<p>I have been trying to decide whether I would be happy at an LAC and I think the one thing that is bugging me is the size. For some reason I feel like it could get kind of claustrophobic in such a small setting. Is it irrational to think this about being at at a school with around 2000 students or is it not really like that?
Any opinions would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>At a 2,000 person LAC, you are still not likely to know everyone; especially those not in your class. Many LACs are also closer to 3,000 such as Bucknell, Colgate, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Vassar, Holy Cross.</p>
<p>No, it’s not unreasonable. I steered away from LACs when I applied to colleges several years ago because their small size prevented them from having a critical mass of LGBT students, for example.</p>
<p>If you’re not sure what size college you want, the most reasonable strategy would be to apply to several schools of each size (i.e. 2-3 LACs, 3-4 midsize, 2-3 large).</p>
<p>IF the school fits well, 2,000 is much more than you might imagine. After 4 years, most kids finishing up at LACs still won’t be able to ID half those around them at graduation.</p>
<p>THe other thing to consider is that very small classes are not always the best thing. Sometimes you can spend more time listening to other students talk than listen to the professor. sometimes, professors have interesting things to say. ;-)</p>
<p>A big lecture has advantages over small seminar-style classes. It goes the other way too, of course, but you have to keep both sides of the issue in mind.</p>
<p>Depends on the person. I know I do better at smaller schools (I learned this transferring from a magnet art school to my local neighborhood public, which I have honestly kind of regretted…) but I can see where other people might not like the small atmosphere. You have to know if you’re the kind of person who can handle that. Visit.</p>
<p>I go to a school with 3000 ppl (I entered freshmen year not knowing anybody at all) and though I know a ton of ppl now, I still meet new people every year. </p>
<p>Remember new people will be coming, others will be leaving, etc. </p>
<p>I went to a college of less than 800. Yes, you read that right. Smaller than my high school.</p>
<p>My default plan was that if the place started feeling too small, I’d do one of their many campus exchange programs, or I’d go abroad. But the campus never did feel too small, and when I graduated it was with the sense that I could have spent another couple of years there and STILL not exhausted the classes I wanted to take, the professors I wanted to get to know, the clubs I’d like to explore. There might be less of everything, but there is still enough, and you get to hear reputationally about really great departments and profs–not all of which you’ll have time for in four short years.</p>
<p>Darling is right about the coming and going. I never felt like I knew everybody.</p>
<p>If you go to a liberal arts college near in a metropolitan area, you can always go explore the city whenever you start feeling claustrophobic.</p>
<p>It is not irrational to be concerned about this. A small college that’s part of a consortium might be a good option for you.</p>
<p>You might want to think also about the depth and breadth of course offerings in departments of interest, particularly if you’re coming in with a lot of AP credit.</p>
<p>And by “offered” I mean actually being given in a particular semester, not merely sitting in their catalog and given once every few years, when a particular visiting prof is available to teach it.</p>
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<p>I second this suggestion. The Haverford-Swarthmore-Bryn Mawr Consortium, Claremont Consortium, etc. are all great.</p>
<p>Good suggestion. Haverford, Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr can also take classes at Penn.</p>
<p>^ and come to our parties and take our booze.</p>
<p>I go to Swarthmore, so I have some experience with claustrophobia :)</p>
<p>It’s perfectly fine to question if a small school ever feels too small. A lot of people wonder about this, and lots of people ask that question during tours. </p>
<p>I was quite concerned about this myself, because I’m from Seattle and I’m used to being in a city and going downtown often and just being around lots of people a lot of the time. I think that you won’t feel claustrophobic, as long as you get out of the campus every once in a while. I’ve certainly had that feeling you get when you stay home for too long–you’ve just got to get out of the house and walk around and see something new. My English professor put it perfectly: “If you stay at Swarthmore for all four years without getting out, your head will explode.” </p>
<p>So every once in a while, I find that I have to talk a walk in the woods and walk around the tiny town next to Swarthmore and have a coffee once in a while. Less often, I just really want to go to another city and explore. Fortunately, Swarthmore is close to Philadelphia. People don’t go there all the time, maybe on average once a month, but it’s still a nice break. I’ve even managed to be able to take a few trips to New York to see my friends and to see my sister who lives in Connecticut, during the school year. So, in short, you can avoid the claustrophobic feeling by going off campus and forgetting all about college once in a while.</p>
<p>The claustrophobic feeling is a major reason why I kind of shy away from schools in the middle of nowhere, especially if they’re small schools. It’s a good question to ask on tours: “What else is there to do if I just want to get away from campus from time to time?” Because I’m sure that eventually you’ll want to just get away for a while.</p>
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Don’t forget the 5 College Consortium (Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, U Mass).</p>
<p>Certain LACs offer cross-registration and relatively close social ties with universities (e.g. Barnard & Columbia, Wellesley & MIT).</p>