Big state schools - lot of fun, great networks, but do you really learn there?

[Anonymous]

Asking genuinely. They just seem so large and impersonal. The credential may be great but is the educational experience comparable to what one might have at a top private school? I attended a midsized elite private and suspect the educational experience I had is more similar to a smaller LAC. But when you go to Michigan or Florida or Wisconsin, is anyone really cultivating your abilities? Evaluating your written work carefully? Small seminars? Or is it more like watching good Ted talks and then handing something in (and then getting an A because most of the kids are in staters producing high school level work). Interested in perspectives on this from state u grads.

[Anonymous]

Not all classes at state universities are huge. You get to know the professors in your program, in student organizations, etc. There are many opportunities for connecting with faculty and getting individualized attention. You take smaller seminars. And if you think students at state flagships are producing "high school level work," you are crazy. You have to be more of a self-starter, in some ways; no one is spoon-feeding you this stuff, but the opportunities are there, and plentiful.

[Anonymous]

Your classes for your major are smaller. There are some 200-person classes but those are for the non-major basic classes needed and usually just freshman year.

And obviously the research opportunities are bigger.

The state Us are made up of smaller colleges and within those colleges are yet smaller programs.

It is all what you make of it.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid at one of the big schools you named. There are labs and other small sessions in addition to lectures. The TAs and professors have all been available and welcoming for office hours too, but your kid has to take the initiative. So it depends on the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all classes at state universities are huge. You get to know the professors in your program, in student organizations, etc. There are many opportunities for connecting with faculty and getting individualized attention. You take smaller seminars. And if you think students at state flagships are producing "high school level work," you are crazy. You have to be more of a self-starter, in some ways; no one is spoon-feeding you this stuff, but the opportunities are there, and plentiful.

+1

[Anonymous]

My DH went to Michigan and his seminar group was invited to dinner at a professor’s home. That nene happened as far as I know at my much smaller private university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH went to Michigan and his seminar group was invited to dinner at a professor’s home. That nene happened as far as I know at my much smaller private university.

I think that regularly happens at small colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asking genuinely. They just seem so large and impersonal. The credential may be great but is the educational experience comparable to what one might have at a top private school? I attended a midsized elite private and suspect the educational experience I had is more similar to a smaller LAC. But when you go to Michigan or Florida or Wisconsin, is anyone really cultivating your abilities? Evaluating your written work carefully? Small seminars? Or is it more like watching good Ted talks and then handing something in (and then getting an A because most of the kids are in staters producing high school level work). Interested in perspectives on this from state u grads.

Sorry, OP. When your idiotic bias is front and center, as yours clearly is, I have no interest in wasting my time with a substantive answer. Frankly, you don’t deserve one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH went to Michigan and his seminar group was invited to dinner at a professor’s home. That nene happened as far as I know at my much smaller private university.

I think that regularly happens at small colleges

I’ve heard it does at LACs, never heard of it at my university though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asking genuinely. They just seem so large and impersonal. The credential may be great but is the educational experience comparable to what one might have at a top private school? I attended a midsized elite private and suspect the educational experience I had is more similar to a smaller LAC. But when you go to Michigan or Florida or Wisconsin, is anyone really cultivating your abilities? Evaluating your written work carefully? Small seminars? Or is it more like watching good Ted talks and then handing something in (and then getting an A because most of the kids are in staters producing high school level work). Interested in perspectives on this from state u grads.

Omg, I went to Michigan decades back, so I think it's only harder now and my engineering classes were many times graded on a curve. The mean was very high. And the classes with pre-meds? Cut throat doesn't even begin to describe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asking genuinely. They just seem so large and impersonal. The credential may be great but is the educational experience comparable to what one might have at a top private school? I attended a midsized elite private and suspect the educational experience I had is more similar to a smaller LAC. But when you go to Michigan or Florida or Wisconsin, is anyone really cultivating your abilities? Evaluating your written work carefully? Small seminars? Or is it more like watching good Ted talks and then handing something in (and then getting an A because most of the kids are in staters producing high school level work). Interested in perspectives on this from state u grads.

Sorry, OP. When your idiotic bias is front and center, as yours clearly is, I have no interest in wasting my time with a substantive answer. Frankly, you don’t deserve one.

Ok, this is my experience. I was staying with my friend at prestigious state u and he paid me $50 in the 1990s to write a paper for him. I cranked it out in an hour and he got an A+. It was B- ish work at Ivy League. Ever since then I’ve tended to think state u was bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH went to Michigan and his seminar group was invited to dinner at a professor’s home. That nene happened as far as I know at my much smaller private university.

That happened to me once as well at Michigan and I was no superstar though a good student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asking genuinely. They just seem so large and impersonal. The credential may be great but is the educational experience comparable to what one might have at a top private school? I attended a midsized elite private and suspect the educational experience I had is more similar to a smaller LAC. But when you go to Michigan or Florida or Wisconsin, is anyone really cultivating your abilities? Evaluating your written work carefully? Small seminars? Or is it more like watching good Ted talks and then handing something in (and then getting an A because most of the kids are in staters producing high school level work). Interested in perspectives on this from state u grads.

Sorry, OP. When your idiotic bias is front and center, as yours clearly is, I have no interest in wasting my time with a substantive answer. Frankly, you don’t deserve one.

Ok, this is my experience. I was staying with my friend at prestigious state u and he paid me $50 in the 1990s to write a paper for him. I cranked it out in an hour and he got an A+. It was B- ish work at Ivy League. Ever since then I’ve tended to think state u was bs.

Oh, well, that exhaustive data analysis is conclusive, then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all classes at state universities are huge. You get to know the professors in your program, in student organizations, etc. There are many opportunities for connecting with faculty and getting individualized attention. You take smaller seminars. And if you think students at state flagships are producing "high school level work," you are crazy. You have to be more of a self-starter, in some ways; no one is spoon-feeding you this stuff, but the opportunities are there, and plentiful.

+1. Surprisingly good answer. Op, I am not sure if you are genuine or just trolling.

[Anonymous]

You get out of it what you put into it

Same as any other college.

The more competitive colleges are likely to have a cohort that puts more into it overall, but that’s it

You could be a superstar at one of those larger places, if you work harder than everyone else.