Where could I get merit aid? Thanks!

Don’t assume that public school always translate to large classes. My daughter is at our state flagship. We are finding that many of her classes (actually most) are smaller than the classes I took at a small private college. Part of the reason is that some of the classes are honors which are smaller. She also had a lot of AP credit so she has few general education requirements. She also tends to pick out the more difficult courses which many student avoid. She is in a popular non-stem major so some classes are large. I was a stem major and my lecture classes were LARGE. I am also shock at how much she has been able to get to know her professors. So my point is that every state school is different but sometimes the stereotype view of large classes with no professor interaction is not always true. Talk to students in your field to see how it is at your state schools.

The difficult of getting your courses can be very true. Could also happen at smaller schools due to fewer sections.

DD #1 goes to a flagship with 10,000 students. She’s had a few large lecture classes with 150+ students, but they always have a discussion group of 30-40 at least once a week and she has never had trouble getting in to talk to a professor. Most of her classes have fewer than 25 - languages, art, English, theater. Most of her classes are smaller than her high school classes of 25-40.

DD#2 attends an engineering school with about 3500 student. More of her classes are 30-50 students and the labs are whatever the lab will hold.

I found the same class sizes at my flagship when I was a student way back when. Some big lecture classes, especially in the freshman level classes in science, much smaller classes in English, political science, journalism.