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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m another anti-SLAC poster, but not because I think they’re overrated or you can’t get a job coming out of them etc.  I think they’re fine schools generally, but only if they’re top 14-20, and below that (CTCL level) they’re[b] just not worth the extra money a[/b]nd attract too many underachieving students with well to do parents who somehow have convinced themselves that [b]simply by virtue of smaller size and larger price they are better than the other option available to their kids - second tier state schools - when in fact the truly important metrics (quality of entering study body, graduation rates, and employment statistics) are equal.   
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This shows a real lack of understanding of LAC pricing outside the top tier. I have a kid who has the profile where her options are 2nd tier VA state schools or LACs in the 50-100 range. She's a senior and has applied to both. Has acceptances from both categories. [b]There is NO price difference[/b]. She likes small, rural and the small size/focus on teaching-mentoring is a plus for the research opportunities that are important to her. Yes, there are absolutely compromises. She would have a broader range of EC options at a bigger school but she, rightly, is focused on where she thinks she will do best academically. And prioritizing the availability of one EC that is particularly important to her.

Would the research, EC, student body, etc. all be great at a top ranked national U or top ranked SLAC, absolutely. But that's not the school she is going to get into or, a bit lower down the rankings not the schools we can pay for. Life is about choices and making the best of the options that are workable for you.

My senior's mid-range LAC is going to cost just a bit more than my older kid's education at Virginia Tech. Maybe #2 will end up there for grad school but right now she wants a small, close knit community. I think mostly as a reaction against a huge, overcrowded high school. I'm glad our education system has a range of options for all kinds of students. Railing against LACs seems as logical as someone who loves a city-based college railing against the "college town" type schools. Different strokes.[/quote]

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