Hello, so I am currently a junior and starting my college searches. I’ve wanted to attend a smaller, private school for the smaller class sizes and more one-on-one interaction. Yet, at my last tour at Iowa State University, the Assistant Dean of Student Success reminded me that because Iowa State is such a big, top-notch school, they have access to amazing research programs. Then the vet I am interning for told me that she had a lot of opportunities that she would not have gotten if she had attended a large, public university. I also really enjoyed ISU, but I also feel like I could do better, y’know? Problem is, I’m nowhere near Ivy League material. I’m just a shoe-in for most state/public universities due to my ACT score. Like I know absolutely amazing people graduate from large state/public schools all the time, but I feel like maybe it won’t fit me that well, based on many things, like size. Does anybody have experience feeling like this? I guess I’m just overwhelmed by all these options.
Not knowing your scores or background. This is basic commentary.
There are many public schools that are much more difficult to get into than almost any small private school in the country. Such schools as UCBerkeley UCLA Texas Florida Washington Illinois Virginia UNC UCSD Michigan etc.
And there are many small private schools. And most are not anywhere near as difficult to gain acceptance to as an Ivy League or New England liberal arts college you are most likely envisioning. Yet these others are fantastic top notch schools.
That’s where you aim. Some names to start your search and also google “schools like” muhlenberg Beloit Goucher Drake DePauw (highly recommend) Dickinson St Olaf Elon college of Charleston Lynchburg Washington and Jefferson (highly recommend). Etc
You’ll find your place. Big vs small seems like there’s a trade off between research and resources. I would bet that most of these great schools have learned how to offer enough of each to support both of your desires.
And if its Iowa in the end. That’s pretty great too. You can only be in one library, dorm room or classroom at a time. So how big is any one place really.
@privatebanker mentioned private liberal arts colleges, but there are some very fine public liberal arts colleges as well – New College of Florida, UNC Asheville, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland are a few examples. See the list on the COPAC website:
If you live in Iowa, take a look at Truman State in Missouri (6000 undergrads). Tuition, fees, and room/board total ~$23,400 a year for out-of-state students, which is much cheaper than most private colleges without merit or financial aid. Tuition, fees, and room/board at U Minnesota-Morris (1800 undergrads) are also about $23K a year.
@warblersrule Excellent point.
The thing is though, at large schools there’s more competition to get the opportunities. Just because the opportunities are there doesn’t mean you’ll get them. Often at larger schools, it’s the grad students who get to research/intern and not the undergrads. Plenty of smaller private schools do research as well. The ~2000 undergrad school my daughter went to had a lot of opportunities for STEM majors. Two of her friends did cancer research, another was a physics professor’s research assistant, and a girl she knew designed and prototyped a new kind of ankle brace. The physics kid presented at a national physics conference where Neil Degrasse Tyson was also presenting. If you want to research/intern, just ask the schools what they have to offer instead of assuming opportunities are/aren’t there.
GloriaVaughn, it depends on the larger school. I have quite a bit of experience with two of them, and undergraduate students did not have any competition whatsoever for research, internship or job placements. If a student wanted it, worked for it, and had the right qualifications for it, they got it. It was that simple. The key isn’t size but resources. A small college or university with insufficient resources will struggle to provide undergraduate students with opportunities, while a large university with an abundance of resources will provide ample opportunities for all.
It should be noted that opportunities at large universities are not open to undergraduate and graduate students alike. Opportunities designed for graduate students will be opened almost exclusively to graduate students and will require the commensurate experience and qualifications, while opportunities for undergraduate students will be open almost exclusively to undergraduate students…and (almost) never the twain shall meet! 
I agree with @Alexandre - there are lots of opportunities at big schools. My son did research in the biomedical engineering lab at UT his freshman year. UT has one of the biggest structural engineering labs in the country, and they use lots of undergrad assistants. And Steven Weinberg is on the physics faculty, still! I remember being thrilled to ride up the elevator with him in the physics building in the early '80s.
I also have experience with one of the largest university systems in the country. It’s important to note that midwestern schools are a bit of a different beast than east or west coast. (assuming that the OP is a midwesterner based on Iowa state) It’s also important to note that the OP is an average student. If the school has 400 students in the major and 200 internships, the average student may or may not get one. Depending on your area of study, opportunities are not always stratified. Oftentimes, large schools give experiences to grad students that at smaller schools go to undergrads. Just because a school is large or small doesn’t speak to the resources available. You have to ask and do your research.
