<p>I wonder what kind of student would best fit into research Us, since we know the characteristics of students that would rather want to attend a LAC: small class sizes, faculty attention, where, in four years’ time, they will know most people on campus by name, and, sometimes, they know they will be treated like adults rather than numbers.</p>
<p>But what kind of student would prefer attending a research U, other than the grad-school-bound student?</p>
<p>A student who is independent and confident.
A student who is looking for economic and ethnic diversity.<br>
A student who likes and thrives in big settings.
A student who doesn’t need - or particularly want - handholding.
A student who is uncertain what major or area to pursue.
A student who has very spread out passions, say, quantum mechanics, jazz piano and Hungarian language and literature.</p>
<p>A large research university is often a preferable fit for:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>An advanced freshman who will skip many of the large lower division courses (or take small honors versions of such), take a large selection of upper division courses (including more unusual and esoteric ones), and take graduate level courses as an undergraduate. (Intended math majors who have completed college courses beyond the calculus BC level while still in high school appear to be a relatively common example on these forums.)</p></li>
<li><p>A student who wants to be in an environment with a wide diversity of academic ability and motivation among the students, but where there is still a large enough group of students of similar ability and motivation even if s/he is not in the mid-range of the distribution. A top student at a small school may find that courses aimed at the school’s mid-range are not challenging enough, but a large school has enough demand to offer honors courses to challenge the top students.</p></li>
<li><p>A pre-professional student who wants the school’s large size to be an attractor for recruiters.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Not sure if the student uncertain about major necessarily argues in favor of a large research university, unless the possible majors include the more esoteric and uncommon ones that smaller LACs may not offer, or may not offer in much depth. Nor does intending graduate school by itself necessarily argue for a large research university, as some LACs do have good graduate school placement rates.</p>
<p>The student uncertain about major may actually find starting at community college to be a worthy option, since there is much less financial and institutional pressure to decide on a major quickly.</p>
<p>^^ There are advantages and disadvantages to either kind of school.
However, I don’t think the student who prefers one or the other is necessarily more confident. At a LAC, smaller classes allow for more scrutiny. In a class of 15, you can expect to be challenged by professors and by other students. You can’t expect to sit silently in class after class as you could in a 200-student lecture hall.</p>