College....?

Question

hey...umm im just beginning high school....just wondering...

what is the true definition of a Liberal Arts College??

btw...can you give me some names of good liberal arts colleges( i.e. Dartmouth...)

thanks!

Answer 1

First of all, I am so proud of you for taking the initiative to ask such an important question. You will go far.

I have included three links for your viewing pleasure... I found them on Google.com and Wikipedia...

Liberal arts: The term liberal arts has come to mean studies that are intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills, rather than more specialized occupational, scientific, or artistic skills.

In the history of education, the seven liberal arts comprised two groups of studies: the trivium and the quadrivium. Studies in the trivium involved grammar, dialectic (logic), and rhetoric; and studies in the quadrivium involved arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. These liberal arts made up the core curriculum of the medieval universities. The term liberal in liberal arts is from the Latin word liberalis, meaning "appropriate for free men" (social and political elites), and they were contrasted with the servile arts. The liberal arts thus initially represented the kinds of skills and general knowledge needed by the elite echelon of society, whereas the servile arts represented specialized tradesman skills and knowledge needed by persons who were employed by the elite.

The scope of the liberal arts has changed with society. It once emphasized the education of elites in the classics; but, with the rise of other humanities during the Age of Enlightenment, the scope and meaning of "liberal arts" expanded to include them. Excluded from the traditional liberal arts are topics such as agriculture, biology, painting, chemistry, theater, business, dentistry, physics (as separate from astronomy), physiology, fashion design, engineering, computer science, women's studies, gender studies, medicine, pedagogy, journalism, geology and pharmacology.

In the United States, liberal arts colleges are still a particular kind of higher education institution that are typified by their rejection of more direct vocational education during undergraduate studies. Students at these schools typically have to take a set of general education requirements including natural science, social science, history, writing/literature, math, and art/music.[citation needed] Following completion of their undergraduate studies at liberal arts colleges, graduates often do obtain specialized training by going to other institutions, such as professional schools (for instance, in business, law, medicine, or theology) or graduate schools.

In modern academia, the Arts are usually grouped with or a subset of the Humanities. Some subjects in the Humanities are history, linguistics, literature, and philosophy.

Institutions outside the United States that have been inspired by U.S. liberal-arts colleges include International Christian University, which was established after World War II as the first American-style college in Japan, the European College of Liberal Arts in Germany, in the Netherlands three liberal arts colleges have been founded over the last decade, and Ashesi University in Ghana. This category of higher education does not exist in the United Kingdom, and the term "liberal arts" is very little used in any contemporary context in the UK.

While the concept is rarely expressed in Australia, it is presently becoming more influential in Melbourne. In that city, Victoria University now offers a two year "Diploma of Liberal Arts". Additionally, the University of Melbourne is becoming a US style graduate school, offering generalist undergraduate degrees similar to a liberal arts degree in the US.

Answer 2

Liberal arts colleges offer well-rounded, general educations without specific career-tracks in mind. Typical majors: English, Art History, Sociology, Mathematics, Economics, Philosophy, Female Studies, etc.

US News and World Report ranks colleges each year. Pick up the issue or go online to their site and for $14 a year you can subscribe to that issue online. Williams College in Massachusetts (my son attends) is ranked #1 Liberal Arts college in the country. Amherst (also MA) #2, many other private liberal arts colleges in the east/northeast, but of course, they're available nationwide. Dartmouth is, of course, another excellent school.

Also, visit www.collegeboard.com. Register, they have a lot of materials that can help you. College Finders, profiles, calendars, test dates, test questions, etc.

Suggest that you consider buying -- or taking out from the library -- Fiske Guide to Colleges. About 300 major colleges/universities profiled extensively.

Since you're just starting high school, and seem to have your sites set fairly high...be sure to: focus on your studies, join some clubs, do volunteer/community work, find some leadership positions, enjoy your friends and your school, and really make the most of it. Find some teachers you will mentor you, and down the road they'll be good sources for your letters of recommendations. Take the hardest courses you can manage; colleges appreciate that and they are able to gauge that, even if your GPA slips a bit.

Answer 3

Merriam-Webster:

The studies (as language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science) in a college or university intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop the general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills.

I.e., it expands your mind, but doesn't get you a job. There are many, many liberal arts colleges. Here are the top 30 according to U.S. News and World Reports:

# (1) Bryn Mawr College
# (2) Wellesley College
# (3) Wesleyan University
# (4) Haverford College
# (5) Amherst College
# (6) Mount Holyoke College
# (7) Claremont McKenna College
# (8) Williams College
# (9) Whitman College
# (10) Swarthmore College
# (11) Wheaton College
# (12) Carleton College
# (13) Oberlin College
# (14) Grinnell College
# (15) Pomona College
# (16) Smith College
# (17) Harvey Mudd College
# (18) Tougaloo College
# (19) Bowdoin College
# (20) Middlebury College
# (21) Presbyterian College
# (22) Spelman College
# (23) Knox College
# (24) Reed College
# (25) Colorado College
# (26) Bates College
# (27) Fisk University
# (28) Macalester College
# (29) Wofford College
# (30) Wells College

Answer 4

liberal arts college is an institution of higher education, most commonly found in the United States, offering programs in the liberal arts at the post-secondary level. Generally, liberal arts colleges enroll fewer students than universities, and encourage — perhaps require — students to take a substantial number of courses in topics unrelated to their vocational goals, to provide educational depth and breadth. This distinguishes liberal arts colleges from specialty colleges, which offer focused, single-discipline programs in business, engineering and technology, the trades, the fine arts, theology, etc. Increasingly, liberal arts colleges are becoming popular outside of the United States, with institutions opening in The Netherlands, Germany, Russia, and Canada, among other countries.


Chambers Building, Davidson College, NCLiberal arts colleges focus primarily on tertiary education, and tend to emphasize interactive instruction rather than research. Full-time professors teach almost all courses, rather than transient part-time faculty or teaching assistants. Generally, a full-time, four-year course of study at a liberal arts college leads students to a bachelor's degree. Several colleges offer postgraduate programs; however, their postgraduate enrollments remain small compared to their undergraduate enrollments and to postgraduate enrollments at research universities. Due to their relatively small size, liberal arts colleges often offer fewer courses than universities. Many remain private, residential, and expensive. Some lack the name recognition of larger universities (excepting the Little Ivies and Seven Sisters); however, 'top' liberal arts colleges are highly selective and compete with elite universities for students. A number of state-supported institutions also operate on liberal arts college models.

Units within comprehensive universities whose faculty and curriculum encompass the traditional liberal arts often are named "College of Liberal Arts," or a variant such as "College of Arts and Letters" or "College of Arts and Sciences." Both colloquial and professional references to "liberal arts colleges" generally refer to standalone institutions.

1) Williams College
(2) Amherst College
(3) Swarthmore College
(4) Wellesley College
(5) Middlebury College
(6) Carleton College
(7-tie) Bowdoin College and Pomona College
(9) Haverford College
(10-tie) Wesleyan University and Davidson College
(12-tie) Claremont McKenna College and Vassar College
(14-tie) Grinnell College and Harvey Mudd College
(16) Colgate University
(17-tie) Hamilton College and Washington & Lee University
(19) Smith College
(20-tie) Bryn Mawr College and Colby College
(22) Oberlin College
(23) Bates College
(24-tie) Macalester College and Mount Holyoke College
(26-multiple) Barnard College, Scripps College, and Colorado College
(29) Bucknell University
(30) Trinity College (Connecticut)

Answer 5

Don't do it . Its sh*t!

Answer 6

dunno