Interesting commentary on the realities of public vs private universities

Parents Forum
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While what you say may be true at some of the research universities you mentioned, it doesn’t apply to an undergraduate-focused research university like Duke.</p>

<p>Here’s Duke latest (released very recently) CDS: <a href=“http://ir.provost.duke.edu/facts/cds/Duke%20CDS_2011-2012.pdf[/url]”>http://ir.provost.duke.edu/facts/cds/Duke%20CDS_2011-2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And here’s Cornell’s and Michigan’s respectively:
<a href=“U-M Office of the VPIT-CIO | Office of the VPIT-CIO | University of Michigan”>Office of Budget and Planning;
<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000504.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000504.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Student to Faculty Ratio
Cornell: 9/1
Duke: 7/1
Michigan: 16/1</p>

<p>Percent of Classes <20
Cornell: 57.0%
Duke: 71.6%
Michigan: 48.0%</p>

<p>Percent of Classes >40
Cornell: 23.4%
Duke: 8.6%
Michigan: 20.7%</p>

<p>Percent of Classes >50
Cornell: 18.2%
Duke: 6.0%
Michigan: 16.8%</p>

<p>I think you bring up some very good points bclintonk that a lot of people need to hear i.e. Cornell and USC aren’t that much different than Michigan or UIUC. However, you paint too broad of a picture yourself; there are private universities such as Duke that are closer in class sizes to being LACs rather than large public universities so the cookie crumbles both ways.</p>

<p>In short Duke is by no means a Haverford, but is certainly no University of Michigan either by the same token.</p>

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<p>^ Duke, Chicago, and Yale are outliers among private research universities in having relatively few small classes for research universities–though even they are easily an order of magnitude away from a school like Haverford on that score.</p>

<p>If you want small classes, go to a LAC.</p>

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<p>Actually, USC (11% of classes 50+) is pretty much in the mid-range for private research universities, comparable to Princeton (10%), Caltech (10%), WUSTL (10%) Notre Dame (10%). Brown (11%), and Johns Hopkins (11%); lower than Stanford (13%), MIT (13%), and Cornell (18.2%); and only slightly higher than Harvard (8%), Dartmouth (8%), and Penn (9%). And again, because those large classes are, by definition, large, they have a lot of students, i.e., they absorb a lot of student time.</p>

<p>Again, if you want small classes, choose a LAC.</p>

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<p>Having gone to a big private (Yale) and a little private (Scripps), I would have to agree with bclintonk that it’s not just a question of public vs. private, but large research vs. intimate LACs. And of course there are many opportunities at large research institutions you don’t get at small LACs. Still, I enjoyed my Scripps and Pomona classes a lot more…</p>

<p>And I think many professors would rather teach at large research universities because the de-emphasis on teaching and consequent increased time for research gives them more career opportunities. I’m basing this statement from my interview with the dean in charge of faculty hiring at Pomona College.</p>

<p>And from socializing with professors at the Claremont Colleges, I know that the professors look jealously at the salaries and benefits of professors at UC Riverside. After all, they have families to support as well…</p>