Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 20:21     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:LACs are not backup schools for state schools and state schools are not backup schools for LACs. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of colleges—students often have a preference towards one type.

LACs attract students looking for more intimate settings with smaller class sizes and more opportunities to get to know professors.
LAC students are much more likely to be seeking a broader education and state school students may be more interested in specialization. Moreover, state school students are much more concerned about career focused education than LAC students (which is why state schools will have popular majors such as nursing, education, and engineering while LACs will have popular majors such as mathematics, english, economics, and biology.

They also tend to value smaller communities and are more comfortable somewhere where they see lots of familiar faces. This contrasts the large state school where you see tens of thousands of different people.

Overall, they can be great colleges for a student seeking a tight knit, intellectual atmosphere.



Oh my goodness, what a load. Do you work in public relations, by chance?


+1
That post was comical.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 20:19     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why would a college not prepare you work working afterwards? Then what is the point?


Every day at my job I research things and write up summaries of them for other people, sometimes present them orally. Those are core job skills I learned at a liberal arts institution. I've worked in finance and tech. Same skills are core to law practice as well.


Interesting! My kids - at state universities - are all well-versed in writing, summarizing, researching, analyzing, and presenting orally. How could this have happened?!
DP
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 20:16     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Who attends a small liberal arts college or liberal arts college these days? Is it a back-up school if student can't get into state public flagship? Does each state have a well known liberal arts college, or are LACs mostly in the northeast region of US, along east coast US and east-midwest US?
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1284381.page


Intellectually curious kids with interdisciplinary interests and less certain of committing to a major. Those who like the intimacy and personal touch of small undergrad only colleges and classes vs the anonymity and impersonality of large universities. Those who prefer collaborative versus competitive environments. This is not a value judgement of one being better than the other. They are just different environments.


Riiiiight... no value judgment there! Your entire post drips with condescension toward state schools. All the characteristics you describe can be found at the vast majority of state schools, and *gasp* there are some LACs that have none of those things. Stop with the asinine stereotyping.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 20:15     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
At a SLAC you max out on soft skills (writing, reading, research, public speaking, leadership, teamwork, organizing clubs and events, glad handing, etc.) at the expense of hard skills. This trade-off is worth it for many students interested in the learned professions (JD/MD/PhD) but it also can work out for fields like journalism, entertainment, and management consulting. Paired with a quantitative major, a SLAC degree, can also work in banking. It's harder to get into the bulge bracket banks from a SLAC than from an ivy, but it's easier from a SLAC than from many state schools. I know a fair number of SLAC alumni and they are not starving.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 16:39     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:Why would a college not prepare you work working afterwards? Then what is the point?

1: They’re looking for academic training rather than vocational training. Most of the kids at DCs LAC want to go do PhDs, JDs, or MDs.

2: The point of college is education, not job training. That is the purpose of trade schools. Colleges can provide job training, but this isn’t the core principle.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 16:20     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
For kids who want a tight-knit community and small classes where professors get to know you and give you more feedback.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 16:13     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.


My whole life SLAC meant small liberal arts college. Then I came to DCUM.


How old are you? (Or rather, how limited is your worldview?)

"Selective Liberal Arts Colleges: Higher Quality as Well as Higher Prestige"
The Journal of Higher Education, 1985

"The Distinctive Scholarship of the Selective Liberal Arts College"
The Journal of Higher Education, 1987



I just assumed small liberal arts college until I learned otherwise. I think that's the case for many.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 16:12     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.


My whole life SLAC meant small liberal arts college. Then I came to DCUM.


How old are you? (Or rather, how limited is your worldview?)

"Selective Liberal Arts Colleges: Higher Quality as Well as Higher Prestige"
The Journal of Higher Education, 1985

"The Distinctive Scholarship of the Selective Liberal Arts College"
The Journal of Higher Education, 1987


Is your claim that no one was using the phrase “small liberal arts college” in those years or beyond?

Anyway I’m younger than that. From NYC, so maybe it’s a regional thing.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 15:35     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
It’s not a backup for DC kids who have no state school.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:27     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The S in SLAC stands for “selective”, not small liberal arts colleges.


My whole life SLAC meant small liberal arts college. Then I came to DCUM.


How old are you? (Or rather, how limited is your worldview?)

"Selective Liberal Arts Colleges: Higher Quality as Well as Higher Prestige"
The Journal of Higher Education, 1985

"The Distinctive Scholarship of the Selective Liberal Arts College"
The Journal of Higher Education, 1987
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:20     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
OP the on easily answered question from your list: No, SLACs are not back ups for kids who can't get into public universities.

It's usually the opposite, as kids usually have a strong preference for one of the other. But SLACs are so small there just aren't enough spaces for all the kids who want to go, so you need to have a big school on your list as a safety, and that will often be a giant state school where you have better odds of admission.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:15     Subject: Re:For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In MD, the other state universities other than UMCP aren't great so a LAC it is.


Which LACs? Washington college, Goucher, where are the LACs in MD? In VA?


Loyola


Loyola is not a liberal arts college.


DP: It's ranked among Regional Universities. However, it is small enough (<4000) that local kids who prefer LACs often have it on the list too.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:09     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:LACs and SLACs can be appealing for lots of students. However... outside of Williams, Amherst, and maybe Pomona and Swarthmore, every non-recruited athlete straight male is thinking - is there a place for me here? And often the answer is no.

These are tiny schools. And the vibe is generally very rejective of straight non-athlete males. And for 17 year old boys that is a very big deal. LACS/SLACS aren't getting these guys anymore. It's a problem.

Utter nonsense.



NP. I don't think it is nonsense. I'm looking at my kid's WASP class list and a huge percentage (seems like at least 70%) of the boys, in particular, are athletes. SO MANY. Not sure how my NARP boy will feel socially, but my guess is he'll find his nice, nerdy little tribe. We'll see.


He'll be just fine, like anywhere.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:07     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:LACs and SLACs can be appealing for lots of students. However... outside of Williams, Amherst, and maybe Pomona and Swarthmore, every non-recruited athlete straight male is thinking - is there a place for me here? And often the answer is no.

These are tiny schools. And the vibe is generally very rejective of straight non-athlete males. And for 17 year old boys that is a very big deal. LACS/SLACS aren't getting these guys anymore. It's a problem.

Utter nonsense.


+1 what a crazy response. Literally half of the men at my sons' private high school choose LACs and they are not recruited athletes.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:06     Subject: For whom is a SLAC/LAC?
Anonymous wrote:only worth it if you can get a winning lottery ticket to the top 2 or 3 - after that a hard pass


For you, I guess. People who understand LACs strongly disagree.