My daughter started at a lac that was around 1800, then transfered to one with around 1300 students but it felt larger. She loved her smaller classes and felt at the transfer college the professors were amazing and wanted to go deeper. She also went to a very small high school and liked the personal attention. She was able to separate herself and reach her goals. So it depends on your student. It’s all about fit and feel. If your student is comfortable on campus they can excel anywhere.
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I have to chime in since my son goes to a school with 150 total students. It is a music conservatory so very specialized. He has never been bothered by the incredibly small community.
He hasn’t felt it was a problem, but I imagine dating and breakups could be awkward.
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Back in the Stone Age, I went to a college with 900 total students. While it was a great school, it was way too small for me. I transferred to an instate university with about 25,000 students, but it never felt that big to me.
My high school class was about 1100…for context!
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I do think this makes a difference too. My kids attend/attended a small private school of 300 kids. So 3000 feels pretty big!
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Are you looking at a particular area of the country? There are a lot of great LACs for average kids that are not athlete focused.
When I was in college, the undergraduate population was only about 2100. But remember 25% graduate every year and 25% come in every year so it’s never the same 2100.
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There’s not a simple answer to this question.
Let me start with his interest in intramural sports, which is a great way for a quiet kid to start making connections. I have a GS at a school of 4000 kids. He was an All State soccer player, but for health/injury reasons doesn’t want to play in college. His school has intramural soccer, but it is co-ed and has a limited schedule. If basketball were his sport, he’d have lots more opportunities. So, the number of players needed to field a team, the culture of the school, and the facilities available are all big factors in determining what’s available.
Any “small” college is probably bigger than where a student went to high school. So, size is all relative. Add in the fact that most students are living on campus or nearby and developing relationships is much easier and social life is more intense. Not so hard to connect with people if you want to. And research says that you’re likely to have the same number of friends at college regardless of the size of the college you attend. After all, there are only so many hours in the day.
I think that I’d focus on other issues like class size, dorm life, new student orientation & transition activities, size of campus & ease of mobility around campus, and campus culture.
Some schools are known as suit case schools - private as well as public. Location and the locations where students are drawn from can contribute to this aspect of campus culture. So can the number of commuters.
Some schools are known for the number and kinds of activities which engage students in interaction with other students. Whitman College is a small (1500) college in Walla Walla, WA which fits this description with a heavy emphasis on outdoor activities, but it’s way across the country from MA. And you should like the outdoors if you want some place like Whitman. So, start with your son’s interests. Anything besides sports? Music or drama, for example? Outdoors? Writing or drama? Politics? Volunteering at social outreach centers? Having activities in his interest area seems important.
Obviously college is first & foremost about getting an education. And you have to be able to afford the cost. So, no point in putting schools on the list which don’t match his academic interests or the family budget. Obviously - but I thought it should be said.
Here are some small schools for average good students in the Northeast which can easily be overlooked - Springfield College (strong in health sciences), Hobart & William Smith (literally on a lake shore), Union College (in a revitalized small city), St. Lawrence University, Dickinson College, and Ursinus College.
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H and I attended a small school (1200). At 18, I refused to even apply to large Universities and angered my Mom, but I knew myself and I was not going to thrive in that environment. S24 is also at a small LAC (1400). No regrets so far on going small (for any of us). For graduate school I attended much larger Universities and still always felt that that starting with a small undergrad institution gave me an excellent foundation.
Neither H nor I had music, sports or theater and found our people just fine in dorms, classes, other clubs and activities. Students who choose a small school are often intersted in being part of a more tight-knit community and take steps to make it happen.
I disagree with that idea that you can’t make a small school bigger. There are many ways to expand the experience including study abroad, study away (semester at another college/U in US), internship and co-op semesters, plus just plain trying new things. Some students find it easier to take risks or branch out when they feel secure and comfortable where they are at. S24 is a big adventurer but for college wanted a place he would feel comfortable right from the start so he could choose when and where to push himself.
I will second ucbalumnus that students will very advanced skills will need to make sure the department and curriculum has enough depth. That is something I’m keeping in mind with S28 who will likely have several semesters of college classes in his major during HS.
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On the flip side of this and stated above its pretty easy making a large school feel small. My son did both play and Ref intermural sports. The reffing was a paid job at his large Big Ten school. Flag football at 10:30 pm on Sunday. He had a blast. His softball team totally sucked. But he had fun. He reffed the graduate students vs the faculty games. Again he had fun and got paid decently. There is a theme here. He also met other students along the way. He formed a student org with another student his freshman year. That grew into meeting the same /similar kids (due to overlap and when the student could) over the next 4 years. About 15-30 and that became his student friend group. The student board of the group met weekly and the same. He can just join some groups and remain active for the same /similar experience. Many, many student make a large university small with similar strategies.
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He would like to attend sporting events so not opposed to sporty schools but I guess it’s finding that fine line where not everyone is an athlete.
We are looking east coast and midwest. We’ve looked at UNH (maybe too big), St Michael’s (maybe too small), SUNY New Paltz (too artsy), Scranton, Susquehanna and Stonehill. He liked UNH and the last 3.
Other schools were considering Loyola MD, Randolph-Macon, St Anselm’s, Univ of Mary Washington, McDaniel College, Christopher Newport, Catholic U, Xavier, John Carrol and Univ of Dayton. Open to any other suggestions. 3.0 GPA and 25 pre-ACT. Not opposed to to a city over a small town, just wants some stuff on or off-campus to do. Not a partier (medical issue) but will probably want to go to some. No idea on major.
