<p>When I was younger and anybody asked me what school I desired to go to, UCLA would always be my answer. But now as the time to apply to colleges is getting so close, I find myself questioning my prior aspirations. Why do I want to go there.</p>
<p>I actually have no idea.</p>
<p>Now that I speak to more of my recently graduated friends, and the more of them I see opt to go to smaller private colleges versus the larger UC's, the more i question myself.
A particular friend of mine is going to George Fox University in Oregon, and that really got me thinking. He'll be in a school were his professors know him, and even though he's not the most amazing scholar he'll also receive a significant scholarship.</p>
<p>Do I really want to go to a school were lectures are in the 100's and classes are really taught by TA's? Where the professor doesn't know my name or even whether I'm even in class that day? </p>
<p>The problem I know face is, what small private universities are like GF yet also have no religious affiliation? Southern California is perferred and Scholarship elgibity would be even better! </p>
<p>Sorry if I'm rambling on guys, just got a lot to say and im not quite sure how to put it into words.</p>
<p>How are we supposed to know if you’d like a small school setting versus a large school setting? It’s a matter of opinion. I prefer the large school setting because of everything that goes on in the school, especially at a school like UCLA which combines outstanding academics with a premiere athletics program. If you are motivated, you can always find a way to get the help you need through TAs or counselers. But, you will always know the faculty better at a small school. It’s really up to you. </p>
<p>Depending on your grades/scores, Occidental College (I believe it has no religious affiliation) is a fantastic small school situated in Southern California.</p>
<p>Get ahold of Peterson’s 4-Year College Guide and you’ll get a list with capsule descriptions of over 2,000 colleges. They have lists of colleges offering different majors, etc. It isn’t the only or last book to use in your search, but it is a good starting point.</p>
<p>As for more general advice, it may be on a tight schedule for you, but when college classes resume this fall (a few weeks away, actually) its worth visiting examples of different colleges in your area. Guessing that you live in So. Calif, that means visit UCLA as well as some smaller ones such as Loyola or Pepperdine. The latter 2 aren’t what you want due to religious affiliation, but you’ll still be able to get a sense of what it would be like to be a student at one by visiting a class or two, and especially talking to current students (preferably not the frosh who would have just started). </p>
<p>The problem with talking to your recently graduated friends is they haven’t spent a single day as a college student yet; its all just speculation. Its good to be thinking about the large vs small format, but you need to be basing your decisions on facts. It is absolutely not true that large classes are UCLA are taught by TA’s. I’m not saying its a great system for everyone, but in the large lectures a prof is up there talking 3x a week; you just meet with the TA once a week in a “discussion” section. There are just a few classes taught by TAs, and these are classes such as Intro English where they use TAs so that the classes are small. On the other hand it IS true that an unfortunately large number are taught by hired guns; lecturers with a PhD who are hired just to teach undergrads and are not part of the permanent faculty.</p>