<p>Marite:</p>
<p>This is consistent with what the study on baccalaureate origins of PhD students at top programs in the sciences. With the exception of Swarthmore and to a lesser extent Williams, graduates from LACs were not as present in the top PhD programs in the STEM fields as graduates of elite private universities such as HYPSM. </p>
<p>Again for departments that rely heavily on outside grants (generally the case in the sciences and engineering) to fund their programs, it makes a lot of sense to recruit PhD students that are already familiar with the research conducted in the lab and can be productive right away. In the increasingly competitive environment for research grants, an already trained cadre of incoming graduate students is a major asset.</p>