<p>I'm wondering what differences academically I would experience at a large state school vs. a smaller private school. Like what would the intro level classes be like, how much interaction would I have with the professor, etc...</p>
<p>There are also small state schools that are engineering-focused, like the SD, NM, and CO Mines schools (the first two have quite low list prices, even for out-of-state students).</p>
<p>Smaller schools are likely to have smaller introductory courses. But those which are more generalized, rather than engineering focused, may have fewer advanced elective offerings, or less frequent offering (this is less of an issue in engineering at small engineering-focused schools like the Mines schools, RHIT, Harvey Mudd, Caltech, etc.). You can check on-line course catalogs and schedules for specifics.</p>
<p>Smaller generalized schools with engineering often have just a general engineering major, where the usual types of engineering are specialized with in-major electives. This may be desirable to a student who is initially not sure of which type of engineering to go into, but may be less desirable to one who wants to go deep in a particularly type of engineering (especially a less common one that may not have much in the way of offerings at small generalized schools).</p>
<p>Small school benefits:
- Generally much easier to meet with professors during office hours, and at non-research focused schools, professors are usually more willing to go the extra mile to help you
- Professors often teach the classes (no TA’s or grad students)
- Small class sizes all around, including the intro courses
- Campus community is generally more tight-knit</p>
<p>Having attended a small school myself for undergrad (~1700 students), the biggest class I had was 30 students. My engineering classes had around 10-20 people. At some of the larger schools, it is not uncommon to have intro classes with over 500 students. </p>