Thanks for all the responses, they’ve been very helpful.
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Could you go as far south as Coastal Carolina or Charleston ?
UMaine
Millersville
Hofstra
St Joe
Seton Hall
Millersville might be promising.
My daughter really liked Butler in Indianapolis. Nice size (around 5000) in a nice neighborhood.
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My daughter’s final 2 choices came down to one with about 4000 undergrads (and 3 - 4 thousand grad students) and one with 34,000 undergrads (and 18,000 grad students). The smaller one was by far the smallest school she applied to and where she ended up. I think it was definitely the best choice for her though I have no doubt she would have figured out her community at the larger school and she already has plans about how to start that process (was going to apply to live in a learning community, had a club sport she was going to be a member of, etc). But I don’t think the smaller one ever felt too small to her. It was in a large city so the campus didn’t feel isolated. Her department was wonderful and because she had several professors multiple times she ended up with amazing recommendation letters when it came time to apply to grad school because they actually knew her - she wasn’t just one of 1000 that sat in a lecture one semester. I think with her personality having a smaller school felt more comfortable for her.
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This excerpt offers perspective from an earlier era, in the context of Kenyon College:
(Morice; 2019; Coordinate Colleges for American Women: a Convergence of Interests, 1947-78.)
Great list. Lots of good schools with friendly kids.
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My child graduated from an LAC with fewer than 2000 and had a great experience. She didn’t do sports, theater, or music in college. There are still plenty of students to meet, and not doing any of those things doesn’t preclude your child from becoming friends with kids who do do those things.
Remember, the big advantage from the get go is that kids at a small college deliberately CHOSE that environment. They already have something in common.
I suggest just letting your son see if he likes the vibe, and not worry which kids are athletes and which are in theater. By the time my child graduated, she had friends who did many things she never ended up doing. She did other things: she joined debate, worked campus jobs, volunteered, etc… Those are all activities too. And may of these students try all kinds of things that other kids may not try. So my D never did theater, but her friends never tried knitting or taking Chinese cooking courses. All these differences help keep things interesting.
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To put it bluntly, are you buying an education for him so that he can have a career and a livelihood? Or is your primary concern his social adjustment for the next four years, as a kind of social finishing school for an awkward kid, and you’ll worry about his obtaining the credentials to be able to support himself afterwards? Or maybe he is in the fortunate position as to have already been provided for, financially, in life, and he does not have to think about how he will support himself and maybe a family.
If obtaining the means of supporting himself is the primary goal, then I would say that is the first consideration. A kid who wants, say, mechanical engineering might have a very different list than a kid who wants to obtain a teaching certification.
That’s why I say look at his educational goals first. I attended a medium large school, with about 10K undergrads and 15K grads, but because I was in a small department, I felt that I was in a much smaller environment - I knew everyone in the dep’t, undergrads and grads. So it kind of had the best of both worlds. I think that a lot of people find their smaller group through their academic and non-academic interests. But if a person chooses a very small school, especially one that has many sports teams, many of the students then find their social life through their sports teams, which often hold social events with other sports teams. One of my friends’ kids is currently at a small LAC, wound up there as a recruited athlete. They get virtually no playing time, but are expected to be at every practice, every game, and have to travel to every away game (which takes up a lot of time), and unfortunately, there’s even nasty mean girl drama going on, on the team! But when I ask why the kid doesn’t just drop the sport, and instead focus on academics and obtaining a degree that might actually earn them a living, the reply is, “But social life on campus revolves around the sports teams, so if they drop the sport, they would be on the outs, socially.” Frats and sororities might be an option, but not everyone wants Greek life, which, frankly, is usually centered around partying, much as they tout their service activities.
For an average kid who’s somewhat introverted, I’d say that your best option is to try to figure out what he might want to study. If he has no idea what he wants to study, then a large school with many majors is more likely to give him the opportunity to try out lots of different intro classes, to try to find what he likes. He can find his group there through clubs and activities, maybe religious organizations if you guys have a religious identification. If he has an idea what he wants to study, your first step is to find schools that will match his academic interests. Size, distance, culture, “vibe” are all considerations after that, but I wouldn’t start out with that. Unless there is no academic goal other than obtaining any 4 yr degree, start with selecting schools based upon them meeting his educational and career requirements, rather than his social requirements.
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I don’t see it as either/or. Most kids can pick what they want to study AND pick the environment where they’ll thrive. Big schools offer more majors AND are more likely to limit access to classes by school or major.
Many kids will bloom where planted and/or have no choice in the matter. Others may struggle to find friends, pursue opportunities, and thrive in general. A very small group will fail. As adults, we often recognize places - locales, communities, social settings – where we are less likely to be happy. This is no different.
The OP is looking for an environment where their kid can thrive from the get-go and trying to ask the right questions. This hardly means they are forgoing a good education.
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I agree. I think most parents want a good fit for their student and a good education that will lead to a career and the OP is fortunate to be in a position to choose. There are plenty of small, medium, and large schools that provide a great education and path forward.
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It’s important to have both the education and the social skills to be successful post college.
So…help him find a college where he can get the education he needs, as well as develop the social skills he needs. Both are important.
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