Transfering from a large university to a liberal arts college?

[Anonymous]

I have a kid who is a '28 at a LAC, and a kid who is applying only to LACs this year. One is shy and the other is very social, and they both prefer smaller schools and had no interest in schools with more than 5,000 students.

[Anonymous]

I knew a girl at Princeton in the early 80s who was required by her family to go there. She didn’t want to be there. It was still very heavily male-dominated, and while no one talked about it then, she was definitely gay.

Somehow, she completed freshman year but transferred to one of the 7 sisters schools and was very happy ever after at that school. She eventually became head of school at a boarding school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious if those who would prefer small LACs are more shy or perhaps less confident?

Going to a school with equal or less students than their high school, especially in the middle of nowhere like some LACs - is not appealing to my social kid.

Meh. My kid is an absolute social butterfly and just doesn’t want to go to school with 40,000 people. It’s not like being at a big school actually means you socialize more. It’s great to be an introvert at a state school, because you could go your whole 4 years lonely and no one would bother you.

yes, i actually feel like my friend's more introverted friends are the ones who are happiest at the giant state schools. They spend a good deal of time alone and are happy to just see friends once a day or every other day. If you thrive on human connection these schools can be challenging. Every interaction with friends requires formal texting: "let's meet to go running, let's eat dinner tonight, let's grab coffee." If you really love people and friends and want to see friends 3 times a day it can be exhausting to constantly be having to arrange things.

Meant to type "I actually feel like my CHILD's more introverted friends......"

[Anonymous]

There’s a middle ground between like 40,000 undergrads and 1200-2000 though.

Like my kid has a friend who is a freshman at CMC and feels they already know everyone and that it’s quite insular and not very diverse. And their school is part of a larger consortium so it’s not as pronounced as it would be at an isolated LAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who hated first semester at in-state flagship (30K+ undergrads) then transferred to a SLAC (3k). She loved the contrast and all the relationships she developed with classmates and professors. Obviously, it depends on the individual.
I went to HYPS. Had so many unmemorable TAs. Never went to office hours. Didn’t seek out any professors. I am not a loyal alumna. If I had to do it again, I would def consider liberal arts colleges!

+1
Another HYP with a similar experience. My kids are at LACs with my encouragement and having a much better experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

What liberal arts college? Even at the tiniest one I know, there are lecture courses in the sciences.

Even introductory science courses may be capped at, say, 30 students, however.

But they aren’t. Once again, bots here lying about how liberal arts colleges work.

My freshman at a highly ranked LAC had no more than 30 kids in any class first semester. STEM major.

Doesn’t mean there’s a cap. Please be a liberal arts education and read

As an example, Hamilton caps all of its introductory biology courses at 30 students:

Hamilton College Catalogue - Biology Courses https://share.google/qDMNlDt1iG4KIbZOW

Nowhere does it say that. You can over enroll your courses. Amateur hour out here.

Of course it does. Click on a 100-level biology course (A through K) and view "maximum enrollment." Amateur hour, indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

What liberal arts college? Even at the tiniest one I know, there are lecture courses in the sciences.

Even introductory science courses may be capped at, say, 30 students, however.

But they aren’t. Once again, bots here lying about how liberal arts colleges work.

My freshman at a highly ranked LAC had no more than 30 kids in any class first semester. STEM major.

Doesn’t mean there’s a cap. Please be a liberal arts education and read

As an example, Hamilton caps all of its introductory biology courses at 30 students:

Hamilton College Catalogue - Biology Courses https://share.google/qDMNlDt1iG4KIbZOW

Nowhere does it say that. You can over enroll your courses. Amateur hour out here.

Of course it does. Click on a 100-level biology course (A through K) and view "maximum enrollment." Amateur hour, indeed.

And they overload these classes all the time. It’s really impressive how naive you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

What liberal arts college? Even at the tiniest one I know, there are lecture courses in the sciences.

