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Size of college I should attend

S

skywalker66

Banned
Hey,

I'm looking at schools to go to for next fall, and I am having a hard time narrowing down the selection between the schools I applied to.

One of the things I am concerned about is size, and I am curious as to what the advantages and disadvantages are to going to a small or a large school.

By small, the small schools I'm looking at are around a couple thousand.
the largest school I'm looking at is 10,000

I've heard that small schools are better for making friends and gettin to know everybody since you see them more often and in more places. Now making good friends is important to me.
What I am wondering is how true is this?
Like at a large school what would your social life be like, like in what places would you meet the people that you end up hanging out with? would it be any different at a small school?
And at a large school would you be more likely closer involved or less involved with the people around you than at a small school?

Also if this helps: I'm not much of a partier. I like to have fun with friends, both guys and girls yes, but the whole idea of getting hammered every night just doesnt appeal to me.
I don't know if that is a concern with large schools or not, but I figure i'd mention it, just to be sure.


and one more thing,
I went to a high school that had 2000 and it didnt seem too bad. Sure you knew everyone, but is that really that bad? like why cant some people stand that kind of atmosphere?

couldnt one get sick of the large atmosphere likewise?
 
Every school I've ever even visited had well over 10,000 students at it. Having 2000 or 3000 students would be like being in high school.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Every school I've ever even visited had well over 10,000 students at it. Having 2000 or 3000 students would be like being in high school.
Click to expand...

Exactally, my girlfriend goes to a Private school with about 2500-3000 students. She pretty much can recognize everyone she sees... Very much like high school indeed... I enjoy going to a large university (50,000+ students). You can slack off more and still do just as well 🙂
 
I think it depends more on what you're used to. I graduated high school with a class of 48 people. My whole high school only had 200 people in it. I was used to having a small class size and rather tight knit community, so that is what I chose for college. My college only had about 1200 students for total enrollment. I had small class sizes and it was very easy to catch a professor and talk about a test or just shoot the breeze with them like I was used to. I was happy with my choice.

I will say this though - it is much easier to go from a small high school to a big university than it is to go from a very big high school to a very small college. My college had a pretty low retention rate, mostly due to students that came from huge urban schools that couldn't hack the "everybody knows everybody" atmosphere of the campus.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Every school I've ever even visited had well over 10,000 students at it. Having 2000 or 3000 students would be like being in high school.
Click to expand...

Depends on how your high school was. I go to a school with approximately 1700 undergrads. It's nice, because, as a tech school, everybody is in the same boat as far as class loads go, so it's (to me) more directed.

It depends on what you want, I guess. At a state school, you can stand on any given street and see someone in your class, and not see that person again for the next four years...or you can go to a smaller school, where your classes will overlap lots with the same people. It's nice, because my school is small...but being in Chicago, it's not like there aren't exactly any people around.
 
if you are talking about private schools, it doesn't matter too much as long as your prospective shchool matches your interests. In public schools, I believe bigger is better, unless you know exactly what you want to study and know that a smaller school has the better program.
 
It doesn't matter in my opinion.

If you make friends your going to make friends wether you are in a small or big school. When you mean school I take it you mean *college* right?

Well of course in the large one if they are on different courses are you less likely to see them around especially if their campus is far from the one you hang out at.

The small one the campus still may be further away but just has less people going to it.

It is true that you will probably see the people around more if the school is small and the campus's are close together. But if they are not then you won't see them around much.
 
Someone told me the once the size of the school should be the the size the of the city you live in. If you live in a big city you should attend a large college. Live in a small town goto a smaller college. I guess so that you can feel a little more comfortable with your surrondings.
 
Large = party school, super large classes. Large classes - very little personal attention. But lots of parties, frats, etc.

Small = more focused education, smaller classes.

Just my two cents
 
I went to a high school of 1100 in a town of 5000. I go to the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign which has ~35,000 students. I have no problem with the size of the school here, and I kind of like it.

If you're a sports fan don't underestimate the excitement of good division I sports!
 
i go to a school of 52000...largest single campus in the nation. no problems here. cuz of the staggering number, there are sooooooooooo many beautiful girls here, lots of things to do, and there is always a party

i went to a HS of 3000... im done with that atmosphere
 
Originally posted by: LS20
i go to a school of 52000...largest single campus in the nation. no problems here. cuz of the staggering number, there are sooooooooooo many beautiful girls here, lots of things to do, and there is always a party

i went to a HS of 3000... im done with that atmosphere
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Same here.. UT right? 3000 is big for a high school though.
 
my HS had ~650 students. college has 2300. so its not like HS. it really depends on who you are. personally i wanted a small school. a school weith 8000 kids or more woudl be bigger then my town.
teh ones with 50,000 are 8.3x bigger thyen my town. thats just scary
 
I originally went to a small liberal arts school (around 2500) and later transferred to a large university (around 30,000) due to financial reasons and a change in major - socially I really liked the small school better. It's easier to meet people imo and a lot easier to get a group of 10-30 people together than at a big university where a social setting seems to be either 5 or fewer or 50 or more with nothing in between - I also found it much easier to become active at the small school. I also came from a small high school (graduating class was around 60) so it didn't seem like I knew everyone - I probably recognize the same percentage of people I come in contact with at the university because I only see the people who live around me or have classes in the same buildings I do.
 
Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis


Same here.. UT right? 3000 is big for a high school though.
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yup

it was pretty impacted in northern california...even at 3k you see the same ppl day in and day out...
 
i go to a school of ~4000 (cmu)... i don't know what to say about it. there are a lot of people, but after a while you recognize most of the people in your major...
 
UT is the largest school in the nation. LOTS of hot chicks 😀 and boy do they know how to party 😉
 
Size of the class is marketing propaganda left to such toilet tabloids as US News (they gotta come up with some annual pseudo-scientific POS funded study to sell magazines right)?

Your studious effort will *make* you rather than thinking you're getting more valuable "ear time" with the Professor--which you won't.

Germany has its universities spilling in the stairwells in arena-type classes, yet they *consistently* produce some of the most brilliant academians on the planet.

Go to a school for diversity and that will hit your wallet the most amicably. 😉 (BTW, I've experienced both times of systems so I know what I'm talking about)
 
12000 is plenty fine for me. I hear my friends that go to U of I and purdue...400+ class sizes. That is insane to me. I like to know that the professor knows when I am gone and knows my name. And, despite what a couple others might say, knowing the professor makes him more approchable to me. It can help if you are like that. BTW, i go to Western IL....what is your intended major?
 
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