Reply to Should LACs no longer be considered the model of excellence?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]) certain LACs get fetishized as elite because they connote old money.  But rather than admit that, they sell/are sold this line that their kids will get this exceptional education because the school is small, has no grad students, and [b]doesn't teach anything that seems practical[/b]. [/quote]

If by practical, you mean manual labor or administrative jobs, you are right. However, top LACs do provide an educational experience that is indeed superior in many ways to larger universities for *undergraduates*.  I would be impossible for a college student at a top LAC to graduate without having written a number of long papers, participated in small discussion seminars, or not being known by several professors fairly well. OTOH, for many students at even top state universities, small seminars are highly unusual, writing long (25pp+) papers is rare, and you can get through without ever having known a professor on a personal basis. Having graduated from AWS, and then going onto get my PhD at a "public Ivy" I saw first hand how different the undergraduate experience is in those settings. In many ways, the graduate of the SLAC is far better prepared for entering the "real world" because you cannot graduate successfully by coasting through large classes and just showing up for the final exam.

Of course, students graduate from large state schools and do very well. But, the quality of the academic experience is generally going to be much better for college students at a top LAC compared to a top state school.[/quote]

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