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And smoke does not necessarily mean fire… </p>
<p>I mean, what is your point? That someone looking for a great study-abroad program should pay no attention to schools where lots of kids participate because it isn’t a 100% guarantee that they’re the best programs? </p>
<p>The OP isn’t looking to score points in a debating contest, he’s looking for schools with great study-abroad programs. Sure, he could spend the time considering each and every one of the 4,000+ 4-year colleges in the country, using the criteria you list. That’s the optimal approach. And with just 1 hour spent on each school (getting info, looking over the program, contacting faculty, building tables of results, and so on) that’s over 2 years of full-time employment (40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year). Nobody has the time for that; so they ask for recommendations on forums like this, look at colleges that have big programs, etc. </p>
<p>What matters to the OP isn’t whether large programs “necessarily” are better, but the more sensible criteria of whether they’re more likely to be than a randomly chosen school, or one with a low participation rate. You’d be hard pressed to make the case that the worst programs tend to be at the places where the most people take part.</p>