Is a Large or a Small College Better for Me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>While initially, I applied to mostly smaller suburban schools, I am beginning to think that a larger, urban college might be a better match for me. Still, I am a little bit hesitant, and want to make sure that I am on the right track. I love larger colleges because they have a wide variety of majors, a plethora of esoteric courses, lots of internships nearby, and a good selection of extracurriculars, however, I'm worried I might be missing out on that "small school touch" that family members/guidance counselors keep emphasizing to me. Based on the info below, does a large, urban university, or a small suburban college sound like a better match for my personality/goals?</p>

<p>-I have really obscure interests. I am obsessed with Russia, I want to become fluent in Old English, and I am fascinated by Kazakhstan. So it's important to me there are a wide variety of focused courses for me to choose from.</p>

<p>-I am not entirely sure what I want to major in...I'm leaning toward Anthropology, Political Science or History right now, but I also want to take courses in Environmental Studies, Journalism and English. I'm not sure if the flexibility of a smaller college would be better for me, or the breadth of majors at a larger one. </p>

<p>-I am kind of shy. Once I warm up to people, I can become quite outgoing, but it takes awhile for me to feel comfortable with others. This leads me to think a smaller college would be better, however, I'm nervous social conditions would be too cliquish. </p>

<ul>
<li>I can participate in class discussions, and I am told by my teachers I do a good job, it is just incredibly anxiety-provoking for me to raise my hand/offer a comment. I learn better just sitting back and listening to teachers talk, unless an especially urgent question crosses my mind. However, I HATE it when teachers just straight lecture for an hour and a half--I like there to be some variation or hands-on element. </li>
</ul>

<p>-I do enjoy conversing with my teachers...if I'm passionate about the subject they teach, I like to ask them questions or express my interest (although after class). I do not, however, like forced interaction with my teachers, I only talk to them if I feel comfortable with them.</p>

<p>-It is important to me I have lots of research and internship opportunities available to build my resume...as is the case with everyone, I'm nervous about the economic situation so out-of-the-classroom learning experiences are imperative!</p>

<p>...based upon the information I provided, does a small or a large college sound like a better fit for me? I'm really conflicted.</p>

2

<p>To me it sounds like a bigger college would be better for you, because you have those “obscure” interests that might not be covered at a small college and want good research and internship possibilities. I’m also kind of shy at times, but I’m pretty much only applying to larger colleges. </p>

<p>I guess it’s getting a bit late to start new applications, but if you do I’d encourage you to apply to some bigger urban schools.</p>

3

<p>Some considerations:
-For the majors that interest you, you can find all of them at a smaller school, with the possible exception of journalism.
-Since you have diverse interests, imo, it usually is easier to take courses in a wider variety of departments at a smaller school.
-From what you describe of yourself, a smaller school would be a better fit, though class participation is something you might need to improve upon. And i think there is a lot to be said for that “small school touch” that family and guidance counselors keep telling you about.
-The right small school can offer sufficient coursework across several departments in things Russian, though at any school a Slavic languages department might be fairly small anyway. At some small schools, it might be too small.
-As for your Old English and Kazakhstan interests, you’re more likely to find those at a large school. Nonetheless, you can probably arrange some independent study in Old English at a small school. Kazakh studies will be found only at a very limited number of large school, e.g., Indiana, and that school is huge—way too large to be a good fit for you, imo. However, you could pursue your interests in Kazakhstan via independent study/term papers. Also, schools like Indiana offer summer coursework in Kazakh language, and sometimes there is federal funding for this.
-A small school can certainly help you arrange internships and research opportunities just as well as a larger school.</p>

<p>So, I guess I’m coming down on the side of a smaller school as being a better fit for you. </p>

<p>Here are some suggestions off the top of my head: Consider a double major in Russian/East European Studies (Russian + coursework in history, politics, etc.) + English. Do a study abroad in Russia. Look into a summer institute in Kazakh language studies at a school like Indiana or Wisconsin, or perhaps, consider a summer institute (in the US or abroad) to study Turkish, since Kazakh is a Turkic language and Turkish might provide a entre to several of the Central Asian Turkic languages, or perhaps, teach English in Kazakhstan. </p>

<p>You didn’t mention your stats or finances, but one school that comes to mind to consider might be St. Olaf in Minnesota. One of the larger LACs. About an hour from Minneapolis. Good language programs, study abroad.
[St</a>. Olaf College | About St. Olaf](<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/russian/overview/]St”>http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/russian/overview/)
[St</a>. Olaf College English Department](<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/english/]St”>http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/english/)</p>

4

<p>Stay in your comfort zone vs. tackle your demons and grow out of your shy label
Apply to both types, get accepted, visit to get the vibes of the campus and faculty</p>

