Loyola Maryland vs Stonehill vs UCONN vs UHart

Please help me decide on which college/university I should commit to! They are all relatively similar in terms of price point so that won’t be a factor in my decision. Things I’m looking for in my college experience will be smaller class sizes where I can get to know my professors, engaged/interesting/knowledgeable professors, challenging and interesting academics, and extracurricular music opportunities.

Loyola University Maryland:

  • I got into the honors program
  • Seems like the teachers are very good?
  • Good location for internships
  • Smaller class size

Stonehill College:

  • Smaller class size
  • Teachers might be hit or miss?
  • Music opportunities (guitar ensemble)

UCONN:

  • Has everything but the classes are huge and teachers probably care more about their research
  • ex: good academics, lots of music opportunities

UHart:

  • I got into the honors program
  • It all just seems okay?
  • Good music opportunities if I were in the Hartt School, but I didn’t apply for it

Edit: I am majoring as Undecided/Exploratory

Well you clearly don’t belong at UCONN and you don’t think good things about Uha.

So based on what you wrote - Loyola is your favorite.

What are you studying? What are the musical opportunities at each?

btw - even at the biggest schools, if you make the effort, you can get to know your profs - but yes, it’s easier at the smaller schools.

It sounds like the top two should be your top two and you should see where you can be involved in music if you’re not a music major and choose from there. Good luck.

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I don’t think that is necessarily true. My daughter went to a flagship (and is still there as a grad student) and she knew all of her professors as well as she wanted to. Some she didn’t really like or had no interest in learning more about that subject, but she knew all of the professors in her department pretty well. There were some big classes (120-200) but they all had small groups one day per week and she had the opportunity to meet the profs during office hours or the TA to discuss the material more. Upper level classes were almost all limited to 24 students.

Your choices are all fine, but don’t rule out UConn because you can’t get to know the professors; you can.

How important is music to you? If performance, which instrument? UConn and U Hartford have some fantastic music educators. I bet that you could call Hartt, audition now, and be accepted to Hartt also (they probably go into the wait list, and if they like you better, they’d probably take you into Hartt, also, if that’s what you want).

In terms of the credentials of the other students at the school, UConn Storrs is way more selective than the other three schools. The other students at the school are a very big part of your college experience. Also, if you aren’t sure what you would like to study, you want to be at a school that offers many majors - that’s UConn. And if you are inclined to also study music, that’s UConn (or Hartt, but U Hartford is way less selective, overall, than is Hartt).

In my opinion, not knowing what you want to study, and wanting some access to music, UConn Storrs is your best option.

I would suggest Loyola or Stonehill. Both are great schools and will give you most of what you need.

The Hartt School ensembles are only open to music and music education majors. Plus, I think for your exploratory experience…Loyola and Stonehill are better choices.

Uconn will never be small.

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