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Because thread title space is limited:
"So I've attended a community college, a small sate university, and a large state university: My thoughts." (I attended them in that order.)
Three vastly different learning environments, three vastly different ways of learning. I'm not going to write a 10 page thesis, but I just thought I'd share some of my thoughts since not a lot of people are exposed to all three of the mentioned types of colleges. Sorry this got so wordy, but if you just want to skim, read the overall/pros/cons and you can be on your way.
Community College - It was a great learning environment, but it was difficult to develop any substantial relationships because of the diverse and dissociated student population, most of which were commuters. I did a lot of my general ed credits here so the age range was mostly 18-20, but there was a large percentage of "returning adults", who I might add, are more pleasant to work beside than the fresh-out-of-highschool kids (and also more motivated.) The school was heavily state-funded so all the campuses were recently renovated and/or still being renovated. All the facilities were fresh and new, the technology was great. My largest classes were ~30 in size, but most were smaller (about 20 or so.) It was great learning in such a small class size because of the amount of individual attention. All of my professors were great, although few had PhDs. My Human A&P class started with 30 people and about halfway through the semester all but about 7 of us had dropped, so we all got a lot of personal attention from the professor, who did actually have his PhD in physiology and also taught at Wayne State. For this I paid about $500/semester in cash for ~15 credits.
Overall feeling: Pros outweigh most of the cons.
Pros: Great learning environment within the classroom, great student-professor interaction, the price is right.
Cons: Difficult to socialize, a lot of the student body is poorly motivated and it's difficult to succeed when surrounded by people who simply don't care.
Smaller State School - The learning environment was similar to my community college. Class sizes were generally about ~30 or so, some of the classes that were higher in demand would have two sections of 30 combined into one lecture hall. This school seemed to get very little state funding. The research facilities were pitiful, the technology was all outdated (oldschool overhead projectors and chalk boards, TVs that have the radial knob to change the channel, shoddy seats and desks, worn-down lab equipment, etc. On top of that everything was still painted from the 70's.) Aside from all that, most of the professors were great teachers because the university didn't have as large of a focus on research. It was much easier to find friends with similar interests and get involved with campus organizations. People seemed to be much more motivated to do well and was therefore easy to find people to study with.
Overall feeling: Pros far outweigh the cons. Great education for a decent price.
Pros: Great professors, motivated student body, small class sizes.
Cons: Outdated facilities, little state funding for research
Large State School - Here's where it gets tricky. This has been a totally different experience than any of the other schools I've attended. The first thing is that every class is huge. One of my upper-level physiology classes has 600 filled seats (and 50 in an overflow webcast room), physics has ~300, organic II has ~200, etc. I only have one class that has <100 students. This makes it difficult to ask questions and many of the professors are difficult to approach because they are heavily research-oriented. Plus some of them are straight-out terrible at teaching and/or public speaking. Also the huge class sizes are intimidating and because you sit by new people almost every time it's difficult to make any lasting relationships since you'll probably never sit by them again unless you make a connection and seek them out. In addition to this, many of the pre-meds I've come across are gunners and only care to ask you about your GPA, MCAT, where you're applying, etc. Aside from all of that, the facilities are amazing and I have easy access to all my TAs and free tutoring. Oh yeah, and I pay almost twice as much as the smaller state school.
Overall feeling: Hardly worth the price. I felt like I learned a lot better at both of the other schools I went to.
Pros: Great facilities, access to research if that's your cup of tea, lots of tutoring, lots of like-minded people although some are difficult to approach.
Cons: Lots of gunners, lots of research professors who aren't quite geared for teaching, large class sizes give a huge feeling of anonymity.
Take home lesson: If I could do it all over again I would probably start at the smaller state school and stay there. Despite some shoddy facilities, the smaller class sizes were incredibly nice, the professors were approachable, it's easier to make friends with people you sit next to repeatedly, lots of motivated people who are willing to help out their fellow classmates.
Please comment on anything you agree or disagree with here.
