<p>I've been stressing myself out for quite some time, and now I'm wondering (after all of my weeks of wondering, at 4 AM) if what I think I want is actually what's best for me.</p>
<p>I had thought I would want small classes with low teacher-to-student ratios, but now... I'm wondering if maybe I'd like being "invisible" a bit more? I've never been to a school with more than about 400 kids, and I live in a very small town. My parents are very religious, and I'm realizing that this, and a myriad of other components, have resulted in my being extremely fearful... Of everything! Maybe a big school could be a nice change... And besides, you do not need to live on campus for all large schools (UC's anyway, the only public schools I am considering).</p>
<p>So... Long story short, could you guys list some of the advantages to both small and large schools? I can think of a ton of "pro's" for small schools, but not so many for large ones until now...</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>So this is what I can come up with based on my visits of schools 2 years ago. </p>
<p>Large schools have the advantage of:
-More facilities (Workout, computers, etc)
-More majors
-More faculty
-Invisibility in classes (Good when you don't need to attend class to do well)</p>
<p>And the following drawbacks:
-Scheduling problems that cause you to have to spend summer or an extra year to graduate
-Some larger (especially public flagships) tend to be a zoo on the weekends and may not be right for someone who does not party all the time
-Trouble getting to know professors and finding smaller classes
-Getting "lost" among all the students, though this can occur even at a smaller school</p>
<p>Smaller schools tend to have:
-Better course registration
-Smaller class sizes
and perhaps smaller departments and fewer course offerings. Tuition may also be substantially higher.</p>
<p>Larger schools often have more diversity, simply because there are so many more people. This will help get you to think outside the box and be able to work with people of different ethnicity or religion than you are. </p>
<p>You don't need to decide between a tiny school of 1000 or a huge public of 50,000. There are plenty of school in between that. My school (a state public) has 19,000 undergrad which is big compared to some small privates but tiny itself when compared to other state schools like Texas which has over 50,000! Yet, you can blend in/be "invisible" if you want to at my school, or you can stand out in things like ECs.</p>
<p>@ kasjalkjs12</p>
<p>I would also say schools with larger endowments tend to offer more programs, majors and activities for students than schools with a starving, smaller endowments.</p>
<p>large schools = larger dating pool haha</p>
<p>Some large schools have offer honors programs or majors in a cohort style. All the benefits of a large university with small classes, guaranteed class registration, and accessible professors.</p>
<p>I'm in an accounting cohort at Maryland. It's great to know while less than 60% of kids graduate from Maryland in 4 years (~80% graduate within 6 years, common for publics, though), I have only 2 years left and no need to stress over course registration.</p>
<p>at smaller schools, it's harder to avoid an awkward random hookup after the fact ... but easier to find a good hookup the following weekend (or random weeknight) as well.</p>