@Chembiodad “@Aymyrat, good that you said you would take Penn or any other university over a similar profiling LAC as that is an individual preference. As an example, the top 25% of students at Penn scored an 800 on the ACT and at Amherst the same group scored a 780. Given that both have 400 level classes, I think it comes down to individual preference.”
I think that depends on the student. For most students, I agree with you, but for some advanced students, 400 level is just not enough.
D1 is a senior at Penn. Second semester of sophomore year, she applied and was admitted to graduate school. In 2018 she will finish her BSE in NETS/CS (https://www.nets.upenn.edu) with a math minor (and maybe a Stat minor?), and MSE in CS. Penn has the ability to accommodate this type of student without difficulty and attracts a lot of them. Most LAC’s would not be able to provide that level of opportunity.