<p>As a general premise, I think it’s a mistake to START the college search looking at the trees (this particular Department versus that particular Department) rather than the forest (size, location, campus culture, and so forth)."</p>
<p>But as a particular premise, I think it is crucial that, if you plan to seriously considering majoring in a language that, 1) the school offers it; 2) there are enough upperclass electives; and 3) there is a very sizeable core of other people majoring in the subject. In this particular case (when it comes to liberal arts colleges), quantity really DOES equate with quality - if there are too few, the richness of the common offerings will suffer, regardless of a school’s endowment, selectivity, or general campus character.</p>