Slightly difficult question to answer crisply. Let me try to say a few things based on my understanding and bias:
- Small student body Vs large student body.
- Large percentage of student body in LAC will be affiliated to some sport, so if you play something very quick to make friends.
- Generally excellent student/Professor ratios at LACs 8-13. For public schools they will be 18+
- Engineering folks generally should not do LAC. 3+2 programs are bit of a pain.
- CS folks can do LACs but research schools may have better departments/opportunities for these since generally CS is part of Engineering in most colleges. Although all LACs will generally have a CS department.
- Formal undergraduate major in DS is quite rare and may be only 6-7 LACs have that.
- Generally easier to get affiliated in undergraduate research since LACs are by definition undergraduate, so professors don’t have an option of working with graduate students for their research. However, the quality of research may be weaker as compared to the good research at research Universities.
- If you are keen to do advanced graduate level courses in junior/senior year that is generally not possible since there is no graduate program. Some of the top LACs or hyper rigorous places like Reed, Harvey Mudd may be exceptions.
- In my view, which may be controversial for an international student in terms of learning experience, opportunities post graduation especially for graduate school: Private Research Universities >> LACs >> Public Research Universities if you are a non-Engineering major.