I didn’t like my massive university, and did much better at the smaller LAC. My kid just isn’t interested, because 1) he is focused on STEM and wants the opportunity to do biomedical research, and 2) he is more interested in the opportunities that the larger universities might bring him. He has been accepted into the honors colleges of the schools that he has been accepted to, so that helped me feel better about it. I had some major qualms about the 300+ lecture hall memories that I had. Thus far, I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen available with honors at the big schools - it’s a way to get a bit of the best of both worlds. For me, I really enjoyed having that close relationship with my professors and was really hoping my son would get that. It looks like it’s still a possibility and I’m glad of it.
I love the college Lindagaf refers to. Both of mine went.
Both successful, but two different takes. For one, some intro classes were large, some professors not ss easy to find as others. It’s important to take a deep look and kids should be prepared that not everything comes easy, just because the size is smaller. In many ways, they need the same personal resources as at a larger college.
Both of mine also found their niche group of friends. More through activities than classes.
Yes. Consider LACs.
My D is experiencing all of that and then some at a large flagship. An LAC is not a good fit for everyone. My kid would have hated an LAC.
Re the original point of the thread, I think pre-USNews (which, I know, seems like a pre-historic era), such advice would have been redundant. At my large, urban high school, seniors were divided evenly between the “college bound” and virtually everybody else. Don’t get me wrong: Nine out of ten of the college bound seniors wound up at the one of the City college branches or one of several flagship campuses at the state level. HOWEVER, if you were accomplished enough to get into Harvard or the University of Michigan, you likely came across names like Amherst, Wesleyan and Hamilton, too. They were listed together in most guide books (in those days, it was the engineering schools that were outliers, not the other way around.) I feel sorry for international students for whom the term “LAC” does not translate accurately or well.
I get what @Lindagaf is saying and I really like lacs too. D1 is at one, D2 may or may not end up at one. LAC is working fabulously for D1. But she was not shy going in and was always comfortable participating in class, so just want to make the point that they are not just great for shy kids. D1 was interested in schools that fostered a very strong sense of community (different than school spirit) and a lot of lacs delivered very strongly on that point. She didn’t want a campus where she could be anonymous. That being said, small class sizes mean you have to show up and have all the reading done every time. I’m all for that, but some kids want more flexibility. I also disagree with posters that say lacs don’t provide good jobs after graduation. The top lacs, just like the top universities do a very good job with career services. And some of the strongest alumni networks are at LACs, and the strength there is that they are great for support and networking, not just great for rallying the alumni around sports events.
I’m not saying one type of school is better than the other, but am saying that lacs are not inferior to bigger universities.
I understand what Lindagaf is suggesting… and I agree that students/families should consider LACs when researching schools. Some students may be pleasantly surprised and decide to apply, while others may rule them out completely. One type of school is not better than another…that debate was not the intention of the OP.
Students at all schools present with different personalities, skills, backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, opinions, voices, etc. Likewise… there are differences between LACs as well as between larger universities.
My cousin’s daughter attends a highly ranked LAC. According to her mother, she continues to be the quiet, shy person she was when she started college a few years ago ( I am simply reporting what my cousin recently shared). My cousin said that there is a very strong possibility that her daughter will be home after graduation while she takes some time to figure it out. She expressed frustration about her daughter not visiting career services, etc. Stories like this also occur at larger universities.
Our kids are all different… and their experiences and outcomes may be as well… regardless of school.
I think the original post makes a great point - consider LACs. I’m not sure how people can get offended or argue about a suggestion to research more options. While they aren’t for everyone, they can be fantastic places to go to college. My own D is at one right now and is thriving there. I do think it’s smart to at least consider some when researching colleges. Our HS college counsels suggested we take our kids to visit urban & rural, large & small, public & private (they said even local ones are fine) colleges before starting to narrow down options and make a list. At first my D liked the larger Us we visited and strongly disliked that first LAC we toured, but in the end she found the right college realized that a small LAC would be a better option for her. So yes, please consider them. Some are truly hidden gems.
