At small liberal arts colleges, one advantage is that honors students get a lot of support when writing a senior thesis. On th other hand, if a college says, “Here’s your funding and your faculty advisor; now go do some research, write a thesis, and submit it to your two readers and faculty advisor, blah blah blah,” that college is failing to provide the student the education needed to become a world-class scholar ready to tackle graduate school. It is unbelievable how much garbage is submitted and resubmitted to peer-reviewed journals by bright scientists before they are suitable for publishing, simply because the scientists never properly learned how to WRITE a proper research paper or article. It is the rare undergrad who is self-taught or who magically learns these skills from peers or through osmosis.
As my D decides whether to go to Berkeley or to a small LAC, I would like to know whether Cal will provide an undergraduate researcher with this critical education. Also, is there an oral component? She will most probably major in Cognitive Science or one of several bio/ biochem fields. Thanks in advance.