Even introductory science courses may be capped at, say, 30 students, however.

But they aren’t. Once again, bots here lying about how liberal arts colleges work.

My freshman at a highly ranked LAC had no more than 30 kids in any class first semester. STEM major.

Doesn’t mean there’s a cap. Please be a liberal arts education and read

As an example, Hamilton caps all of its introductory biology courses at 30 students:

Hamilton College Catalogue - Biology Courses https://share.google/qDMNlDt1iG4KIbZOW

Nowhere does it say that. You can over enroll your courses. Amateur hour out here.

Of course it does. Click on a 100-level biology course (A through K) and view "maximum enrollment." Amateur hour, indeed.

DS goes to a peer institution. All the intro courses are capped at 20 students but they usually really have anywhere from 40-80 students. These are just the formal numbers needed for a professor to submit a form to overflow their course. They don’t mean anything.

[Anonymous]

I think not even one semester into freshman year is too soon to make this decision. There are great opportunities that come out of large top 5 public universities.

Not sure how the deadlines line up. But I’d encourage another semester then see how he feels. When do applications for fall transfers have to be submitted? When is registration for his current school’s fall classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

Mid-size is usually a lot more like an LAC than a flagship when it comes to class size, campus size, & access to professors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

Mid-size is usually a lot more like an LAC than a flagship when it comes to class size, campus size, & access to professors.

I disagree.
I went to a midsize and have kids at LACs.
Why the push for a midsize when kid wants an LAC?

[Anonymous]

OP--is this Michigan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

What liberal arts college? Even at the tiniest one I know, there are lecture courses in the sciences.

Even introductory science courses may be capped at, say, 30 students, however.

But they aren’t. Once again, bots here lying about how liberal arts colleges work.

My freshman at a highly ranked LAC had no more than 30 kids in any class first semester. STEM major.

Doesn’t mean there’s a cap. Please be a liberal arts education and read

As an example, Hamilton caps all of its introductory biology courses at 30 students:

Hamilton College Catalogue - Biology Courses https://share.google/qDMNlDt1iG4KIbZOW

Nowhere does it say that. You can over enroll your courses. Amateur hour out here.

Of course it does. Click on a 100-level biology course (A through K) and view "maximum enrollment." Amateur hour, indeed.

And they overload these classes all the time. It’s really impressive how naive you are.

I can't help you further.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s a middle ground between like 40,000 undergrads and 1200-2000 though.

Like my kid has a friend who is a freshman at CMC and feels they already know everyone and that it’s quite insular and not very diverse. And their school is part of a larger consortium so it’s not as pronounced as it would be at an isolated LAC.

CMC is pretty diverse and as you admit in a consortium with 8000 students. I’m unsure what the issue is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree. A midsize wouldn’t be that different and kid would have to start over.

I have a kid at an LAC. There are no lectures, all classes are small and profs really know the students. Kid is now in year 2 and said she can go to her favorite dining hall and always find people she knows. Just walking around with her she bumps into friends.

Don’t know about the transfer experience thought.

What liberal arts college? Even at the tiniest one I know, there are lecture courses in the sciences.

Even introductory science courses may be capped at, say, 30 students, however.

But they aren’t. Once again, bots here lying about how liberal arts colleges work.

My freshman at a highly ranked LAC had no more than 30 kids in any class first semester. STEM major.

Doesn’t mean there’s a cap. Please be a liberal arts education and read

As an example, Hamilton caps all of its introductory biology courses at 30 students:

Hamilton College Catalogue - Biology Courses https://share.google/qDMNlDt1iG4KIbZOW

Nowhere does it say that. You can over enroll your courses. Amateur hour out here.

Of course it does. Click on a 100-level biology course (A through K) and view "maximum enrollment." Amateur hour, indeed.

And they overload these classes all the time. It’s really impressive how naive you are.

I can't help you further.

No one asked for your help, just for honesty.