Of course, there is a difference between research and non-research schools regardless of size. Research schools tend to have more shiny faculty, but also more TAs teaching classes. There’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what works for you as a student. If you want 1-on-1 attention from a full professor, you’re not likely to get that from a large research school.
Performance learning or hands-on or applied learning schools are a different beast as well. At those types of schools, pretty much everyone gets research and internships. Those schools tend to be smaller by nature of having to have opportunities for each and every student. My daughter had three internships starting as a sophomore and got to do grad-level research as an undergrad.
It’s not as simple as large school = opportunity. You have to ask questions to find out what each school offers in your field of study. You also have to weight opportunity vs. odds of success in an environment that may or may not suit you. What matters more in your field, good academic performance or an internship?
My son is pre-vet at a large midwestern college and looked at Iowa State. He loves where he is and feels like he has plenty of opportunities there. He likes that there is a vet school that he can make contacts with and even work at. It really depends on exactly what you want and what you are looking for.
OP,
If you live in IA, perhaps you should visit some of the smaller private colleges that you have in state. You could visit LACs like Grinnell, Cornell, Luther, and Coe. Central College in Pella is also a nice school, though it’s much more regional. You could also visit a small private university like Drake U in Des Moines. Don’t worry if you aren’t necessarily interested in attending any of these schools. The idea here is to get a feel for what a smaller school is like. Then, if you wish, you can expand your search and identify schools that you love. But right now it seems like you are unsure about what size is best for you: small (1000-4000), medium (4000 to 10,000) or large (10,000+). No one can answer that for you. You can also do research. There are books that will help you better understand the subtle differences.
Loren Pope’s book “Looking Beyond the Ivy League” is an excellent primer that gives an overview of LACs. The book is nearly thirty years old, and Pope is definitely biased in his love for small private colleges, but a lot of the general information in the book is still relevant, and as its title suggests, there are a lot of terrific schools out there that are not Ivies or Ivy equivalents.
It is false that at larger public schools, only the grad students get research positions. It depends on the school and the resources. My daughter attends a large public mentioned here, and she has been doing research for 3 years. Most of her friends are also doing research.
OP I agree that it’s a good idea to visit some of the smaller LACs that you have instate. The first step is to determine what size you are most comfortable with.
I agree that the answer isn’t as simple as public vs. private, large vs. small, or research vs. non-research. Each has it’s pros and cons, and within each designation you’ll find a range of opportunities available.
It’s important, especially in smaller schools, to evaluate the number of permanent faculty in a department, the number of classes offered in your area of interest, and find out what kind of equipment they have available and what types or research projects are going on. Also look at participation in undergraduate research conferences. Ask what % of students participate in research and how many are published.
There are plenty of opportunities across the boards. What’s important is finding the one that fits your student best. I know my H chose to teach at a smaller school because it allowed him to form relationships with students and really help them throughout their undergraduate career. He didn’t feel he would have the same opportunity at a larger school - he did not want TAs teaching his undergraduate students like he did at the highly-ranked university where he earned his PhD. But others thrive in the larger, faster-paced setting. It’s all what works for you.
Cost is always the biggest factor with private schools. On average, after financial aid, they end up costing more than going to an out of state university, making them generally NOT worth the cost. Most the kids that go to ivy league aren’t even the smart ones. They’re mainly children from rich alumni, or influential people. They get in through different channels. Notice how a politician’s kid ALWAYS manages to get into Harvard? It’s not because he’s just so super smart. He gets in because they know his dad. Dad pays full price for tuition, and donates money. The prestige is really just a big lie. Only a small minority of the students in these schools are actually the smart gifted students. They’re also the schools most notorious for grade inflation.
One thing I noticed, which may not be on your radar - the dorm rooms at the private schools were way, way nicer than the dorms in the public schools. The public schools that we visited, the dorms were just skanky. Peeling paint everywhere, grimy carpet. I don’t know if my daughter even is aware of this stuff or would care, but I definitely noticed. I personally would not want to have to live in some of the dorms we saw, but maybe teens/20s don’t care.
@coolguy40 I am curious how you are reaching your conclusion that most kids in the Ivy League are not smart. The common data sets for these colleges clearly show that all of the admitted students are indeed very smart. Are the rich and influential manipulating the common data sets as well as the admission process?