<p>Hello friends! So, I am a senior in high school and still have not made up my mind on what kind of school I want to attend. The thing is, for the longest time I wanted to go to a small liberal arts school for the amazing academic experience. I am a huge nerd, so I obviously put academics first, but I also don't want to completely ignore social aspects, which I think I was doing. I recently went to UMD for a weekend and had so much fun with the whole big party school deal. However, like I said, I still want to put academics first. I have two questions I would like to present:
1) This one is more specific: Does UMD really have amazing academics (for students that want it), or are students still unable to experience the small LAC academic amazingness that I've heard so much about? I want to major in history.
2) Would I still be able to experience that same party scene fun on occassion if I attended a small LAC? Are there like major differences between small school parties and big school parties? Some of the small schools that I'm really interested in are Dickinson, Swarthmore, Gettysburg, and Franklin and Marshall.
I hope this wasn't too long and complicated. Thanks!</p>
<p>I can only speak from my experience, but I was in a situation like yours. I really wanted a small, <5,000 person school. I think I kind of romanticized the idea in my mind. It sounded idyllic and intimate. I ended up at my state school, about 12,000 people, and I honestly loved it. For one thing, there is definitely not a dichotomy of small/academic or big/party. You’ll find both at each. Now for grad school I’m at UPenn, where everyone is extremely motivated and academically focused, but we were also just ranked the #1 party school or something. And a lot is what you make of it. If you want socialization and parties to be your priority, it’ll happen. If you want to put academics first, that’s a choice you can make as well. Obviously the best is a balance.</p>
<p>I’m relevant! This is my freshman year at UMD, and I’ll try to answer the questions as best as I can:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Definitely. Especially in the honors college/scholars program. Even when you’re not in those programs, it’s easy to make UMD feel like the small amazingness that LAC’s offer. The intro classes are a bit big (my econ class has 400 students filling a lecture hall), but the upper level classes are much more intimate. Honors seminars are typically capped at around 20 students, and there are many upper level classes that only have 10-15 people.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not as much as UMD. Not as much at all. I can’t speak for all LAC’s, but I can imagine it’d be awkward to party a fair amount with the same few people, that rumors’d get out, etc. etc. At UMD, there are around 40,000 students on campus (including grad students). It’s the third largest metropolitan area in MD next to Baltimore and Annapolis (IIRC). We study hard; we party hard. When you go to a party with friends, you can expect to meet a lot of new people. </p>
<p>I’m not too familiar on the differences between parties, but I’d expect parties to be quite better at UMD than at any LAC. It’s easier to go out to a party with 5 friends, party with and meet 100 strangers that you might not see again, than it is to always party with the same small group of people all the time. </p>
<p>Also, UMD students go out quite a bit. Partying’s not always limited to the weekend. You don’t have to go out when you don’t feel like it, and you won’t miss out on anything at all /no one would judge you if you want to stay in, but you always have the option of going out whenever you need a break.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This. The best students, and you’ll find a lot of these kinds of kids at UMD, are those who can go out every weekend (and admittedly some weekdays) and still pull off a 4.0.</p>
<p>You can make a big school small, but you can’t make a small school big.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>I can’t speak from personal experience to all of the LAC’s you listed but if you are into Greek life, Gettysburg has a fairly big drinking and party scene to go along with a great history department. Greek life dominates the social scene and as long as you are good with that you will find all the partying you need. Best of luck to you! </p>