<p>Okay, so we all know that private colleges are more expensive.</p>
<p>Academically, there are good private colleges and bad private colleges, and good public colleges and bad public colleges.</p>
<p>But what about socially? Are the dorms pretty much the same? Do private college students throw parties as much? Or do they tend to study more?</p>
<p>I really need to know this because I'm getting stressed up about whether I should go to a public or a private college.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Well, the University of Miami is a private school. It is a great school with a beautiful campus, dorms that look like prison cells and students that party a ton that still manage to do great in school (ok not all)</p>
<p>you can't decide on private vs. public, you have to compare the schools themselves. how old are you?</p>
<p>Well, I'm still in High School. I'm actually just a Freshman in High School but I'm trying to get ready for that college day.</p>
<p>What are some good colleges academically and socially and is out of New York?</p>
<p>What are your grades?</p>
<p>My grades range from low A's to 100's. I never really study or try hard though.</p>
<p>I'm planning to try harder starting in tenth grade, so hopefully I could get mostly 95 and above...</p>
<p>There are literally thousands of places for you to look at, "outside of new york".</p>
<p>perhaps one way to narrow your search in these initial stages is to figure out whether you want a big or small school, or more specifically, a Liberal Arts College or a Research University. both have distinct pros and cons, and there are fantastic schools in either category. do a little research as to the differences between these two, and start your search from there. I don't think "public vs private" should be a starting point unless cost is a major concern.</p>
<p>If he wants to be anywhere out of the new york area (which my guess is where he lives) means he will be paying out of state at a public univerisity, so it won't matter where he goes he'll be paying the same. He will probably have a better chance at receiving financial aid from a private university.</p>
<p>That being said, you are only a sophomore.. just do good in high school and have some fun, its too early to worry about where you are applying to college. Do your best and when the time comes you'll be able to assess where you are competitive and where you want to go.</p>
<p>its good that you are starting early, I wish I could go back to my freshman year. I hear that public and private are the same except for the price.</p>
<p>From freshman year to senior year, your "ideal" college type will probably change at least once. It's good to learn about ALL types of colleges, what they have to offer, why you would like one type over another, etc.</p>
<p>When I was a sophomore in HS I wanted to go to any of the small LACs in my state, but by the time I took my college visits my junior year, I went to 7 state publics that were all out of state and 4 private schools out of state. Senior year I visited a few schools in state, and selected a large state public university. I couldn't be happier and can't imagine myself EVER attending an LAC.</p>
<p>Do good in school, have fun, be a kid, be social, and narrowing down college choices will happen eventually. Don't stress yet.</p>
<p>Look dude, ALL colleges party (except maybe Bob Jones lol) but seriously, my older brother went to a small catholic college and he partied a ton.</p>
<p>freshman year is too early to be worried about this stuff</p>
<p>^
yea seriously. Enjoy freshman year.</p>
<p>About the dorms, private schools have much nicer dorms. Obviously, because they can pay for them...</p>
<p>Also, a lot of private schools are very elitist.</p>
<p>Private schools do not as a rule have nicer dorms. I'm at a public with much nicer dorms than some of my private school friends have. Not saying publics have nicer dorms either.</p>
<p>Just that "private" and "public" are such ridiculously broad descriptions as to be almost useless (unless you're talking how much money they'll charge.) Anyone who says otherwise is making it up, honestly, based on guesses.</p>
<p>Bigger factors: urban, rural, suburban, LAC, small, large, preppy, not, conservative, religious, liberal, nonreligious, quirky, greeky, whatever.</p>
<p>Private schools do not necessarily have better dorms. I've seen some crappy dorms at $47,000/yr private colleges and great dorms at $16,000/yr in state public colleges. Do not base the quality of the living arrangements on the price of the colleges because often times, it doesn't match up.</p>
<p>If you're looking for a campus with a high rate of on campus drinking, then pick an isolated campus where kids are stuck without a car. If you're looking for a campus where drinking isn't the main on campus activity, then pick a campus that has easy access to a nearby town or city. When kids have easy access to get off campus (walking, public transportation), many times the kids will do the bulk of their drinking off campus rather than in dorms. This is true for both public and private colleges.</p>
<p>I go to a small public school, located directly next to a large private school that we share things with (such as dorms, cafeterias, and even classes).</p>
<p>Here are my observations:
The dorms are okay. Way overpriced though. I'm living off campus in a nice remodeled house for less than half of what the dorms cost.</p>
<p>The people as a whole are pretty different. The people at the private school dress in more expensive and "preppy" clothing (Uggs, AE, abercrombie, etc). I've met a lot more "snobby" people there. Certainly not all, or even most by any means, I like a lot of people from the private school, my bf in particular.</p>
<p>People at my school are more "into" what they do, and participate much much more. I've taken classes at the private school, and while I liked them better because I like big classes, i found that often times I was the only one participating, and most people didn't attend lecture. They also were filled with excuses like "my printer broke" when essays were do. These were general eds... but come on, its not HS. I think more effort is made at the public vs. the private, because many of the students at the private school are well off because of mommy and daddy and don't feel the need to do well. At least until their parents see their grades I guess. :P</p>
<p>Both people at both schools come in late to lecture, or use cell phones in lecture at pretty much the same amount.</p>
<p>There tend to be more parties at the private school than my public. But I'm assuming its because my school is very small in comparison.</p>
<p>I say partying is about the same though, with the exception that people tend to get more dressed up for parties at the private. Partying generally starts Thursday night until Sunday.</p>
<p>Again, everything is a generalization and I like both schools okay, and the people from both, in general, are okay.</p>
<p>One of the really big difference between public and private is that a public will have the majority of students from that state and the privates are usually more geographically diverse.</p>