<p>What advantages do public colleges have over private colleges? I can think of several disadvantages to going to a public college as opposed to a private one. Namely, larger class size, less attention from professors, etc.</p>
<p>Why do certain students only apply to public colleges and others only private? For those who applied to public universities, what made you want to attend a public college? For those who applied to private universities, what made you want to attend a private college?</p>
<p>Also is there much of difference between top public university such as UVa and UCLA and other private peer universities such Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown?</p>
<p>It just depends so much on the particular schools you’re talking about. My son goes to a small private, my daughter to a small public. Her classes are no bigger than his, and in fact are sometimes smaller. They both get all the attention from professors they want or need.</p>
<p>A lot of students opt for publics because absent significant financial aid they tend to be less expensive. Some kids also like large state u’s with a high profile sports scene.</p>
<p>I applied to a mix of public and private (I think it was about half and half), and am attending a private.</p>
<p>To me, public vs. private doesn’t matter. There were certain things I was looking for in a school, and lots of schools met my criteria.</p>
<p>Ultimately I chose my school (Le Moyne College) for the size (though that’s kind of weird because I narrowed my choices down to either really small; Le Moyne at about 3400, or quite big; University at Buffalo which has over 20,000), feel, nursing program, and financial aid. </p>
<p>I would go to a public if I felt as comfortable and confident there…In fact, for the longest time, Temple University was my first choice, but then I started doing some research and I didn’t like their nursing program. But if Temple had a nursing program like Le Moyne’s, I would be going there instead.</p>
<p>Public colleges are generally bigger (many have upwards of 30,000 students) than private colleges (many have less than 10,000 students). Public schools are also generally much cheaper, even for out-of-state students.</p>