Author: Angelina Li (STC Class of 2015)
Congratulations! So you’ve decided on applying for a liberal arts college, but given the many fantastic schools out there, which one(s) do you go for? Researching LACs may seem like a pain, and sometimes all the colleges may seem far too similar to compare properly.
Besides from generic college comparisons (affordability, location etc.), here are a few helpful ways I found of differentiating between different LACs.
(P.S. Haven't decided yet? Here are some reasons why you should attend a Liberal Arts College!
Congratulations! So you’ve decided on applying for a liberal arts college, but given the many fantastic schools out there, which one(s) do you go for? Researching LACs may seem like a pain, and sometimes all the colleges may seem far too similar to compare properly.
Besides from generic college comparisons (affordability, location etc.), here are a few helpful ways I found of differentiating between different LACs.
(P.S. Haven't decided yet? Here are some reasons why you should attend a Liberal Arts College!
1. By Affiliation
Affiliations can help “broaden” an otherwise small campus, by providing extended social and academic opportunities that a single campus would be unable to provide.
Because liberal arts colleges are small, they will often have special affiliations with other LACs or larger research universities. Two large liberal arts consortiums that come to mind are the Claremont consortium in California, and the Five College consortium in the Massachusetts region.
Different colleges will also have their own unique affiliations - Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania are famously closely linked, whereas Barnard College has very close ties with neighbouring Columbia University. Affiliations can help “broaden” an otherwise small campus, by providing extended social and academic opportunities that a single campus would be unable to provide.
2. By Academic Speciality
As with all colleges, different LACs may end up specializing in different things - for instance Claremont McKenna College, part of the Californian Claremont consortium, is known for excellent political science and business courses, whereas other colleges may excel at other disciplines. It’s generally a good rule of thumb when researching colleges to make sure the majors you are most interested in are available at the schools you apply to.
3. By Unique Selling Points
Because liberal arts colleges can sometimes seem so similar, many schools will have unique selling points for their schools - Williams College, for instance, is famous for its Oxbridge-based tutorial style learning, where two students are paired with one professor to have in-depth discussions about their academic work. If you see something very unique about a school, that factor will tell you a lot about what the school values, and from there on you’ll be able to understand more about what going to that school might be like.
To quickly note what a college’s unique “selling points” are, listen to what their admissions officers highlight - do they enthuse about x college’s green campus and extensive resources? Generally, I’ve found that the more specific a stated “selling point” is, the more likely it is for that point to be something truly unique about the school you’re researching.
To quickly note what a college’s unique “selling points” are, listen to what their admissions officers highlight - do they enthuse about x college’s green campus and extensive resources? Generally, I’ve found that the more specific a stated “selling point” is, the more likely it is for that point to be something truly unique about the school you’re researching.
4. By Demographic Affiliation
"If you see something very unique about a school, that factor will tell you a lot about what the school values, and from there on you’ll be able to understand more about what going to that school might be like."
Applying to schools that are historically mono-ethnic (like historically black Morehouse College), gender-specific (like female-only Wellesley College) or primarily religious (like Christian reformed Calvin College) may seem daunting.
I have to be honest, I applied to Wellesley early - I’m a little biased. What I learned from my experience though was not to reject some schools out of hand. A few short months ago, I would NEVER have considered myself the “type” of student to go to an all-women college, but I can’t be more glad that I applied! There are many good articles online detailing the merits and detriments of women's colleges and other specialist colleges. Do your research and you may be pleasantly surprised!
In the end, in college selection as in life, if you really end up struggling to choose between two amazing colleges after extensive research, you can always just flip a coin. (Just kidding. At least make sure it's not a weighted coin.)
Good luck with your applications!
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