Freshman Files: Life at a Small Liberal Arts College
January 18th, 2016Today we have an entry from another student, Elizabeth Schein, who graduated from a fairly large public high school and chose to enroll at a small liberal arts college in an urban setting. She, too, had a number of excellent options, has made a very successful transition and has written thoughtfully about her first semester. We’re grateful that she’s happy to have us share her thoughts with the Shrop Ed community and hope our students and parents will benefit from what she’s written about maximizing academic and extracurricular opportunities.
“I really do feel as though being at a small college has helped me meet people, making valuable connections and friends. Even if I hadn’t joined any extracurriculars, it still would have been easy to make friends because there is a very strong community vibe and a sense of commitment to each other. I also do find that I can easily access my professors and feel comfortable talking in the small classes. I only missed one class all semester even though there were a few days when I didn’t really feel like going to class because my friends and professors hold me accountable for all my actions. Also, because of the small class sizes (and small college size), class discussions can and do continue outside of the classroom. Students (as with any higher education institution, probably) are very passionate about their interests and work so I often find myself engaged in academic conversations and at academic speeches, presentations, and activities.
Anecdotally, I decided to take a math class … and while it was probably the hardest class I’ve ever taken and I butted heads with the professor a lot, there were so many resources available to me and he had many office hours so I was able to take the class without a high degree of stress.
A lot of the professors live nearby or are familiar with the city so not only were they accessible but they were welcoming. In my one semester, I visited the president’s house as well as the homes of one of my professors and an alumnus.
Overall, I definitely recommend that prospective students at least consider the smaller colleges because I know that a lot of the time the concerns students have about attending tiny schools have to do with social life and access to activities, events, and a diverse set of people and they are worried that smaller schools won’t have an active social life or sufficient activities. That is not the case …; there are always activities, both campus sponsored and not. There are also many other colleges (nearby) so there is certainly no shortage of people. Many of my friends who attended huge universities don’t regret their decisions but admit that it can be a bit difficult to create a social life and make friends without participating in Greek life or athletics.
I joined the cross-country team and track and field teams and made a lot of friends through athletics as well as through my classes, clubs, and on-campus job. I felt as though I was well-prepared for my classes. Overall, I definitely did far less writing in high school (and the papers were shorter too) but I knew what to do and had more time to complete all of the homework in my college classes. Moving so far away from home was not a bad transition either because you’re always busy in college and I have a great roommate whom I get along with really well. The classes are hard and the weather is cold but I could not be happier … because there is so much to do here. There are nature walks, river activities, lakes to swim and kayak in, concerts, art galleries, tons of shopping, restaurants, and much more to do within a short walk, run, bike, or bus ride away. I’m never bored and I’ve met some amazing people with diverse backgrounds and while there may have been some culture shock initially, I can’t recommend living on-campus and in a city enough.”
Isn’t it interesting to contemplate all the different factors leading to a great school/college fit! Thanks, Betsy, for allowing us to share your thoughts with others and best wishes for continued success!
Tagged: College, Freshman files, Liberal arts
Freshman Files: First Year at a Large Public University
January 8th, 2016Each winter, right on the heels of holiday break, we touch base with our students who are now college freshmen to learn about their experiences. It’s exciting for us to hear back about their academic experiences, activities and overall adjustment, and sometimes we receive a response that we feel can be helpful to others.
Grace Huber provided a wonderful analysis of how she found success on a large public university campus, and kindly agreed to allow us to share excerpts from her response with our readers. Of course, our students enroll at colleges of all sizes – small, medium and large – depending on what they find to be the best fit. Grace’s commentary provides valuable insights for all of our younger students as they consider factors such as optimal student body size, access to faculty, social considerations and the degree of initiative they’re willing to take in their college experience.
“I am very glad that I chose to attend a large public school for multiple reasons. … I’m happy that I academically and socially challenged myself the way I did. … I needed to dare myself to leave the small classroom community. As you may recall, I graduated from a high school with very few students. Though I’m so thankful for that unique community, I was ready to be a small fish in a big pond. Adapting to this environment was difficult at first, but I adjusted very quickly. One of the major acclimatizations that I had to accommodate myself to was the class size. As a pre-med student I took many general courses. In my Psychology 100 course there were over 300 students. No longer did I know my teacher on a personal first-name basis. Though this was intimidating at first, soon I learned the key to being in these courses– office hours. By the end of the semester, my biology professor knew my name because I had met with her on so many occasions to go over the material. These meetings allowed me to get the A in the course that I did not think was possible in the beginning of the semester.
Second, I learned that I could find an identity in an environment outside of a sorority. The Greek life … is huge. When visiting the school for the first time, my tour guide informed us that only 20% of the student demographic was in some sort of Greek organization, but I do not think this statistic is correct. It is very difficult to find girls who do not fill their time with their sorority. Though I don’t think that being a part of a sorority or fraternity is a bad thing at all, I’m simply grateful that I do not belong to one. I was able to find friends in other clubs and organizations that also share similar interests to me. Coming from such a small school I was not used to the idea of having different groups of friends who didn’t know each other. I love how … I have friends who are different from one another, some who share similar interests and others who are completely opposite of me.
I can’t see myself enjoying another school as much as I do this one.”
We’re proud of Grace for navigating her new campus admirably – it’s such a tremendous departure from her small high school. She had great admission options and ultimately chose a large university over a small college, knowing that it would challenge her in many ways. Thanks to her initiative, positive outlook and wise choices, she’s finding great success academically and socially. And that, in a nutshell, is what the right college match is all about! Thanks, Grace, for allowing us to share part of your story with others.
Tagged: College, Freshman files
