<p>I’d say if he’s visited the school and feels like that’s where he’d be happy, then he probably knows what’s right for him. My son had 33 in his HS class and went to a university last fall where there were ~5000 in the freshman class. He absolutely loves it - so much that we can’t get him to come home except for holidays! Of course his mother and I had doubts, but he knew what was best for him and he was right.</p>
<p>*She likes the anonymity that a larger school can provide. Paradoxically, it’s like there’s more personal space at the larger school because you don’t get that feeling that everyone knows everyone else.
*</p>
<p>There’s a lot of truth to that. There was a thread awhile back where parents and students were posting that some smaller colleges ended up having that same kind of clique-ish problems that high schools have - with a few “popular” kids having too much power. At large college, no one can have such power.</p>
<p>My three oldest attended a highschool with less than 300 students and they are all at very large universities. They have each on occassion mentioned the fact that they can see the benefits of some of their friends smaller schools, but I don’t believe they would want to swap the experiences they have had at their respective schools.</p>
<p>My daughter attended a small town highschool and went to a medium sized college. She had some difficulties not related to the size of the school but now in retrospect she says it was way too small and their was really not much going on. She also claimed that because of the size must students just partied because there was no town nearby or activities for the students. She was given the option to return but has decided not to.</p>
<p>Our son went to a small rural school…only 180 in his graduating class and he knew everyone. His university had about 35,000 students AND was in a urban location. HE LOVED IT!! DD is going to a school where there are about 5000 undergrads…still quite a bit larger than her high school and also in an urban area.</p>
<p>The reality is that your kids will NOT be friends with 35,000 students. They will find their group of friends, be it in their dorm, club or major…and those will become their close knit group. DS was in a major with only 400 or so students over all grades including grade school. He spent all his time there and that is where his friends were. DD’s friends were from her dorm and from two club activities she is involved in. </p>
<p>Both LOVE the urban environment of their schools but also like coming home to the boonies!!</p>
<p>My kids’ HS was <1000 students and all successfully attend(ed) universities ranging from 10k-25k students. If your S wants the big school atmosphere, I would trust his instincts to know what he wants and needs. Kids are pretty good at figuring it out.</p>
<p>You can help get him ready for the transition by preparing him be his own advocate, a huge asset at a large public. Go over ways to navigate the system and be successful in a large setting. Reinforce the need to go to EVERY class even though attendance may not be taken, sit toward the front in large lectures, go to office hours even if you think you understand the material in order to get to know your profs and vice versa. Know what help is available and where to find it. </p>
<p>There may be a few bumps in the road in the beginning, but kids that are prepared should be able to be very successful at a big school. We were a little concerned when my shy guy really wanted the big, rah rah atmosphere, but he has really blossomed in the environment.</p>
<p>“You can help get him ready for the transition by preparing him be his own advocate, a huge asset at a large public. Go over ways to navigate the system and be successful in a large setting. Reinforce the need to go to EVERY class even though attendance may not be taken, sit toward the front in large lectures, go to office hours even if you think you understand the material in order to get to know your profs and vice versa. Know what help is available and where to find it.” </p>
<p>Great advice. 90% of doing well in college is just showing up and paying attention. You might actually learn stuff without cramming later…</p>
<p>By Canadian standards it’s not a small HS. Our kids have just 80 kids per grade. And, for what its worth, the vast majority of Canadian kids end up at one of our larger public universities, since smaller colleges are less common. I’ve not heard of it being an issue but it probably just depends on the child rather than the prior highschool experience. </p>
<p>My oldest looks very forward to a larger school where she can have more anonymity, and a chance to step out of prior expectations of her (that invariably come with being in a place where everyone knows you for many years). I think for her it will be liberating and given she’s quirky, she’s more likely to find her ‘own people’ in a large diverse environment. The last thing she wants or needs is a college akin to another small prep school experience.</p>
<p>My DD grew up in a small town, rural lifestyle, dirt road, small elementary & middle school (45-100 kids per grade) and then went to a similar small HS. She did very well at Berkeley in terms of connecting with both professors and with groups to make her world smaller- Greek, sports, campus job, volunteering, etc.</p>
<p>My oldest looked forward to big UC anonymity after a small HS, but later learned during her masters that she likes the smaller groups. The UC was never a good fit for her.</p>
<p>Thanks for this thread. Now I won’t second guess that D should have applied to more small colleges. No need to worry so much about her making the jump from tiny HS to 5,000 students. So I can use my time to worry about something else…</p>