I don’t have a horse in this race (well, I did – my D ultimately decided against studying at an LAC, although she applied to several).
I can see upsides and downsides to every scenario (large school, small school, LAC, research uni, urban, rural, public, private). Each kid is unique and has his/her unique needs. There is never a one-size-fits-all when it comes to finding the right fit.
What I will do, however, is add to @Lindagaf’s original excellent suggestion to consider LACs and offer the fact that students sometimes can have the best of both worlds if they choose a LAC that is part of a larger consortium of schools.
LACs are not for everyone (nor are large research universities, for that matter), but for the right student, they are fabulous places in which to get a college education.
“I’m not sure how people can get offended or argue about a suggestion to research more options.”
I think the people getting offended are the ones whose experiences at a LAC did not match what the OP said, not mainly from people who favor research universities or a large school.
“if they choose a LAC that is part of a larger consortium of schools.”
If you want to increase more applications to LACs, not sure bringing in a consortium is the best thing, they want to know a college can offer everything they need.
Honestly, I agree with the OP that students should consider LACs. But I also think all students should strongly consider all kinds of schools. Big, medium, small, near, far, research, tech, co-op, private, public, urban, suburban, rural, etc…
LACs wouldn’t work for my d19 as she wants a Chemical Engineering major. That isn’t at LACs or smaller universities (some may have mechanical engineering or something like that). Beyond that, she also wanted a school with a wide variety of majors (especially STEM majors) in case she changed her mind. She didn’t want to have to transfer later if she decided she wanted to major in physics or statistics or business or something. She’s been on smaller campuses for school activities and really didn’t like smaller campuses. She doesn’t really care about “pretty” and aesthetics. As a matter of fact, she spent the summer on a local college campus. (A small one) and it’s super pretty. I drove her back and forth every day. About 3 weeks into the project, I mentioned how I don’t mind waiting for her because my car faces a really pretty fountain area, some professors actually would teach classes out there. Her response? “Oh, there’s a fountain?” I laughed so much, I mean, it’s not at all a hidden fountain! Right out in the open and very prominently displayed. She wasn’t a fan of how small the science department was. Everyone was very nice, but since we had visited some large campuses and seen engineering departments, she felt something bigger would be better for her. She sat in a couple of large lecture halls on college trips (classes and presentations) and liked them. She toured co-op and research oriented schools and between the tours and her own research experience, she knew she preferred a more research oriented place… which luckily also tends to align with larger research universities that are likely to have her major.
So I do think the OP makes a good points about how students should consider LACs. I personally preferred a small, personal college. I think I would have been overwhelmed at a very large university. My own post isn’t meant to debate that but to show what we encouraged our daughter to work through in considering her own options.
One last little anecdote to illustrate that a large university can be very caring and considerate. Recently there was an awful hit and run accident at one near us (University at Buffalo). The victim is an international student. I have a family member on staff who was just telling me today that the university paid for her parents to fly here and they have apartments reserved for families for such emergencies such as this, again free of charge. Now, there could be plenty of colleges of all types that provide such care for families in an emergency, but it’s something I never would have thought to wonder about and it really impressed me.
It sounds like most here are already fans, but for those wondering “Why a LAC?” I recommend this book:
The Best Kind of College: An Insiders’ Guide to America’s Small Liberal Arts Colleges
The title is a bit misleading; it’s a collection of essays from professors at LACs as to why they love and recommend them.
The book was impactful for our family as we got to know one of the contributors and were very pleased to discover his passion and commitment to teaching undergraduates was equal in person to the strong representation in his essay. An amazing prof who changed my son’s life (even though he does not attend an LAC!).
Forget LACs vs. large universities. Can we discuss the more important distinction in this thread…the use of “an LAC” vs. “a LAC”? :-/
An (e)L-A-C; A lack.
