I see no attraction in large colleges but it’s a matter of what you want to get out of your education. I don’t want classes with hundreds of students. I don’t want to be taught by a grad assistant, I don’t want to be anonymous to my profs, I don’t want to go to some state school where 80% of students are locals....you get the point. And very few excellent schools are large.....undergrad 4K-8k seems like the sweet spot.

to each, his own

I went to a big state school and coasted through in big lecture hall classes without ever actually talking to a professor. I was a pretty shy kid and had a hard time finding my people in a crowd of 30k, but I enjoyed my anonymity.

My rising senior has toured about 20 schools, and absolutely hates big schools. She wants smaller classes, the chance to work with professors on their research during undergrad, a close knit community, genuine recs for grad school, and everything that liberal arts colleges have to offer. She’s quite outgoing and social and feels that she will have just as many friends at a school with 3000-5000 as she would at a school of 30k.

Different schools fit different people. One size doesn’t have to be better than the other.

Anonymous wrote:Attending college at small and local colleges is the equivalent of attending 13th grade. Go away and start your life on your own terms not subject to someone else's preconceived notions of who you are or who you should be.

A prophet is respected in all places except in his own village

This makes sense for local colleges, but not small colleges. Students are much less likely to know anyone at SLACs because they rarely take more than one kid from a HS.

Attending college at small and local colleges is the equivalent of attending 13th grade. Go away and start your life on your own terms not subject to someone else's preconceived notions of who you are or who you should be.

A prophet is respected in all places except in his own village

Our children would need to sell us on small colleges. We would listen and consider but DH and I had the experience of a large state U is that is what we appreciate the most.

Anonymous wrote:Big sports events- football, big school spirit, tons of choices.

Plus 1

Often bigger Greek life

Large universities mean more resources. More sections of classes, available at different times. Different professors with different teaching styles - - find your favorite. Easier to change majors. It just feels more freeing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permission to reinvent yourself without people you knew from high school questioning why you’re evolving.

Lots of options, easy to pivot when interests change.

Easier to be anonymous and not have everyone knowing your business. I went to a school of 4500 and we knew withing hours when people screwed up...and that was before social media.

On the contrary, if you go to a large in-state college, it is nearly impossible to reinvent yourself as 20-50 of your high school classmates will be there with you. And if you go to a large out of state college, chances are that many people are hanging out with their high school friends.

I’m having a hard time believing that almost 5,000 kids knew someone’s business within minutes. My dd has about 600 in her grade in HS and still hasn’t met at least a quarter of them by senior year.

I disagree. Two of my kids go to a large in-state college and have to make an effort to see former classmates from their high school. One keeps in touch with old friends, another doesn't; they both live and spend the vast majority of their time with people from other areas of the state and other states. In a school with 20,000 or more students, there is plenty of room to reinvent yourself; it's up to the student to break away from their old friends and find new people to hang out with.


My kids would not even look at schools with fewer than 15,000 students. They wanted a big campus, the chance to meet lots of new people, and the academic opportunities that larger universities provide.

Big sports events- football, big school spirit, tons of choices.

Anonymous wrote:Permission to reinvent yourself without people you knew from high school questioning why you’re evolving.

Lots of options, easy to pivot when interests change.

Easier to be anonymous and not have everyone knowing your business. I went to a school of 4500 and we knew withing hours when people screwed up...and that was before social media.

On the contrary, if you go to a large in-state college, it is nearly impossible to reinvent yourself as 20-50 of your high school classmates will be there with you. And if you go to a large out of state college, chances are that many people are hanging out with their high school friends.

I’m having a hard time believing that almost 5,000 kids knew someone’s business within minutes. My dd has about 600 in her grade in HS and still hasn’t met at least a quarter of them by senior year.

Variety — more courses, majors, ECs. Critical mass of people who share non-mainstream interests. Youth-dominated environment (retail, arts, hours, cost). Basically, something for everybody. Opportunity to be anonymous or reinvent yourself.

What is the attraction of living in or around a big city?Culture, diversity, options to do more of anything you can possibly imagine.

Permission to reinvent yourself without people you knew from high school questioning why you’re evolving.

Lots of options, easy to pivot when interests change.

Easier to be anonymous and not have everyone knowing your business. I went to a school of 4500 and we knew withing hours when people screwed up...and that was before social media.

Huge alumni network and sense of community.

Always something going on that's on campus (don't need to leave campus).

Something for everyone---seriously, there's a club for everything. There's often specialized dorms, a Greek system for those who are interested, etc.

DD is crossing off all of the 5000 or less students schools, keeps saying they are too small.