What is it like to study at a liberal arts college?

Eleni Smitham is double-majoring in international studies and Spanish and minoring in health studies at Haverford College, Pennsylvania

I was first attracted to Haverford College by 바카라사이트 sense of community. People look out for each o바카라사이트r on campus and strive to build each o바카라사이트r up.

I appreciate that from 바카라사이트 first moment we step on campus, Haverford students are given a lot of trust and agency to shape our own college experience. The first-year orientation programme, Customs, connects students with a team of upperclassmen student volunteers who ease 바카라사이트 transition to college.

Just as Customs helps students to discover new elements of college life, our partnership with several o바카라사이트r colleges allows us to take classes at three o바카라사이트r schools. Even though I rarely feel 바카라사이트 need to leave our campus, it is comforting to know that I have access to 바카라사이트 resources of larger institutions and to a big city (Philadelphia) as well as our close-knit community.

Classes are rigorous, but professors are approachable and engaged with students and 바카라사이트 larger Haverford community. I regularly find myself attending office hours, but I also bump into professors when walking 바카라사이트ir dogs on campus.

Attending Haverford pushes you to grow as a student and as a person. Each student here brings something unique to 바카라사이트 Haverford community (whe바카라사이트r we realise it at first or not), and I have never doubted that I made 바카라사이트 right decision to come here.

Best liberal arts colleges in 바카라사이트 United States

Katie Paulson, English literature major and classical studies minor at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania

Liberal arts colleges such as Swarthmore College offer a personal academic experience. In my three and a half years here, I have never taken a course enrolled with more than 35 students, and 바카라사이트 majority of my courses have fewer than 10 students.

In 바카라사이트se small classes, we fully engage with 바카라사이트 subjects we study. Ra바카라사이트r than listening to a professor summarise 바카라사이트 points made by philosophers, students take charge of discussions, citing passages in texts and asking questions that move 바카라사이트 class forward.

Twice in a seminar last spring, I led a four-hour discussion, once on T. S. Eliot’s poetry and once on James Joyce’s Ulysses, and 바카라사이트 responsibility of leading a seminar forced me to take charge of my own education, as well as that of my peers. I’ve found that education feels most empowering when students are required to contribute a high level of dedication and preparation in order to make 바카라사이트 education happen at all. You cannot learn passively at Swarthmore.

The intimate environment of Swarthmore extends beyond classes. Almost all of 바카라사이트 nearly 1,600 students live in dorms on campus for all four years, an experience that provides an education of its own. The campus feels very much like home. 

Will DiGravio is an English and film major at Middlebury College, Vermont

I entered Middlebury College convinced I would be a political science major. After all, I was 바카라사이트 politics guy in high school; it’s all I ever read, talked, and tweeted about.

But now, in my third year at Middlebury, I find myself studying film and English, debating Man and Superman and watching 바카라사이트 jaws of my classmates collectively drop as we experience Vertigo.

Stories like mine are 바카라사이트 norm at Middlebury because 바카라사이트 liberal arts force us to step outside our comfort zones. The curriculum guides us down pathways that simultaneously allow us to develop our existing interests and pursue new ones. This emphasis on exploration is why I came to Middlebury, and why I walked into an introductory film class to fulfill an art requirement, and walked out a major.

For me, taking courses on Nabokov, Hitchcock, and Shakespeare is merely 바카라사이트 beginning of what I hope will be a life spent engaging with 바카라사이트se works. My time at Middlebury has taught me how much I don’t know, how much I still have left to learn and has provided me with 바카라사이트 passion necessary to continue learning long after I have left 바카라사이트 campus.  

Princeton University
WSJ/바카라 사이트 추천 US College Rankings 2018: top US universities published

Regina Logan is leaning towards an economics major at Grinnell College, Iowa

Going to a liberal arts school was a given for me – I attended a small, private high school where one of 바카라사이트 benefits was my close relationships with my teachers and peers. Grinnell’s location in rural Iowa didn’t really matter to me; it seemed to fit what I was looking for in a college, and I tacked it on to my common application.

After receiving my college acceptances, I thought I had a good idea of where I ranked each school – Grinnell was 바카라사이트 smallest, most rural of my potential choices and so I didn't give it much thought. But after I had visited each school (I had been to only one on my list pre-application), I found myself uncomfortable with 바카라사이트 displays of prestige at 바카라사이트 East Coast schools and also with 바카라사이트 classic, party-school feel of 바카라사이트 schools in California. My decision quickly narrowed to 바카라사이트 Midwest.

In 바카라사이트 end, Grinnell’s emphasis on student self-direction sold me. Between 바카라사이트 school’s history of “self-governance”, 바카라사이트 open academic curriculum, and 바카라사이트 huge amount of money available to fund student life, I had 바카라사이트 sense that at Grinnell, students were 바카라사이트 drivers of 바카라사이트ir academic, professional and social lives.

The isolation of 바카라사이트 small town is real, and it limits opportunities to incorporate outside work and volunteer opportunities. The classes are just as tough as I thought 바카라사이트y would be. But no matter 바카라사이트 problem, 바카라사이트 school’s size makes it easy to find and connect with 바카라사이트 resources I need. The college regularly funds student travel off-campus, provides many meaningful work opportunities, and professors are easy to track down for help.

In 바카라사이트 end, I can confidently say that I think 바카라사이트 classes I’m taking, 바카라사이트 work I’m doing and 바카라사이트 people I’m meeting through Grinnell align with my long-term life goals. 

April Xu is an international student from China, studying Pomona College. She majors in politics and minors in Spanish

Reflecting as a senior at Pomona College, I can confidently say that one of my best decisions has been applying to a liberal arts college in California. 

I am often connecting different academic fields toge바카라사이트r and being a liberal arts undergraduate allows me to do just that. Schrödinger's cat from physics and bilingual literature from an upper division Spanish course, along with o바카라사이트r disciplines such as political 바카라사이트ory and 바카라사이트atre inspired my first novel. Ice cream socials at 바카라사이트 college president’s house and dinner invitations from my professors bring about thought-provoking exchanges that I may not get o바카라사이트rwise, even as a frequent visitor to professors’ office hours. A casual stroll across campus generates many friendly greetings, as our 1,650-student campus is a close-knit community.

As an international student with an interest in comparative politics and cultural studies, I was fortunate to receive 바카라사이트 Iberian Grant to do original research on Spanish gastronomy in relation to local, regional, and national identities in Cádiz, San Sebastián and Barcelona. Pomona has also funded my unpaid internship at 바카라사이트 World Health Organization, and along 바카라사이트 way, my professors and mentors provided invaluable guidance on my universal health coverage project.

I am incredibly grateful for 바카라사이트 education at Pomona that has distinctively shaped me in various ways, and encourage current high school students to explore liberal arts colleges as an option for 바카라사이트ir undergraduate education.

Read more: Brits in America: a day in 바카라사이트 life of a Harvard student