What's a good enrollment size for an ideal college experience?

[Anonymous]

What's a good enrollment size for an ideal (social, academic, intellectual, opportunities, career) college experience?

A. > 2,000
B. 2,000 -5,000
C. 5,000-10,000
D. >10,000
E. >25,000

[Anonymous]

My kids are at (or graduated from) a B, C, D, and E. The fit was "ideal" for each of them in all the categories you mention. I'm convinced it doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous]

you know that depends entirely on what you want out of it?

I went to a category A school and loved it. My kids are at a category D school and love it.

[Anonymous]

That depends on your kid.

I loved my school - it was about 3600. It felt like the perfect not too big not too small goldilocks situation to me.

Not sure where my child will land. She has schools from pretty much every category on her prelim list. I think she really liked a school in the just under 10K student range.

[Anonymous]

Isn't "ideal" subjective? And don't different people enjoy and prioritize different things? Just checking.

[Anonymous]

8,000-20,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's a good enrollment size for an ideal (social, academic, intellectual, opportunities, career) college experience?

A. > 2,000
B. 2,000 -5,000
C. 5,000-10,000
D. >10,000
E. >25,000

Depends upon the kid, but IMO the 4-8K undergrad is the best size. Large enough that it doesn't seem like HS and you won't know everyone, yet small enough that you will get to know many people and more importantly the class sizes will be smaller---not likely to see 250+ in any courses, most will likely be 25-50 students.

However, a go getter can do well at a large university, but you have to work harder to find research, get help from profs/etc when there are 20K+ students.

Ultimately it depends upon what the student wants, because a student will succeed best in a place that's the right fit for them! Happy student means success more times than not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's a good enrollment size for an ideal (social, academic, intellectual, opportunities, career) college experience?

A. > 2,000
B. 2,000 -5,000
C. 5,000-10,000
D. >10,000
E. >25,000

Depends upon the kid, but IMO the 4-8K undergrad is the best size. Large enough that it doesn't seem like HS and you won't know everyone, yet small enough that you will get to know many people and more importantly the class sizes will be smaller---not likely to see 250+ in any courses, most will likely be 25-50 students.

However, a go getter can do well at a large university, but you have to work harder to find research, get help from profs/etc when there are 20K+ students.

Ultimately it depends upon what the student wants, because a student will succeed best in a place that's the right fit for them! Happy student means success more times than not

even at larger universities, certain majors offer a smaller environment/built in family. My daughter is considering ODU, which is huge, but a smaller major/department. She spent a week there about a month ago and met the professors in that department and had a really great time.

Just something else to consider as you are thinking about these things.

[Anonymous]

Me, A
DH, C
DS, B

[Anonymous]

Of course it depends upon the student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's a good enrollment size for an ideal (social, academic, intellectual, opportunities, career) college experience?

A. > 2,000
B. 2,000 -5,000
C. 5,000-10,000
D. >10,000
E. >25,000

Depends upon the kid, but IMO the 4-8K undergrad is the best size. Large enough that it doesn't seem like HS and you won't know everyone, yet small enough that you will get to know many people and more importantly the class sizes will be smaller---not likely to see 250+ in any courses, most will likely be 25-50 students.

However, a go getter can do well at a large university, but you have to work harder to find research, get help from profs/etc when there are 20K+ students.

Ultimately it depends upon what the student wants, because a student will succeed best in a place that's the right fit for them! Happy student means success more times than not

even at larger universities, certain majors offer a smaller environment/built in family. My daughter is considering ODU, which is huge, but a smaller major/department. She spent a week there about a month ago and met the professors in that department and had a really great time.

Just something else to consider as you are thinking about these things.

Exactly. My kid went to a school with total enrollment over 40,000, but her college within the university was around 800. By the time she graduated, she knew just about every faculty member and most of her classmates.

[Anonymous]

This so depends on the student.
I knew 2 kids looking at colleges. One said "I want to see someone I know everywhere I go" and chose a 2500 student school and is happy. The other said "I want to meet someone new every day and is going to a 20,000 student school and is also happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This so depends on the student.
I knew 2 kids looking at colleges. One said "I want to see someone I know everywhere I go" and chose a 2500 student school and is happy. The other said "I want to meet someone new every day and is going to a 20,000 student school and is also happy.

+1 My kids are like this too. DS is at a 30k+ school and happy. DD is a rising senior and most schools on her list are <2500 students. They've always been very different people.

I do agree with PP who mentioned that major/program size matters too. DS's program only has about 100 students per year so while the school is huge, his program is a managable size. On the flip side, DD is focused on schools where her desired programs is one of the larger priorities of the school so while the schools are small the particular program she wants still has a decent number of potential classmates and faculty.

[Anonymous]

Imo greater than 25,000
They are adults. They are transitioning to the big-wide-world
Universities are geered to this age group and offer unique resources to them, to help them, as long as they seek them out. Again, they are soon to navigate the adult world, on their own and that will be with no hand holding.

[Anonymous]

meant ~ geared to them