<p>My first thought when I saw the title of your post was — talk about apples and oranges!!!</p>
<p>Based only on my 2 Ds experiences, I would have a hard time justifying the cost of paying that much more for undergrad, especially if it means leaving school with loans hanging over your head vs. not. It depends on how important a smaller university is to you. I can assure you that if you don’t want to be anonymous at UMD, you don’t have to be. You can get to know your professors as much (or little) as you want to. My observations over the last 4 years are that the people who complain that they feel like they are only a number are the ones who put out the least effort to do well in their classes, do not make a point to introduce themselves to their professors, and who clearly are at UMD more to party than to learn. In her major fields, D1’s (now a senior) professors all knew her by name, and she had several professors who told her at the end of the semester that if she ever needed any help with future classes,etc. they would be happy to help her. D2 is a sophomore and because of her on-campus job(s), internships, two very different majors (Spanish and Env. Science/Policy), her active participation in several very different areas on campus, she frequently has people saying "Hi, xxxx " to her on campus who are professors/faculty/staff (and it is especially is odd when she doesn’t think she’s ever met that person!).</p>
<p>I can’t comment on your areas of study in terms of the two schools, but there are SO many possibilities at a campus the size of Maryland, I personally feel that it has much more to offer in terms of variety, choices, etc. If you should change your major, there’s so many other areas where UMD offers strong programs. When D1 was considering a very small LAC (that promised nearly one-to-one faculty interaction within her major), I pointed out that the other way of thinking is that with a smaller sheer # of faculty within her major, she would have less choices of classes to take (you should take a look at the catalogs and also the schedules for each university side by side). Also, in the fact that there are fewer faculty members, if for some reason you don’t like/mesh with a professor, the odds are MUCH more likely that you’ll encounter them again at Elon vs. UMD. In D1’s major fields, she has run into professors that she really didn’t like, and was sure not to take their classes in the future. She had a couple of classes-from-hell that were required that she ended up dropping, and then taking later with a different professor, and it was an entirely different experience. On the other hand, she has taken 4 courses (and done 2 years of research and TA’ed for) a professor from her first semester on campus, who obviously wrote very strong recommendations for her various internships and now graduate school. </p>
<p>Of course, there are good and bad profs everywhere, but using ourUmd.com (and talking to classmates/upper class people) can give you a lot of detail about a professor before you sign up for the class. I guess what I’m saying is that if you run into a “bad” professor at UMD, most usually you can work around them as you move through your major…that would probably NOT be the case at Elon.</p>
<p>Both my D’s (having left NC and are LOVING and taking advantage of living near Washington, D.C.) couldn’t imagine life on a campus the size of Elon, but everyone is different in this way. YMMV…</p>
<p>Finally, if you are not excited about running into people from your high school, that’s really your choice too. At the beginning of your freshman year, you might gravitate toward people you know, but you have the opportunity to meet so many new people from different backgrounds and locales if you want to kind of “reinvent” yourself away from the people you know from high school, that’s entirely possible. As a senior, D has close friends that she met via someone they went to high school with at the beginning of her freshman year…but the two high school acquaintances don’t really have much in common (and don’t see each other) since freshman year, 1st semester.</p>
<p>Finally, if UMD’s “party” reputation puts you off, you will find people who share your interests and there really is a lot to do that doesn’t require being drunk to enjoy it. Through shared interests and activities, you will find people who have the same mindset as you. Neither of my 2 were big partiers and they’ve managed to keep themselves really busy doing things they REALLY enjoy doing, without having to hang around loud, obnoxious and immature people. </p>
<p>Good luck in your decision!</p>
My mom went to a big school (Cornell) and says a lot of good things about bigger schools. It’s one of those things where I have a sneaking feeling she’s been right all along… you know?</p>