School size is more than just a number

When you’re applying to college, it may feel like you are constantly getting statistics thrown at you: student-to-faculty ratio, amount of research funding granted in the past year, school size. In fact, college websites thrive on these numbers. They are supposed to paint a picture of the school. But while some of these statistics are easy to understand (i.e. you might want low student-to-faculty ratio, a high amount of research funding), it may be hard to tell what a number like the school’s size represents about the opportunities of next four years within that community.

What can a school’s size tell you? (Well, besides how many people you’re gonna see milling around campus, of course.) And how can you use school size to start narrowing down your list of potential colleges?

This may have been one of the first questions someone asked you: “Do you want to go to a big school or a small school?” -- and you may have found it difficult to answer. Even if you’ve been to more than one school, it seems like it’s asking you to know about something you haven’t experienced yet. I had been through one school system; it’s all I knew. Most colleges were already bigger than my high school, so I felt like I barely had a handle on understanding what it would be like to attend a “small” college, let alone a large one.

However, there are a couple ways to take what you do know about yourself and use it to understand both what a school’s size really means and how to use that information.

Do you like being able to know everyone around you -- or does that prospect already make you feel claustrophobic? At a small school, you will get to know your peers, at least by name, over four years. At a larger school, there will always be someone new to meet. While this is very obvious, what may be less obvious is how this affects the culture of a college. Smaller colleges tend to have more of a “personality,” so making sure that the values of the school fit with your values is very important. The larger a school gets, and the more different types of people and groups it has, the looser the sense of a defined personality.

Another thing to consider is whether you have a clear sense of what educational path you want to take. If you’re still choosing between math and women and gender studies, perhaps consider the breadth of majors a larger university offers. You won’t have to worry if you suddenly discover sophomore year your true calling is philosophy; chances are they will have a philosophy department. The same goes for extracurricular activities. While small colleges have many vibrant campus groups, there may not be two orchestras, six quartets and a myriad of student bands for you to consider joining.

However, another consideration is how you typically discover and explore new interests. College has a much looser structure than high school, and you are given a lot of freedom to explore. For some, fruitful exploration comes through testing out a bunch of different classes and extracurricular activities; for others it can be through developing close, mentoring relationships with teachers and faculty. The latter is where small schools typically shine. Class sizes are often smaller and faculty is more accessible.

You may find yourself saying, "Wait, I like having the option of trying many new things and developing mentoring relationships!" That’s totally valid -- and achievable at both a large and small college. Schools will simply have different strengths.

And then there’s always medium-sized colleges.

Lia Lenart is a graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in History and minored in English. Out in the real world, she splits her time between working for the TV show “White Collar” and mentoring aspiring college students with the team of consultants at Admissionado, a boutique admissions consulting company that specializes in helping aspiring students navigate the undergraduate and graduate admissions process. Whether you want to find out what’s happening on next week’s episode of White Collar or what to include in your college personal statement, Lia’s got you covered.

This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.