For those of you who went to medium/big schools

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I posted something similar to this on the Transfer board, but I'm thinking my question will get more traffic from current college students here.</p>

<p>So, I'm at a small LAC right now and I'm thinking about transferring. Until a couple days ago, I was only looking at other LAC's. But it just dawned on me that maybe the things I dislike about my current school are because of or at least influenced by its small size (1200-1300).</p>

<p>My question is this: Will a university with maybe 5000 to 15000 suit my needs/wants better? I'm not looking for chances or anything, just advice from those who have been at a university this size, especially those who have transferred in.</p>

<p>What I dislike about my current school, briefly:
-dominant Greek life/party atmosphere, divide between Greeks and non-Greeks
-little diversity (ethnic, economic, opinions, beliefs, etc.)
-few classes to choose from and they aren't very challenging
-little to do on campus other than party and the town is really rundown
-gossip and people being quick to judge others (One girl I know calls it "Middle school, part 2.")</p>

<p>I feel like at a big school, even if it had a Greek scene, it probably wouldn't be so dominant, right? And everyone wouldn't know everyone, so there wouldn't be all the gossip. There would be more to do on campus--more clubs to get involved in (and they'd probably be more active) and more events to go to--and maybe even a city nearby! There would be more people, so it would be more likely that I would find some people who are more like me than the people at my current LAC. I would have more classes to choose from, and they would probably be more challenging. Plus many big U's are more transfer friendly than LAC's.</p>

<p>But, I'm also worried about these things:
--huge entry level classes (but I can probably get out of a lot of these if many of my credits transfer)
-little to no hand holding (I would like a challenge, but at the same time, I don't want to fail or anything)
-TA's (but I've read that some of the big schools I'm looking at require professors to teach even Intro level courses, and they have more of an undergraduate focus)
-getting lost in the crowd
-longer distances between classes/dorms
-sports obsessed students (this one's a little silly)
-not getting to take courses outside my major/minor</p>

<p>What I like about LAC's:
-small classes (although I'm really not into discussion all that much)
-knowing my professors well
-playing an influential role on campus through EC's and leadership opportunities
-the idea of a community
-the security of not feeling that lost, small fish in a big pond sort of feeling</p>

<p>Schools I am considering:
LAC's: Smith, Carleton, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell, Macalester, etc.
Universities: Cornell U, Northwestern, George Washington, Rice, Emory, American, etc.</p>

<p>Any advice will be awesome! Thanks!</p>

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<p>I go to a school of about 10 000.</p>

<p>Huge classes are amazing. You can skip, sleep, or attend.</p>

<p>TAs...I had some that spoke horrible English, and one that really helped me understand Calculus, he was better than my teacher.</p>

<p>There are a lot of classes to choose from...which is nice.</p>

<p>Lots of diversity, there is a club for each religion, and a club that is about all of them.</p>

<p>We have lots of help: math labs, writing labs, office hours with the teacher/TA, tutoring from random students on campus.</p>

<p>My school isn't that large, so the walk to campus talks 15 min from one side to another, which you forget about as the semester passes.</p>

<p>You can't get lost in the crowd because you'll find your own friends and make your own crowd; there are so many groups to join it is quite easy to find friends.</p>

<p>I took many courses outside of my major (theatre as a biochem major...then I switched to a theatre major and now I'm taking chemistry ii...a class aimed at science majors.)</p>

<p>I say transfer if you want.</p>

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<p>You won't find everything you're looking for at every big university, but I think you're more likely to find most of it at a bigger school. More class offerings, no gossip, more clubs and orgs, more stuff going on in general--definitely. I go to a school with 15,000 undergrads and another 7,000 or so grad students, and while I was worried at first about being completely overwhelmed by the size of the place, it's been perfect. You find subgroups and make those your community. There's tons of diversity, a club for every interest under the sun, and always new people to meet and new activities to try. It sounds like you might get the broader experience you're looking for at a bigger school than you're at now--having to worry about gossip and "middle school part 2" in college sounds miserable. You do have to be more active about advocating for yourself at a bigger school, but that's how most of life works.</p>

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<p>I agree with Pseudonym. I have a friend that goes to a smaller school, that was his dream school, but there is a lot of gossip there...and now he wishes he hadn't gone. There is still gossip at my school however...but it is easy to avoid. With bigger social circles you can just avoid the gossipy ones. :)</p>

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<p>that's a medium/big school? Damn my school is 36000.</p>

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<p>I go to a school with about 13,000 students (9,000-10,000 undergrads). To address some of your questions</p>

<p>-GRAD STUDENTS AREN'T ALL BAD. Some of the most talented, most interesting, most competent teachers I've had have been grad students--and I've had lots of good professors as well, so this is not to to knock the quality of the professors, either! Of course, I've had some not so great TA's and some not so great professors as well, but most have been very good. Additionally, because you'll be transferring as a junior, it's unlikely you'll have many or any classes with TA's. I did have a small (15-20 people) upper division class with a grader this past semester, which was kind of strange, but the professor still definitely knew all of us well. Finally, as someone who's been an undergrad TA, I can say that we work hard and really do care about doing an excellent job!</p>

<p>-You can still form relationships with your professors in large classes. I've formed good relationships (though one ended AWFULLY) with professors/instructors in classes with about 80 people.</p>

<p>-Not all your classes will be large! The largest class I've had here (and likely will have) has been about 250 people (Bio lecture), but most of my classes have been smaller (psych classes tend to run a bit large--about 50-80 people, social work classes tends to form cohorts of about 15-20 that go through multiple classes together, upper division bio classes tend to be pretty small [10-15 people]. )</p>

<p>-You can still get to know professors. This touches on point two. I know most of the professors from the psych department at my school and have done or will be doing research with a lot of them. In smaller departments and smaller classes, this is even easier. For example, this semester I emailed my endocrinology professor from last Spring with a random endocrinology question and got an answer back the same evening,. I recently did a one-on-one independent study with a creative writing professor from a GE class I took two years ago, and we're continuing our work into next semester, even though I've already gotten credit for the IS. So, if you try, there's definitely ways to get to know your professors.</p>

<p>-My school has a lot of football pride. I have almost no interest in team sports, especially football. Never gone to a game. It's never been a problem. </p>

<p>-I've carved out plenty of leadership roles and so on in EC's here, and while there can be a bit of "...will I ever see you after this semester?" at times, generally club/EC membership is fairly consistent.</p>

<p>-I'm a Greek (and a non-drinker/non-partier, too), so I can't really speak to "avoiding" the Greek system, but can say ours is pretty small (1-2% of the student population).</p>

<p>Hope that helps!</p>

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<p>Thanks, guys, your opinions are very helpful! You've pretty much touched on all my concerns. I guess some of them will depend more on the individual school too though. But I feel much better about applying now.</p>