Liberal Arts Colleges for a Shy Kid

Lindagaf
Sat, 15 Aug 2020 13:25:08 +0000

@Publisher , you have said similar to this before: “Small, rural LACs can be a cruel environment for a student who doesn’t fit in.“

You know I have to respond. ?

I will counter that a large or even medium sized university can be just as cruel because they can feel impersonal and overwhelming. Students can feel lost and insignificant. There might be so much to do that they don’t know where to start. A large lecture hall with a few hundred students can make a student feel totally insignificant. In the college life forum, I’ve seen dozens of posts over the years from students who feel lonely and isolated at every type of college.

For my introverted kid, going to a large school was out of the question. She felt she would never be heard or get a chance to interact with professors. For her, going to an LAC meant she was able to interact with professors right from the start. Classes at LACs tend to be small and discussion based, so she was able to find her voice. The biggest class my D ever had was 60 students. By the time she graduated, she had eaten meals at professors houses and was on a first name basis with many of them.

I am never shy about being a cheerleader for LACs and I understand their limitations, but there are also disadvantages to big universities. Few will disagree that it is harder to get to know professors at bigger schools. So it might be worth asking the OP if her son feels that somewhere down the line, having easy access to professors might be important to him.

I also 100% don’t agree with this: “I don’t think the schools discussed can be considered as a nurturing environment where social skills can be developed.” I think most of the schools mentioned in this thread have very high retention rates. Kids are happy. They come back. They are, imo, generally nurturing places, but they don’t hold your hand. Rather, it’s the self-selecting nature of students who choose the small environment those schools offer. Nearly all classes are taught by profs, not grad students.

No, LACs aren’t for everyone, but neither are schools with over 6000 students.

OP, speaking of Japanese again, and study abroad… My daughter chose a home-stay program and was required to speak Japanese. It’s a competitive program to get into, and the other students were from colleges mentioned in this thread. Look up AKP, Associated Kyoto Program. If a student truly wants to learn, living with native speakers is better.

If you want to consider a really wonderful college that’s a bit off the beaten path and where merit aid will almost certainly be in the running given your son’s stats, take a look at Whitman. It has a strong Japanese program. There were several Whitties in AKP when my D did it. Great kids.