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

[Anonymous]

"Stanford University reports that 12% of classes have 50 or more students, while 69% have fewer than 20 students."


This stat tells/doesn't tell you lots of important things.

This stat tells you about the classes being held at this school. It doesn't tell you anything about the class sizes taken by the average student at this school. Most big schools offer thousands of classes over four years. That's 8 semesters or 12 quarters. Nobody is going to take more than about 40 classes in total. It's very possible that at a big state school you would have 30+% of students taking almost nothing but the classes that fall into the 12% above (those with 50 or more students). The people majoring in Italian Literature might only take 2-3 classes with 50 or more students over the course of their entire college experience.

BTW- 50 or more students could mean 300+ or it could mean 51.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't anybody talk about the benefits and upsides of classes where you are one of 400 students? Nobody mentions the upside of being able to walk around campus without running into anybody you know all day. How about the wonders of sharing an off-campus apartment after freshman year because the school has a housing crunch? That can really bring down the price of room & board.

I don't know if you're being facetious, but I never understood the appeal of living in on-campus housing after your freshman year. Do people really want the university and RA's looking over their shoulders any more than absolutely necessary? The son of a friend of ours was in university housing as a sophomore briefly during fall of 2020, and bailed out to live with friends first chance he got to get away from mandatory covid testing and other restrictions.

It depends. My kid attends 6K undergrad university, where 80%+ of kids live on campus all 4 years, first 2 years is required. The "housing off campus" that is nearby the university is old and terrible and is in an area of higher crime, whereas campus is pretty much self contained. I don't need my kid figuring out how to walk home at midnight from chem lab/studying in the library on a 1 mile walk off campus thru some really not good areas. Even if you take the "bus", the final 2-3 blocks to your rental home can be dangerous after dark. To really get a decent place to live you need to go a few miles from campus. That means a car or relying on the not so good bus system. It means you can't easily go back to your apartment between classes. Whereas is you live on campus in dorms or campus apartments, you are right where you need to be, with easy access to everything on campus. If it's a campus apartment with kitchen you can ditch the meal plan as well.

[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.

It happened often at my public university.

[Anonymous]

All this talk about a dinner; I got to sleep with my professor at my Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All this talk about a dinner; I got to sleep with my professor at my Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All this talk about a dinner; I got to sleep with my professor at my Ivy.

Now that’s bang for your 529 buck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Stanford University reports that 12% of classes have 50 or more students, while 69% have fewer than 20 students."


This stat tells/doesn't tell you lots of important things.

This stat tells you about the classes being held at this school. It doesn't tell you anything about the class sizes taken by the average student at this school. Most big schools offer thousands of classes over four years. That's 8 semesters or 12 quarters. Nobody is going to take more than about 40 classes in total. It's very possible that at a big state school you would have 30+% of students taking almost nothing but the classes that fall into the 12% above (those with 50 or more students). The people majoring in Italian Literature might only take 2-3 classes with 50 or more students over the course of their entire college experience.

BTW- 50 or more students could mean 300+ or it could mean 51.

I searched Unigo for complaints about class sizes at Stanford; I could not find a single complaint. Stanford students gave a 4.3 out of a possible 5 for class sizes at Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this talk about a dinner; I got to sleep with my professor at my Ivy.

Now that’s bang for your 529 buck!

Best DCUM line in a looong time