<p>My son went from a small high school (his graduating class had 60 kids) to a huge flagship university out of state. He has done remarkably well there! The size of the school hasn’t bothered him a bit. He hangs out mostly with the same group of people. He is also in honors, plus his major, both of which “shrink” the university a bit.</p>
<p>If your son wants to go to a big U, let him. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.</p>
<p>My daughter attended a small (108 in her graduating class) all-girls Catholic high school. She applied to Big Ten, Pac Ten and UC colleges. Clearly she was ready for a change. </p>
<p>She picked a Big Ten school and loves it. However, she does have some small classes to offset the big lecture hall ones. For every Macro Econ or Psychology, she has an honors class or language class to balance it out.</p>
<p>My kids had about 200 in each year of their graduating class. Both are now attending a school that has over 16,000 undergrads & over 17,000 grad students. Both are very happy and thriving. S specifically did NOT want or apply to smaller schools and likes the variety he finds at USC. He is in engineering and there were about 200 in his freshmen engineering cohort, I believe.</p>
<p>D is in Arts & Sciences and has not had any problems adjusting. She attended a CC for 3 semesters and also foreign language for summer school at our flagship U. Both like the variety that a large campus offers.</p>
<p>That said, both have worked to find their niches. S played club soccer with his dorm & friends, also formed a rock-climbing club that camps & rock climbs regularly. He also has a lot of engineering folks that he keeps in touch with & quite a few people from his home state are also in CA; I believe he keeps in touch with some of them. He also was in the “Great Outdoors” floor of his dorm & they went camping; perhaps that is how they decided to start the rock climbing club (that the school grants money for equipment to every year).</p>
<p>D has taken up fencing and loves it (she’s glad that her large U can pay for the expensive equipment the team & sport needs). She also joined two clubs, which she calls “eating clubs” (where they engage in lots of fun eating, according to her–I believe at different restaurants) and has taken several courses she’s interested in that have helped her develop some friends. Her part-time job has also introduced her to a new circle of friends.</p>
<p>Another friend’s D joined ROTC for a while & made friends at her huge campus (UVa that way). She retained these friends even after she opted out of ROTC. Her brother went to UCSB & was playing water polo (instant group of friends & companions). It is important for the child to find a group of folks to “hang out with.”</p>
<p>My older child went from a hs of ~700 to a big OOS flagship, bit he had a major with only 35 others in his year, so in a sense he had both the small college feel with, as he puts it, big school benefits. Some of it was that the football and basketball teams were really competetive. These days they are not. He really enjoyed his time there.</p>
<p>He was able to do undergrad research, and is published. He knew 2 other kids from his hs, from the year before him, but most of the kids from this school stay instate to go to one of the two flagships.</p>
<p>I just found this thread and am subscribing…(and will read the last 3 pages later)
we have a student who will graduate with a class of about 150 and is looking at huge universities as well. </p>
<p>he’s had some transitions between schools (moving), and an overseas move in elem school etc…</p>
<p>In hs he knows many many of the kids who are jrs and srs…,
his group of “friends” is mostly his teammates, </p>
<p>so it will be a transition as well reaching a much bigger school</p>
<p>we have talked about the difference between acquaintances, friends and close/trusted people in our lives…what an acquaintence looks like, what a friend “looks like”- do they want the best for you, support you, are they congruent in what they say/do/act etc etc…</p>
<p>Back in Iowa, where I grew up (and most of my family still lives), there are lots of small rural school districts that routinely send the majority of their graduates to the three big state universities (Iowa State U, U of Iowa, and U of Northern Iowa). Most of these kids do just fine. Happynephew#3 is set to graduate from ISU in 2011. His home school district had fewer than 1000 students total in grades K-12. He’s loved every minute at ISU - well except maybe for that first calculus class freshman year. </p>
<p>And this kid isn’t in any “honors” program. He’s in regular classes. However, that hasn’t prevented him from finding the perfect major, making good friends, playing the club sports he likes, and getting paid research internships on campus.</p>
<p>Go Cyclones!</p>
<p>Like orchestramom’s child, my son was a lifer at a small private school. Ours was located in DC. He couldn’t wait to get away. So, he went to a large, but not gigantic college, on the other side of the country. He had no problem with the size or adjusting especially after we went to Parents Weekend, and then flew him home for a few days in late October in order to deal with a severe case of freshman angst. He developed friends in his program and dorm his first year and they still remain his friends three years after graduation.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is necessarily the size of the school that makes a difference, but the type of lifestyle in high school.</p>
<p>Back in the dark ages when I was at U of Michigan, there was a guy on my dorm floor that went to a mid-sized high school, but lived an extremely sheltered life. Good luck in Ann Arbor in the early 70s. He just went off the deep end. Everyone tried to help, but he was just experiencing things for the 1st time that he had only heard of. He was gone early in the 2nd semester.</p>