"So I've attended a community college, a small sate university, and a large state university: My thoughts." (I attended them in that order.)
Three vastly different learning environments, three vastly different ways of learning. I'm not going to write a 10 page thesis, but I just thought I'd share some of my thoughts since not a lot of people are exposed to all three of the mentioned types of colleges. Sorry this got so wordy, but if you just want to skim, read the overall/pros/cons and you can be on your way.
Community College - It was a great learning environment, but it was difficult to develop any substantial relationships because of the diverse and dissociated student population, most of which were commuters. I did a lot of my general ed credits here so the age range was mostly 18-20, but there was a large percentage of "returning adults", who I might add, are more pleasant to work beside than the fresh-out-of-highschool kids (and also more motivated.) The school was heavily state-funded so all the campuses were recently renovated and/or still being renovated. All the facilities were fresh and new, the technology was great. My largest classes were ~30 in size, but most were smaller (about 20 or so.) It was great learning in such a small class size because of the amount of individual attention. All of my professors were great, although few had PhDs. My Human A&P class started with 30 people and about halfway through the semester all but about 7 of us had dropped, so we all got a lot of personal attention from the professor, who did actually have his PhD in physiology and also taught at Wayne State. For this I paid about $500/semester in cash for ~15 credits.
Overall feeling: Pros outweigh most of the cons.
Pros: Great learning environment within the classroom, great student-professor interaction, the price is right.
Cons: Difficult to socialize, a lot of the student body is poorly motivated and it's difficult to succeed when surrounded by people who simply don't care.
Smaller State School - The learning environment was similar to my community college. Class sizes were generally about ~30 or so, some of the classes that were higher in demand would have two sections of 30 combined into one lecture hall. This school seemed to get very little state funding. The research facilities were pitiful, the technology was all outdated (oldschool overhead projectors and chalk boards, TVs that have the radial knob to change the channel, shoddy seats and desks, worn-down lab equipment, etc. On top of that everything was still painted from the 70's.) Aside from all that, most of the professors were great teachers because the university didn't have as large of a focus on research. It was much easier to find friends with similar interests and get involved with campus organizations. People seemed to be much more motivated to do well and was therefore easy to find people to study with.
Overall feeling: Pros far outweigh the cons. Great education for a decent price.
Pros: Great professors, motivated student body, small class sizes.
Cons: Outdated facilities, little state funding for research
Large State School - Here's where it gets tricky. This has been a totally different experience than any of the other schools I've attended. The first thing is that every class is huge. One of my upper-level physiology classes has 600 filled seats (and 50 in an overflow webcast room), physics has ~300, organic II has ~200, etc. I only have one class that has <100 students. This makes it difficult to ask questions and many of the professors are difficult to approach because they are heavily research-oriented. Plus some of them are straight-out terrible at teaching and/or public speaking. Also the huge class sizes are intimidating and because you sit by new people almost every time it's difficult to make any lasting relationships since you'll probably never sit by them again unless you make a connection and seek them out. In addition to this, many of the pre-meds I've come across are gunners and only care to ask you about your GPA, MCAT, where you're applying, etc. Aside from all of that, the facilities are amazing and I have easy access to all my TAs and free tutoring. Oh yeah, and I pay almost twice as much as the smaller state school.
Overall feeling: Hardly worth the price. I felt like I learned a lot better at both of the other schools I went to.
Pros: Great facilities, access to research if that's your cup of tea, lots of tutoring, lots of like-minded people although some are difficult to approach.
Cons: Lots of gunners, lots of research professors who aren't quite geared for teaching, large class sizes give a huge feeling of anonymity.
Take home lesson: If I could do it all over again I would probably start at the smaller state school and stay there. Despite some shoddy facilities, the smaller class sizes were incredibly nice, the professors were approachable, it's easier to make friends with people you sit next to repeatedly, lots of motivated people who are willing to help out their fellow classmates.
Please comment on anything you agree or disagree with here.
