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[quote=Anonymous]It depends on the type of program. I have a PhD in psychology and I went to a SLAC that sends a relatively high % of grads onto PhD programs. I think some of my alma mater's placement, though, has to do with what SLAC students desire to do after graduation. When you're someone who likes school and who doesn't have a major that lends itself to an obvious career path, a PhD starts to look more attractive. That's not really a knock on PhDs--I am glad that I have one because my career would not have been possible without it! But at the time, some of my decision making was influenced by not knowing what I could do without a graduate degree.

I was able to get research experience in a lab at a larger, research-focused school over the summer when I was an undergrad. That experience was very helpful for my grad applications. There were research opportunities in psychology at my SLAC, but it wasn't the same as what I got to experience at a more research-focused school. But also, I was able to fund that summer research opportunity through a grant program that my SLAC had that was specifically intended to give SLAC students big-school lab experience. So I ultimately felt like I got the best of both worlds: I got to go to a smaller school where the teachers liked teaching, but I also got to experience a "real" lab in a psychology research area that would not be taken on by a SLAC professor.[/quote]

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