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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Living in Virginia means, for me, that my kids’ safety schools are state schools.  I see no reason to pay for private when there’s likely a comparable public option in our home state.  FWIW we would not get financial aid and could afford the privates. I honestly just think it’s a waste once you get below the top 20. [/quote]

So 20 is worth it but 21 isn’t. Gotcha. [/quote]
 
NP: I'm a professor at a research university and I know faculty at nearly all of the top 75 or so liberal arts colleges.  I would say the colleges typically ranked in the top 10ish are qualitatively different in terms of academic excellence--primarily because of the strength of the students and the capacity of the endowments, but that after that point to somewhere roughly in the 80s all are all excellent schools without meaningful distinctions in the academic value they offer students among them (though some have relative areas of strength--e.g., sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts etc.). I wouldn't hesitate sending my kids to any that were a reasonable financial fit (and many often are through merit aid offers). Many of these private schools end up costing the same or less than UVA or W&M.[/quote]

Are you in the humanities? I'm just curious how you think an education at a SLAC compares to a research universities.  It was my impression that faculty at SLACs are not involved in active research to the degree that university professors are (they simply don't have time since they teach so many more classes). And that this may influence what and how they teach in the respective types of schools and also affect the power of letters to open doors to grad school.  It doesn't sound like this is your impression.  I kind of thought that faculty in SLAC and research universities didn't intersect/cross paths all that much so the contacts might not be there.  I know there is more personal attention at SLACs but having only been around research universities I really don't know what they're like (and the people I know who teach at research universities in STEM fields do not know many faculty at SLACs and feel the contacts and who writes letters are important).  My DC is strong in humanities and we struggle with which type of school would be best for continuing with grad school if that's what DC wants to do.  [/quote]

I'm in biology/bioinformatics (and do research that intersects with social, health, environmental sciences and policy)--so not as much in the humanities though I value humanities education highly.  Faculty at SLACs still present at conferences and interact in broader social academic circles.  They also tend to write far more detailed letters about their undergrad students and support their growth.  I also am involved in an NSF-REU undergraduate research grant that supports students from other colleges/universities work in our labs for summer internships so I end up knowing a lot of faculty at SLACs and their students through that.  That is something I advise SLAC STEM students who ask--look for NSF REU sites in your field (they are all over the country) and you can get some additional funded lab experience in a new town/city.  I would say the downside of SLACs is just there are often fewer faculty so there will be gaps in specialities sometimes, or if you don't click with a particular faculty there's not as many other options.  But for undergrad, I don't think specialization is the right route yet anyway.[/quote]

Following up: here's the link to NSF REU sites in the biological sciences: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5047
You can get similar listing for all STEM specialties.  The wide availability of programs like these, and the willingness of SLACs to accommodate students extending this work through various flexible arrangements are why I think people who discount research opportunities at SLACs are misinformed.  I've had SLAC undergrads who have had 3-4 research internships over their years--and they have typically been students who are really enjoyable to work with and who are usually stronger in critical reading/writing than my students.  They sometimes are a tad naive/overconfident --they haven't internalized lab hierarchies and processes and aren't modeling themselves on the grad students the way research university students naturally learn to do--but I haven't had one yet I didn't offer a wholehearted recommendation when they applied to grad programs (I do handpick applications, so it's not unsurprising).  [/quote]

Thank you so much for answering my question!  Very kind of you to share this info and eye-opening.  Great to know.[/quote]

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