Salary is closely related to position and field, which makes overall averages not meaningful. For example, PayScale lists the following average early career salaries. LACs are lower than universities on this list primarily because they tend to have fewer tech majors, rather than because of reputation. Similarly colleges that have a larger portion of tech majors like Harvey Mudd, Stevens, or RPI tend to have higher averages. Reputation matters more if you plan to pursue Wall Street banking type positions, and many “elite” grads do pursue such positions for their first job, which also influences averages, in a similar way to percent tech. However, a college where fewer students choose tech or banking/consulting is not necessarily a bad thing, even if it does lead to a lower salary average.
A better way of comparing colleges could be thinking about what you like to study and what career you’d like to pursue, then reviewing how the college can help you achieve that goal, including assistance with getting the first job. Many LACs list the type of career events at the college and which employers attend. If you are comparing salaries between colleges, it helps to compare salaries for your planned field, rather than looking at overall averages. In this respect, it’s not a simple LACs are better or worse. It’s more it depends on your goals and on the specific LAC.
Harvey Mudd – $86k
US Military Academy – $81k
Stevens Institute of Technology – $74k
SUNY Maritine – $73k
RPI – $70k
UC Berkeley – $68k
Yale – $68k
Lehigh – $67k
Brown – $65k
Chicago – $62k
Amherst – $62k
Hamilton – $61k
Bowdoin – $60k
Wellesley – $57k
Grinell – $51k
I labored a moment over “a LAC” or “an LAC”, but decided to go with what I thought would be appropriate for the full reading of the abbreviation. Sorry if that choice was wrong. Blame it on Turkey and Pinot.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
The general rule with indefinite articles is that it is governed by how the acronym is pronounced, not how it is spelled.
So it is “an NFL team” but “a NATO country” or “an LAC” but “a LAN sync.”
With that clear, can we move back to topic? 
Thanks for clearing up that important issue, ski!
I have a high school senior who is applying to college right now. He is not interested in LAC’s at all, especially after having visited his sister’s LAC numerous times. He thinks they are too small. He probably would not do well at an LAC because he will undoubtedly prefer the “classroom anonymity” that is easier to find at a large uni.He also wants a big rah-rah football scene, which most LAC’s don’t have, due to their size. We did visit a rah-rah LAC, to see if he might like it, but it was still too small.
You know your kid. I know my kid. A big uni would never have worked for my D, or at least it wouldn’t have worked well. Both my kids have/had a reasonable idea of what might work for them. Truly though, small colleges were not really on my daughter’s radar at all until the time came to seriously consider what she might want out of college. So I posted on CC back in 2014, and thanks to the helpful people here, she came up with a list that had mostly small colleges on it. We considered LAC’s only because of this website. So I am hoping that some parent who is just beginning to help their kid will stumble on this thread and consider LAC’s.
The merit aid at the LACs in the 50-100 USNWR rating range can be significant. Both of my Ds went to schools in this range and with merit aid our net price was in the 25K range which is roughly comparable to the in-state rate.
Our S preferred a certain type of school (not necessarily LAC but very close). He also liked the rah rah sports so he attends an “LAC like” small school with a huge D1 sports program that is quite competitive in virtually all of it’s programs - and sports. Really best of both worlds for him.
D is a performing arts (theater kid) who is seeking that professionally. She is completely different than S. She really doesn’t care about any of the “fit” items that S did. Could care less about size, location, school spirit / community, etc. Only cares about the BFA program, what agents and directors have a working relationship with the school, performance opportunities, etc. She could end up at an LAC with a great BFA program, or one of the largest state unis in the country. All up to the auditions.
Everyone is different. We all do what we feel we should for our kids.
How important is it to give kids a different environment in college than they had in high school? I can see that a kid who has gone to a huge urban public school might really benefit from the small-school environment of an LAC more than a kid who has gone to a smaller, more personal high school, who might benefit from the challenges of a larger school. I like the idea of having my kids experience a very different environment from their high school environment, but I don’t know if that’s a wise criteria or how much it should weigh in finding “fit.”