BIG SCHOOL vs small school

[c5212]

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As I am starting to tour colleges for undergrad, both small private liberal arts schools and larger public institutions, I have no idea which type of school I would rather attend. What are your opinions/experiences on the pros and cons of going to a larger school (e.g. USC, Clemson) vs a smaller school (e.g. Furman, Wofford)?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

This was brought up a few months ago. It may be worth doing a search within hSDN for the thread, as it was full of a lot of good advice.

 

[c5212]

This was brought up a few months ago. It may be worth doing a search within hSDN for the thread, as it was full of a lot of good advice.

I think you might be referring to this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=610606&highlight=big+vs+small

It was very helpful in regards to how difficult a big v small school is academically. I am not necessarily worried about the varying measures of difficulty- especially since difficulty is virtually impossible measure- but any other factors that might set the two types of institutions apart.

 

[orangeANDgreen]

im sure everyone will be somewhat biased but I go to UM which is a pretty small school <10,000 total, i love it. 3/5 of my classes each semester have less than 15 kids, sometimes 2 professors as well.

I never have to wait in line for housing issues, or any of the department offices, you actually get to know some people by seeing them in more than 1 class sometimes, and the professors can take more time with you.

 

[clairbear]

I go to a small school <2,000, I didn't formally tour any larger schools, so I'm not sure if any of this is the same for them too. I personally love it, but my high school class was less than 100, so even it feels a bit large to me.

Pros-

• I knew people in each of my classes this semester.
• Easy to get involved.
• All my proffesors know my name and talk to me.
• They are very available; some will even give you home numbers.
• Easy to find others with similar interests because we see each other a lot.
• Small class sizes. I did go to a big school for a chemistry competition once, and I know I wouldn't feel comfortable if I ended up sitting clear in the back in that huge lecture hall.
• If you want to get in a certain class that is full, usually they will let you in.

Cons-

• It would be nice to have more clubs, classes, majors, and minors to pick from. For example, I'm interested in animals, but we don't have any handling classes like some schools do. That's probably the biggest con for me.
• Are library is huge compared to my high school, but it would be nice to have more books like other schools do.
• Not as much socially as a large school could provide.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I think you might be referring to this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=610606&highlight=big+vs+small

It was very helpful in regards to how difficult a big v small school is academically.

I appreciate you doing a search before asking. Here is the thread I referenced above, but the title is misleading, so most people wouldn't have known to check it out.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=630303

*edit*

I updated the title of the thread I posted above so people can find it easier in the future.

 

[Daedra22]

I have gone to both big and small schools, and the small ones are by far better. My large school is impersonal, complicated, and has poor instructors. I never had that problem at the smaller schools I attended.

 

[45408]

Went to a large public school with 28,000+ undergrads. Loved it.

Pros:
very wide variety and quantity of available classes
wide variety of majors and fields of study
many different research labs and options (I spent a while in a neuroscience lab and also in a microbiology lab)
hundreds of student organizations
good pre-med adviser
Division I athletics
gigantic library with tons of places to study, huge student union with lots of places to get food, study late into the night, bowling alley in the basement, theater on the 2nd floor, art gallery on the 1st floor
pretty diverse student body, find whatever clique or group of people you want
Honors college with good scholarships, small classes (12-15) with full-tenure professors in topics of their specialty

+/- factor
Large classes - I liked them, honestly. I never had a lecture class that I thought had too many people (biggest was 300)

Cons:
classes taught by TAs
you can walk across campus and not see anyone you know
not as much scholarship money (but tuition wasn't that high anyways)
non-honors students might have trouble getting into a specific course if it fills up

 

[JJMrK]

Another factor to consider: A big school is much more likely to have a number of active research labs looking for undergrads to help out.

 

[MossPoh]

I went to a very large undergrad (40,000+)
All of my professors knew my name.
I knew every person in my classes for my major.
I had access to any sort of research imaginable.
I had fantastic gyms and ECs available for nearly anything one can imagine. Fencing? Sure. Fly fishing? Why not? Underwater basket weaving? Yup!

Aside from general education classes, nearly all of my classes were less than 30 people. Many were less than 15, which didn't correlate with how much I learned or anything else really. In fact, I liked those classes least. Sometimes you just don't want to be that involved.

Some people like the small school feel. I like being able to identify people all over the world that went to my school. Cheering for their sports on t.v. Having a massive and devout alumni network. Hell, I liked the fact that if there was someone I didn't want to see and they weren't in my major then I didn't have to see them. I don't think one is better than the other, but those were the reasons I enjoyed my big university. There was no lack of personal interaction in any way.