5

<p>I did apply to a few of each so I’m thankful that I’ll have my options open, until I finally decide which vibe is right for me. </p>

<p>I have looked into St. Olaf and it sounds like it’d be fantastic, but unfortunately it’s a bit too far for me. I’m looking for schools in the Mid-Atlantic region, preferably in Pennsylvania. I’m hoping not to apply to any more schools at this point since I am a bit fatigued from applications, unless I find “the one” which I feel compelled to apply to! </p>

<p>And out of curiosity, for the people who have replied to this post (or anyone else), do you attend a large school, a small one, or college somewhere in between? What have you found to be the benefits to your school’s size, and what shortcomings have you encountered?</p>

6

<p>A bigger school sounds better for you. Large universities have much more course selection and humanities classes still tend to be small at big schools. </p>

<p>I go to Pitt, but when I applied to college I applied to mostly small and medium-sized schools thinking that sized school was going to be a better fit. Now I like big schools much more, I think people exaggerate the impersonal nature of large schools.</p>

7

<p>Which colleges have you applied to?</p>

8

<p>If you have the stats, an Honors College within a large university sounds like a good fit. Honors classes are smaller, so you can have that intimate experience for classes that really excite you, and you can also have the larger classes (complete with interactive clicker tests at some places). Socially, many places have honors dorms for freshman, which encourages you to befriend the same students you will see in your honors courses and they often have specialty programming for social and educational outings.
A large school also allows you access to clubs, networking and internships (though even non-urban large schools have internship opportunities. I wouldn’t knock a school off the list because it isn’t near a large city. After all, you will be competing with applicants from multiple colleges in an urban environment whereas some regions have great opportunities and less competition.</p>

9

<p>I would highly recommend that you visit as many of the colleges on your list as possible, both large and small. In addition, make sure that you schedule to sit in on a class during your visit. This should give you an idea of the right fit for you. My D started by looking at larger schools for many of the same reasons as you but ended up at an LAC. Conversely, my S started by looking at LAC’s and ended up at a larger university. Both made their decisions after their visits. </p>

<p>I agree about St. Olaf, it is an outstanding college and we absolutely loved it. D, however, was worried about adapting to the winter weather. Good luck to you!</p>

10

<p>I’ve applied to Ursinus, West Chester, Millersville, Arcadia, Temple, Kutztown and American. My top choice is American, followed by Ursinus and Temple. Maybe the thing I liked about American was that it was a good marriage of the best things about an LAC and a university–class sizes are small and there’s lots of hands-on learning opportunities but there’s still some rather obscure classes and lots of extracurriculars/internships/majors.</p>

11

<p>I think Temple would be the best choice on your list - you can major or minor in Russian at Temple- if your grades/SAT scores are good enough to get into the honors college, it would be the best of both worlds for you. Temple’s website indicates that last year 465 incoming freshmen enrolled in the honors program, with Average SAT = 1337
Average H.S. GPA = 3.85/4.0 </p>

<p>not sure if American would be worth the extra costs. (I’m assuming you’re in-state PA) If you were sure you wanted to go into international relations and wanted access to Washington DC internships that would be the only reason, for me, to consider American over Temple.</p>

<p>I don’t believe Ursinus offers Russian. I doubt if the other schools on your list are intellectual enough for you.</p>

12

<p>Pitt is urban and medium sized. They have an absolutely excellent Russian history and slavic programs. It’s Center for Russian and East European Studies is designated by the Department of Education as a National Resource Center (see [here[/url</a>] and [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.slavic.pitt.edu/”&gt;http://www.slavic.pitt.edu/&lt;/a&gt;] here](<a href=“http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/crees/]here[/url”>Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies)), which is only one of 16 such designated centers in the country. See more about those designated centers at <a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/iegps/nrcflas-europe.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/iegps/nrcflas-europe.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>How about the LAC-hybrid schools? Tufts, Rice, William & Mary, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Brown, Wake Forest have the best of both worlds.</p>

14

<p>I saw you as a better fit at a smaller school. </p>

<p>But yeah definitely in the next day apply to some hybrids if you haven’t. The social culture is not too intimidating, but it’s not small enough to the point where your options are limited if you don’t get in a clique. Lecture classes are still probably lecture classes at the above schools, although there’s likely easier access to seminar courses. You’ll have plenty of opportunities for research at a University (graduate and especially medical students create research, rather than strictly taking research spots away). As far as courses/majors go, the majors you listed are probably found at all hybrids, and it shouldn’t be hard to enroll in classes outside your major (generally not impacted classes like at larger schools or the class being offered, say, once every other year like at some smaller colleges).</p>