thought they were.  But the class conducted with the professor was almost pure lecture--something I never really experienced in undergrad.  Our discussion sections, led by a grad student "TF" (what other schools call TAs), made clear that none of my classmates were actually doing the (interesting!) reading assigned to us.  There was plenty of "discussion," but it featured these students bloviating on with their takes on something they hadn't read, so it was fairly shallow.  My undergrad professors would never have allowed this.

Harvard is undoubtedly superior to my college at giving kids connections (outside of finance, at which my school also does quite well).  And its leaps and bounds better at making the students think highly of themselves.  But as far as an actual educational experience--learning to critically attack text, back of arguments with evidence, engage in true back and forth discussions with professors--it was not as strong.  (And grad school placements are largely equivalent.)  I'm definitely not saying that Harvard undergrads get a bad education, but I got a better one.  If you value education for its own sake, strongly consider a SLAC.[/quote]

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