During senior year of high school, everybody was trying to
figure out what kind of school to go to, what state to live in, what programs
schools offer, and many other factors that go into choosing the “right school
for you.” Most of my friends decided to stay on the West Coast, so they applied
to schools such as UCLA, USC, UC-Davis, Berkeley, and others like them. My
question is: what do those schools offer that a small one doesn’t? And after
researching the differences, I am SO GLAD I decided to go to a small, liberal
arts college like Hope for numerous reasons:
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1. Small classes—you aren’t just a number in a lecture hall.
There is no need for a microphone to ask a question during class because the
sizes of each class are around 20 people… perfect for getting questions answered
and actually getting to know your professors.
2. Don’t have to declare a major right away—Going into college, I had no idea what I wanted to major in or do with my life, so a liberal arts college was the perfect fit. Liberal arts schools like Hope allow students to change
their mind on a major multiple times and allows students to
dabble in different areas of interest to help figure out what path to take. This has been very beneficial because after taking some courses in different subjects, I was able to narrow in on what interested me.
3. Shorter walk to class—compared to other universities where
you have to leave 30 minutes before class in order to make it there on time, a
small school like Hope allows you to leave your dorm about 5 minutes before
class and still make it in time. This is perfect for those people who want to be in their nice, warm bed for as long as possible and still manage to get to class.
4. Friendships—at Hope, you see familiar faces all the time and
get to know people easily; however, large schools are completely different. You
may see one familiar face in one day and see 50 people you’ve never seen before
and could easily never really see again. Now is that the kind of campus you
want to be on? (the answer is no). It’s so much easier to get to know people on a small campus because chances are, you will see them quite a bit and they will probably end up in one of your classes at some point.
5. A sense of community–Hope
is a great place to get to know a wide range of people and come
together as a student body. For example, a majority of the school will
go to events created by campus ministries or dorms. I bet large schools
don’t have a Waffle House night, dorm movie nights, go to Chapel or the
Gathering on a regular basis, or have a thing called Pull or Nykerk. Large schools with 20,000 or more students will rarely have campus activities like these but will solely rely on sporting events and Greek life to be part of the school.
So let’s go back to that question: What do larger schools have that small ones don’t? Well, small schools have a tighter-knit feel and make you feel apart of the school, which is awesome and beats out a large campus any day.
If you want more proof why Hope is such a great college and place to be, check out our profile on Colleges That Change Lives.
That’s all for this week! Follow me on Twitter for campus updates!!