<p>Hey, I have on a similar search process. I KNOW I want to go to a LAC, and after considering my wants and needs I narrowed it down to these.</p>
<p>Amherst College- in a consortium with two other top LACs (both women’s college, smith/mount holyoke), Hampshire College, and Umass Amherst. The latter is a HUGE state college. Because there are so many students in this general area because of the consortium, there can be more to do. It’s a couple hours away from Boston.</p>
<p>Claremont Consortium- 5 top LACs plus two graduate schools, all in the same consortium. Between the LACs there is should be 5000-6000 students, and then add in the graduate schools and you have that. But Claremont is minutes away from mountains, 1/2 an hour away from Orange County, an hour away from the beach, and very close to LA as well.</p>
<p>Davidson College- On it’s own, no consortium or anything, but it’s 1/2 an hour away from Charlotte NC, where UNC chapel Hill is, a very large/prestigious state school.</p>
<p>Swarthmore College- in a consortium with bryn Mawr, Upenn, and Haverford. 10 miles away from Phillidelphia.</p>
<p>Wesleyan - 2,800 undegrad + 300 graduate students. Along with Oberlin, probably one of the smallest colleges in the country with its own, home-grown, music scene. 1/2 hour from New haven (Yale).</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill is not in Charlotte. It is in Chapel Hill, which along with Raleigh (NCSU) and Durham (Duke) is a part of the Research Triangle area. Chapel Hill is about 2 1/2 hours from Davidson. Charlotte is the home of UNC-Charlotte.</p>
<p>Like others have said–closeness w/ profs, small classes, etc are very important in a rural LAC. </p>
<p>But the opportunities for EC’s can be really exiting.</p>
<p>My S’s experience at his top LAC in an a cappella group is astounding.</p>
<p>In his time w/ this group (he just graduated)-- Sang National Anthem at opening of the following–
-Boston Red Sox (2X)
-NY Giants
-Washingtion Redskins
-U. S. Open Tennis (2x)
-L.A. Lakers
-San Diego sharks
And the FIESTA Bowl in Arizonia.
They always got to watch the game , often from the field.</p>
<p>His group also had a gig that got them free lodging and ski pass in Telluride in January, as well as many other opportunities I can’t list.</p>
<p>I can go on and on. The point is that LAC’s do not have to be boring. It all depends on what you do with your education. </p>
<p>My S could never repeat his experience w/o being a superstar. He sang in front of 60,000+ people. This is in no way boring. The majority of us have never experienced anything close to this.</p>
<p>I read somewhere that Obama said he had no clue about college and mostly picked Occidental becasue he was smitten with some girl from LA that he met in Hawaii.</p>
<p>I’m going to a LAC. It’s about 3400 students (2800 undergrad, 600 grad). </p>
<p>When I went into the college selection process, I thought that I wanted to go to a big school and be in a city. As the process went on, I started looking at a couple smaller schools. As I did more research, I thought that it could be a good thing, so I applied to 2 smaller schools. Time went on, and while I was waiting for decisions, I did even more research, and narrowed it down to 4 schools: 2 big (17,000+) and 2 small (<5000). I ended up choosing a small one. I love the atmosphere, the people, the campus…I move into my dorm in 5 days, and I can’t wait! I know that I won’t be bored…it’s 10 minutes from downtown Syracuse, 5 minutes from shopping, and has tons of clubs and activities on campus. I can’t imagine going to another school, and I haven’t even really been to mine yet! Definitely look into them. You might be like me and surprise yourself.</p>
<p>Look at LAC-type schools that are a bit larger. Brown, Dartmouth, Rice, William & Mary, Princeton,Wake Forest, Emory come to mind. They have the undergrad focus with a larger campus community. Best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Dartmouth has a nice campus but somewhat remote. Holy Cross is located in a mid-size city,which is 1 hour from Boston. HC also plays Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale in most sports each year.</p>