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What a LAC has:</p>
<p>(1) Small size - Most LACs range in size from a few hundred to 3000 students. Public LACs are often larger than private ones, but they almost never exceed 5000 students. Although universities can also be very small (Caltech and Brandeis), they tend to be a bit bigger.</p>
<p>(2) Broad offerings in the liberal arts - The liberal arts consist of the humanities (English, philosophy, classics, religion, art history), social sciences (economics, history, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, psychology, political science), sciences (biology, geology, chemistry, physics, computer science), math (math, statistics), and the arts (theatre, dance, visual arts, music). </p>
<p>What a LAC typically does not have:</p>
<p>(1) Graduate degrees - A few LACs grant PhDs (Wesleyan and Bryn Mawr), some have law schools (Washington & Lee and Lewis & Clark), and some have other graduate schools like education (Willamette). In general, however, most LACs grant only BA/BS degrees. This is contrast to universities, which also house graduate schools of medicine, law, dentistry, business, divinity, etc. </p>
<p>(2) Pre-professional programs - Some LACs have majors in business (Skidmore), engineering (Bucknell), communications (Susquehanna), nursing (Hiram), etc. In general, however, most LACs focus on the liberal arts. </p>
<p>(3) More focus on the liberal arts than a college of arts & sciences at a university. While a university often offers pre-professional programs like nursing and engineering, it also has a college of arts & sciences that has the exact same array of programs as a LAC. In fact, most rare departments are found at universities (e.g. Inner Asian studies, Near Eastern studies, Celtic studies, etc.). </p>
<p>(4) More requirements than a university. There are LACs and universities with core curriculums (Columbia and Reed), LACs and universities with distribution requirements (Penn and Bowdoin), and LACs and universities with no requirements (Brown and Amherst).</p>
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For that matter, there are few universities strong across the board. Sarah Lawrence is a straw man argument. Where are the departments of classics, philosophy, and religion at Georgia Tech? Why can’t I major in earth science at Emory, geography at Yale, or theatre at Hopkins? Should a student avoid Harvard for fear he might spontaneously develop an interest in agriculture or kinesiology? </p>
<p>You place such emphasis on high school students knowing their major, but that seems unreasonable to anyone who’s familiar with college students. According to [Ohio</a> U](<a href=“http://www.ohio.edu/advising/faqs.cfm]Ohio”>http://www.ohio.edu/advising/faqs.cfm), for example:
[ul][<em>]1/3 of students come in undecided
[</em>]Students change their majors an average of 3 times[/ul]</p>
<p>How many students transfer for academic reasons? I suspect they are rather few and far between. Most degrees are flexible enough to allow students to do quite a lot, especially with ingenuity and further education. Off the top of my head, I can think of an archaeologist who now works in genetic engineering, a linguist who works as a film producer, and a marine biologist who became a celebrated writer. After all, most students don’t end up in their fields. Few history majors actually want to become historians, and few anthropology majors become anthropologists. Even at the so-called “PhD factories” like Caltech and Reed, students who go on to earn a PhD are in a distinct minority. </p>
<p>What’s most important for the vast majority of students is getting a solid, well-rounded education and learning how to engage with a task or text and think critically. A LAC does this perfectly well – in addition to offering a lack of iffy TAs and absurd amounts of red tape.</p>