Reply to Does class size matter at the college level?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I find these debates amusing. It seems like small class size advocates often have a bias against large universities and an idealized view of smaller schools. They imagine their kids having dinner and drinks with professors, engaging in weighty, esoteric discussions about literature or other profound topics.

For context, I attended a directional school with over 40,000 students, yet I often had classes with no more than 20 students. I was even invited to a professor's house for dinner and drinks.

I think many fans of SLACs struggle to grasp that not every class at a large university has 500 students. Once you realize that large public and private universities also offer smaller classes and access to professors, the main argument for choosing a SLAC or similar college starts to lose its weight. That may be an extreme statement, but I don’t think it’s far from the truth.[/quote]
LAC grad and no I don’t think any of this. Now, I actually did drink with professors and even celebrated holidays at their houses, but that’s another discussion. I really don’t think most top slacs at all depend on the record of small classes: Williams does for tutorial, Swat maybe for honors??? But, most lacs have a few “big” or medium sized lecture courses.

I do think this sub attaches personalities to people who hardly exist in the real world.[/quote]

Most top private universities do indeed encourage such out of class contacts with professors.  I went to Hopkins and there were regularly scheduled dinners, hikes, and other activities with professors that students could sign up for.  Harvard has funds dedicated for students to  invite their professors out for meals, and similar activities.  We’ve heard similar pitches at most of the top private colleges.[/quote]
That’s great. I do think a lot of that is a function of ivies and schools like hopkins also having pretty small classes, which they promote.

Anyway, the reason to choose a lac is wanting to have a smaller school overall. Seeing your prof in the dining hall, your friends going to class at the same time as you, being able to fit your entire class on a staircase (a tradition at my Alma mater). Many people when touring will call it a “ghost town” during the day, but that’s what lac students like- to have peace and feel like the campus is yours to relax on.[/quote]

Also, you don’t need to go to a slac to have small class sizes.  Wake has slac size classes and is a medium size school.   I think Tufts is similar.[/quote]
100%. There’s just so many other reasons to want to go to most lacs.[/quote]

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