<p>I've always been very shy throughout my life, and I really want this to change. Would attending a small, liberal arts college be more beneficial for me than a larger university? I was thinking that attending a smaller college would force me to participate more, hopefully allowing me to gain confidence, while attending a larger university would give me the option to blend in with the crowd, which I would naturally do.</p>
<p>Actually I think going to a larger University would be better because you are more bound to find a group of people to befriend.</p>
<p>Yeah, if you have a particular interest - like a certain video game or whatever, you’re more likely to find people like you at a larger university.</p>
<p>You’d be better off going to a large university in my opinion. I’m sort of shy myself, and I have chosen to go to one of the large state universities with this being one of the major reasons- to help me overcome it.</p>
<p>My younger D has been shy all her life too and she was helped tremendously by following a monthly program that she subscribed to online that was run by a really famous shyness coach (I saw her on The Today Show). </p>
<p>We couldn’t afford the fees for the coaching (quite expensive), but the program called Your Year To Shine was affordable and benefited her alot. The site is <a href=“http://www.dontcallmeshy.com%5B/url%5D”>www.dontcallmeshy.com</a> and the info is on the homepage under newsletter.</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I disagree that attending a large university is a better choice if you are shy and want that to change. LACs create environments that make class participation both necessary and relatively easy. Sitting in large lectures isn’t going to do it. It’s much easier to develop relationships with faculty, who can provide the mentoring you need. I also think students in LACs are more welcoming of those who want to try something new in the EC dept - they generally don’t have a large enough student body to be super picky about who gets to be in the show, play in the orchestra or sing with the a capella group. That isn’t to say the standards of performance are necessarily low - but they aren’t turning people away either. Just like athletics is more likely to be Division III or intramural rather than Division I.</p>
<p>I would also disagree about a large U being better. It’s often said that it is easier to be lonely in a crowd, and this can happen at a large U as well as walking down the street of a large city but knowing nobody. At a large U the classes may be large so you don’t have a chance to talk and get to know people. You’ll get advice about joining clubs, but it can be daunting to go into a room of 30-40 people all of whom seem to know each other already. Social life can be dominated by the greek system, which is not often a hospitable place for the shy person. </p>
<p>On the other hand shyness is by no means an uncommon thing, and at many U’s they have free or low-cost counseling for students to develop social skills. And LACs tend to have more pronounced personalities than larger U’s. For example a focus on athletics, intellectualism, preppy, etc; if you are looking at LACs it would be a smart idea to visit first and make sure you’re comfortable there, preferably with an overnite visit (which can be tough for a shy person, I understand).</p>
<p>You can find some info from trusted sources at [Shyness.com</a> - Shyness Institute](<a href=“http://www.shyness.com/shyness-institute.html]Shyness.com”>http://www.shyness.com/shyness-institute.html)</p>
<p>Interesting post…I also want to accomplish this goal of being shy. The only difference with me is that I have a speech disorder that occurs the majority of the time during the day. I can sometime speak clearly, but tend to stutter. It’s awkward and embarrassing for me because I know exactly what to say, but for some odd reason I can’t freely say it. Fortunately mines is not so severe as others I actually met before. This causing me to stay quiet during class discussion because of fear of laughter as I had in a past experience.</p>
<p>Try a school with a Living Learning Communities. They place students together to live and learn with similar interests. Forces everyone to interact. This would be perfect for you.</p>