My DD is having this experience at Smith. Small classes from the first year with professors who get to know all the students. Even her lab first year was staffed by a professor, there are no grad student TAs. I imagine many other LACs are similar.

Anonymous wrote:Carleton College is known for strong undergrad teaching. We have known a lot of alums or current students there and they all consistently rave about the teaching.

https://www.carleton.edu/news/stories/carleton-professors-ranked-number-one-usnews-top-10-liberal-arts-college/

My Carleton student has had such a great experience with professors. They really take the culture and practice of teaching seriously. Faculty led study abroad programs are a highlight to explore on the website as well. They’re amazing and done in small groups of students with a professor and specialized course credit.

Anonymous wrote:Which colleges are known to have the most engaged professors? Please forgive if this sounds ageist: DD is striving at a HS where most teachers are under 55, super engaged and energetic. They reward kids who speak up and never lecture at you. DD is so inspired by her teachers and it’s really lovely to watch. Hoping she can find similar experience at college.

SLACs, particularly Williams

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at a lesser Ivy (one of Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia) and literally can't get a professor to answer an email. Sent one an email a month ago, resent and the professor never responded. Just had the same experience this week. It's like a black hole at this school. I know because the kid came to us "what am I doing wrong?" I had to say I have no idea. The questions were totally reasonable things that the professors could have answered with a line. And these were not world-renowned people who have 100 independent demands on their time but assistant professors.

I’m a professor and can say that assistant professors at those schools are incredibly busy trying to get tenure based on their research output. They are maybe more busy and stressed than the senior faculty. Teaching and answering student questions is at best a low priority if not an outright distraction.

I was advised as an assistant professor to spend as little time as possible on teaching.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rice?
Brown?
Amherst, Pomona, Middlebury?

Why?

Do your own research!

Anonymous wrote:FWIW my humanities kid at UVA had far more engaged professors, better letters of recommendation (yes, sometimes they do show the student them), and an overall better experience in the same major as I did at my $$ SLAC. Also, after finishing core requirements, my kid just had very small seminars. And the professors were accessible and had office hours, etc.

Humanities is a different animal, many fewer students to manage.

FWIW my humanities kid at UVA had far more engaged professors, better letters of recommendation (yes, sometimes they do show the student them), and an overall better experience in the same major as I did at my $$ SLAC. Also, after finishing core requirements, my kid just had very small seminars. And the professors were accessible and had office hours, etc.

JHU
Vermont
Washington and Lee

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lecture is still important. You don’t want to be in a seminar class filled with kids who know nothing.

LACs have lectures too. They just have 50 students in them, rather than 500.

But they also have many, discussion-based seminars where students are forced to engage actively in the learning after the professors introduce concepts or an idea. Many small, private high schools also have this system with great effect and impact.

It’s sad that some adults never grow up. If college is like high school, something is wrong.

To op, the best scholars are at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, MIT and occasionally Berkeley

The best scholars are not necessarily the best or the most engaged teachers.

My DC is at a lesser Ivy (one of Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia) and literally can't get a professor to answer an email. Sent one an email a month ago, resent and the professor never responded. Just had the same experience this week. It's like a black hole at this school. I know because the kid came to us "what am I doing wrong?" I had to say I have no idea. The questions were totally reasonable things that the professors could have answered with a line. And these were not world-renowned people who have 100 independent demands on their time but assistant professors.

Anonymous wrote:This survey-based site, which includes schools such as Reed, Claremont McKenna and Hamilton, offers a ranking for "best classroom experience":

Best Colleges for Classroom Experience | The Princeton Review https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=best-classroom-experience

This is another Princeton Review list worth checking out.

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=professors-get-high-marks

This is a reason I continue to cheerlead for my alma mater, Wake Forest. Yes, it is ridiculously expensive these days (hoping they get better with aid), but the professors were engaging and accessible. I never had a problem with just dropping into an office to ask a quick question. They were also just overwhelmingly kind and just seemed to enjoy teaching.

I beg to differ here, everyone. You want a school where the _students_ are engaged, hardworking, and interested. The most dedicated, dynamic, and sympathetic prof in the world can't save a "seminar" where only one or two of the students have read and reflected upon the preparatory materials. Professors who are challenged and fascinated _by_their_students_ are able to deliver a better classroom experience. And they will hold more office hours and events if students actually attend.

This is not to say that good professors are made by their students (although they are certainly inspired by them!), but rather that the right student culture creates a good feedback loop with engaged faculty. Find a school where the students genuinely want to learn, and you should also be able to find faculty who want to teach.

Anonymous wrote:Focus your search on smaller, liberal arts colleges where teachers are as focused on teaching as their research and who want to engage and mentor undergrads.

+1. You want professors interested in teaching undergraduates.

You will find a mixed bag at every school. Even within a university, some professors care a lot more than others.