<p>Ok, so for the past few weeks I've only been looking at transferring to LAC's, and I have kind of just scoffed at any school that someone's suggested to me that's bigger than 2500-3000. But yesterday, a few of you guys encouraged me to look at bigger universities like Cornell, Northwestern, etc. I was pretty sure I would hate them. But then I started reading about them. I looked at the list of course offerings for Cornell's history department, and my jaw dropped. There were so many specific, interesting topics to choose from! And then I started thinking about it some more, and it occurred to me: maybe much of what I dislike about my school now has to do with its small size! (My current school only has about 1200-1300 students.) So I started weighing the pros and cons.</p>
<p>What I dislike about my current school:
-The only social scene is frat parties. Everything is very Greek centered. There is a divide between Greeks and non-Greeks.
-I feel like there's very little diversity, in the ethnic sense, the economic sense, and in the personalities/opinions of people who go here. Most everyone is white, Southern, conservative, Christian, in a frat/sorority, apathetic, and only concerned with partying.
-There are not very many classes to choose from or many different disciplines that you can study. Some departments only have two professors and about five upper level classes to choose from each semester. My department, History, is one of the larger ones, and we only had 8 upper level classes to choose from (12 sections total, but only 11 unique classes, and 2 were seminars only open to seniors and 1 was an internship with only one student participating). All are filled past their class size limit. My classes have been only a little more challenging than my very easy high school. There's a lot of hand holding here.
-The tiny nearby town is rundown and boring, with boarded up shops lining the "main street" that goes through "downtown." The biggest attractions are CVS, some fast food restaurants, and a couple grocery stores.
-Everyone is so gossipy, uncaring, and judgmental. One girl I know calls it "Middle School, part 2," not even joking.</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. I would have more classes to choose from, and they would probably be more challenging. </p>
<p>BUT, I'm also afraid of some parts of big universities:
-Huge entry level classes (but I can probably get out of most of these if all or 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 (the other side of the 'More people, more opportunities for friends' coin)
-Having to walk like 10 miles from my dorm to my class and another 10 to my next class and then 20 back to my dorm...you get the picture
-Everybody might be obsessed with the sports, which I would not really care about
-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 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 was considering: Smith, Carleton, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell, Macalester, etc.
Schools I'm now considering: Cornell U, Northwestern, George Washington, Rice, Emory, American, etc.</p>
<p>So, advice? Comments? Experiences? I would especially love to hear from someone who has switched/is trying to switch from an LAC to a big university.</p>