<p>I’m applying to Trinity Lutheran in Everett, WA. Though its an incredible school, with crazy scholarships for which I qualify) I can’t help but wonder about the drawbacks of a school with less than 200 students. </p>
<p>Pros of the school:
-One international J-term is paid for by the school.
-Huge scholarships for which I’ve been asked to apply by the head of my department.
-Faith-based community
-Decently sized city
-Close-but-far from home (I’m in Portland, OR)
-Seniors in my program spend their fall semester doing a full-time internship anywhere in the world they can afford.
-I’d be comfortable being out as gay there, after talking to former students. </p>
<p>Cons:
-Small student body
–Why is this a con?
-Tiny campus</p>
<p>I guess I just want your thoughts on such a small school, how it could be good or bad, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t know the particular school, but I think you’ve done a good job of finding advantages. For cons of such a small school, I’d worry about having a limited number of majors, or a limited number of courses in your major. One question I’d ask is whether there are opportunities for students to cross register, or do independent study if you find this to be true.</p>
<p>To me, and I should note that I went to College a million years ago, tiny classes would have been a huge plus. I went to a mid sized University (7,000 or so undergrads) and spent a year studying abroad in a school in England that used a tutorial model with tiny classes. The latter really suited me. For me classes of 7 and a chance to really know and connect with professors would have been a giant benefit of a school like Trinity Lutheran.</p>
<p>Horsey, I got my BS in Math from a school that had about 750 students and loved it. 750 is a lot of students compared to 200 though. What I can easily relate to is having very few people in my major classes. Seven students was a lot for the most advanced math classes I took! In Real Analysis, there were only TWO of us - me and Jim. I absolutely loved it and got so much out of the personal attention. With that few people in the class, we had to do the work, the teacher knew us well, and it was clear when we didn’t understand something (which was good, because we’d go over it until we did). I think the key to my happiness with the situation was that I adored my fellow classmates and I also had one of the greatest professors ever. If I hadn’t been happy with the classmates and hadn’t been so fond of the sole math professor at the college, I probably would have been pretty miserable. Can you arrange to sit in on a couple of the classes in the majors in which you’re interested to get a feel for the professors and how well you might get along with them and their style?</p>
<p>Of course there are many pros, but here are some possible cons: fewer resources, fewer course offerings, fewer available majors/minors/certificate programs, difficult to avoid people you don’t like, less diversity, not as many chances to meet new people, smaller campus activities, lack of privacy, less recruitment, fewer/smaller sports, fewer campus events.</p>
<p>I think of tiny schools as the type of fancy restaurant where there’s a set menu. They’ll bring you a good meal, but you need to be certain that you’ll be happy with whatever they serve. That means flexibility on your part. If one professor leaves, there may be no courses in X subject that semester. You need to be the sort of person who will shrug that problem off and not be too concerned about a lack of choices.</p>
<p>I have friends who went to schools of less than 50 people. though resources may be more limited, they all said it was an incredible atmosphere, in which they really made lifelong friendships with their classmates. so if you’re looking for a place with a really, really tight-knit student body, go for a small school!</p>
<p>Some are the cons are listed above – namely you will be with the same small group of students and profs. for your college career. That can be great, or that can be a negative. A few less than perfect scenarios could be: if your English prof. doesn’t love the way your particular writing style, but there are no other profs. who teach the classes you want to take; classes you want may not be available every semester; lack of privacy. Also the school will not be that well known because of its size and there likely are no big sports teams.</p>
<p>That said, the most important thing about choosing a college is finding the right fit Since you have so many pros and no real cons, this may in fact be a great environment for you.</p>