Campus size matters

All campuses are not alike. In fact, there’s a world of difference between large and small colleges. At large research universities, faculty members are expected to focus much of their attention on their research. As a consequence many undergraduates find themselves in large auditoriums, listening to lectures by teaching assistants whose top priority is not teaching, but completing their own graduate degrees.

Social connections

When it comes to making friends, many people assume that it’s easier at a large university. In fact, research shows the exact opposite is true. Smaller, residential colleges — with classes in which students actively discuss the material — offer an around-the-clock environment where students from all kinds of backgrounds can get to know each other, and their professors, comfortably. These friendships, whether formed in the dorm or on the debate team, in biology lab or on the basketball court, provide a strong sense of support, expose students to diverse perspectives, motivate them to meet the standards set by their peers — and last a lifetime.

Beyond academics

Small, private colleges also offer each student more extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities than are found on big campuses. Far fewer students are competing for spots on the baseball or debate teams, the college newspaper or concert choir, popular overseas programs or professional internships, At most of them, a first-year student can walk into the newspaper office and walk out with an assignment, sing in the choir without previous experience or experiment as a disk jockey at the college radio station — or even create a new organization.