There are three types of higher education in the United States: community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and comprehensive colleges.
Among them, we are most familiar with the comprehensive universities in the United States, represented by world-class Ivy League universities and other world-class American comprehensive universities. However, undergraduate education at american liberal arts colleges is actually a unique feature of American higher education.
The College of Arts and Sciences, or LAC for short, or Liberal Arts College, has the basic concept of undergraduate colleges that take into account both arts and sciences. It is the essence of American higher education.
The reputation of first-class liberal arts colleges is no less than that of yale, Harvard and other prestigious schools, and it is favored by the children of upper-class families in the United States.
Liberal arts colleges are not Colleges in the United States!
It is one of the important categories of American colleges and universities, and it is the same as universities in the traditional sense, requiring students to have independent thinking ability, and the entry threshold is relatively high.
However, because the college of arts and sciences is mainly based on undergraduate education, it always makes the Chinese people mistakenly think that it is a college-style classroom, but it really pays attention to comprehensive, elite, and comprehensive education.
The College of Arts and Sciences is the prototype of american colleges and universities, which once had a dominant position in the American higher education system.
The College of Arts and Sciences' contributions to the United States and the world
1. Trained 19% of the Presidents of the United States;
2. It has trained many Pulitzer Prize winners (the highest award in American journalism): 23% in the field of theater, 19% in the field of history, 18% in the field of poetry, 8% in the field of biography, and 6% in the field of fiction (1960-1998);
3. 9% of Fulbright Act Fund Award winners;
4. 24% of Mellonfellowships winners;
5) 8% of Forbes magazine's list of the richest CEOs in the United States graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad at a liberal arts college in the United States
1. Advantages of studying abroad
Liberal arts colleges are not well known, largely because liberal arts colleges only provide undergraduate education, but this is conducive to spending its maximum energy on undergraduate education. The philosophy of the American College of Arts and Sciences is generalist education and quality training, not career-oriented training. The school requires students to receive education in all aspects, focusing on the cultivation of writing and thinking skills.
Due to the small size of the school, the teaching is generally a small class of more than a dozen people, and it is easier to integrate into the American culture in life. Moreover, the liberal arts college is well-funded, has close alumni ties, and has great advantages in terms of internships and employment opportunities. Therefore, students can adapt to multi-directional work such as research institutes after graduation.
The reputation of top liberal arts colleges is no worse than that of top colleges, and the quality of students is also quite good. The American College of Arts and Sciences focuses on cultivating students' comprehensive quality, which is social-oriented, and professors also focus on "imparting" knowledge, rather than engaging in scientific research. The result is a more comprehensive and people-centred education for students. Therefore, if you want to enter the undergraduate program, the liberal arts college is a very good choice, even if you choose to continue your graduate studies in the future, the choice is as wide.
Studying in the United States, if the applicant puts the scholarship first when choosing the school, the liberal arts college has more opportunities than the comprehensive university, and the competition is not as fierce as the comprehensive university.
2. Disadvantages
In terms of professional settings, the major division of liberal arts colleges is not as detailed as a comprehensive university, and many schools do not provide more professional majors such as engineering.
Most of the liberal arts colleges are private, and the tuition fees are more expensive. If they don't get a scholarship, it's hard for Chinese students to afford four years.
Affected by domestic publicity, the popularity of American study abroad applications for liberal arts colleges in China is not high, so many companies and enterprises are not necessarily willing to accept students who have graduated from such schools.
Recommended for studying in the United States for quality liberal arts colleges
Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College, the 2nd U.S. News 2nd college of arts and sciences in 2021 and the third oldest institution of higher education in Massachusetts, has celebrated its 200th anniversary.
Amherst College is located in the center of Amherst Town and belongs to the Five Schools Alliance. The school prefers Chinese students, likes the gorgeous application materials, has outstanding achievements in various fields, has participated in many activities, has many awards, and has a more comprehensive development of students, which can be said to be both sub-control and reward control.
As one of the strongest liberal arts colleges in the United States, it has produced many accomplished alumni. For example, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing are all alumni of Amherst College.
It is worth mentioning that Amherst is very trenched. In terms of bursaries, it is the only liberal arts college in the United States that does not consider the need-blindness of the applicant (regardless of nationality) when admitting, and provides a full need-based grant after admission.
Of the more than four thousand four-year universities in the United States, only four have a bursary policy for international students that does not affect admissions, and the other three are MIT, Harvard, and Yale.
Washington and Lee University
Washington & Lee University
Founded in 1749, Washington and Lee University (W&L) is the ninth oldest university in the United States and one of the few liberal arts colleges in the United States that offers majors in science, engineering, and journalism. Ranked 9th in 2021 by the U.S. News College of Arts and Sciences.
In terms of academic achievements, W&L is known as the Southern Dartmouth, and is the second largest American university in the United States to produce Fulbright scholars. This means that W&L's educational quality and social prestige are very high in the United States and are highly recognized by the U.S. government.
W&L has long produced a large number of political and legal talents. He has produced 3 U.S. Supreme Court judges, 27 U.S. Senate, 67 House members, and 31 governors, as well as numerous other government officials, judges, and business leaders.
A huge perk for international students is that W&L offers the Johnson Scholarship Program, which international students can also apply for – a full scholarship that covers 4 years of tuition, room and board and other summer activities (up to $7,000).
Williams College
Williams College
Williams College, an ancient aristocratic university, I believe has heard a lot. It has been at the top of the U.S. News Liberal Arts Colleges list for 18 consecutive years.
As the first liberal arts college in the United States, Williams College represents the most proud essence of education in the United States - small scale, high quality, focus on undergraduates, advocating general education and humanistic education.
Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, Oscar-winning director Ilya Kazan, and Steve Keys, one of the founders of the well-known Internet service provider AMER, are all alumni of the school.
In addition to its long history and developed alumni network, Williams College's strong academic strength should not be underestimated. Its popular strengths include: Arts, Economics, Biology, English, History, Psychology, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Political Science.
Many of Williams' students graduate from top 500 companies, such as top investment banks, Google, and Facebook.
According to payscale statistics, a well-known salary statistics website in the United States, Williams's graduate salary is as high as $78k, which is much higher than The Top 30 comprehensive universities such as Cornell University, the University of Southern California, and New York University.