In general, richer colleges/unis would have more money to buy resources (counselors, writing centers, grants for all sorts of stuff) but it does depend on what you mean by supportive. Some small regional LACs and regional unis of various sizes (and even CC’s) who don’t have a lot of money are supportive because they have a lot of faculty who really like teaching and want their students to do well even if that faculty don’t have the most impressive credentials or do the most impressive research.
It could depend by department as well. Even comparing the CS departments of two top CS schools that are both large publics bursting to the gills in CS undergrads, there can be a difference in how much faculty care about undergrads just because of institutional culture. If the chair and key faculty at one emphasizes research foremost, research will be emphasized and faculty will be hired solely for that reason, but if the chair and key faculty at another also care about how their undergrads do (along with research), then that environment would be more supportive.
Both of my girls went to Cornell, what people would call it a big red machine. It was well run machine, but wasn’t a place where a professor or dean would check up on a student who wasn’t going to classes or getting bad grades. While they were there, 1) I have seen a professor call my kid from an airport because my kid had a question about an assignment, 2) gave both of kids special considerations when they were sick, 3) took on of kids out for coffee when in NYC to discuss a research paper, 4) wrote a great LOR for law school after 2 years out of school.
My kids showed up for office hours when they needed help (professors didn’t necessary reach out to them). They emailed their professors when they had questions and usually got very prompt response. Whenever I called the school with questions they were always very responsive.
I went to a small LAC. My classes were usually very small, but I didn’t really feel there was a lot of personal attention, which I didn’t ask for anyway.
I don’t think size of college matters when it comes to how supportive it is. What matters is whether a school has the resource/culture to be supportive and if student wants it.
I agree with @twogirls:
I’m a GSI here at U of M. I spend a ton of time advocating for my students and working with them. All of the professors I’ve ever taught with have been 100% committed to their students.
That said, we will not hunt down your kid and make him/her talk to us. That’s just not our job. But if your kid shows up and says “I’m not sure what to do,” I will spend 10 hours with him/her if I have to in order to get them on the right path. I’ve found my students research opportunities and even helped with some post-college placement.
I went to a giant undergrad but was in a small residential program there. I had the best of both worlds.
Really, the whole “you’re just a number” thing, IME, has only come from people whose kids have never bothered to try reaching out for support.
I think some of it depends on the kid. A more outgoing, confident kid is going to have an easier time connecting with profs and advisors in a large university setting. A kid who is quieter and more inclined to fly under the radar has an easier time doing that in a large school. So that outgoing kid may find that the large university is “supportive”, but the less outgoing kid might not have that same experience. At a small school, it is harder to hide out.
You can get the small LAC experience in a honors college at a large public. Those can be very supportive.
You can also end up at a medium sized school like one DH just took Kiddo #2 to. DH was apalled to hear freshman intro classes had over 200 students, 10TAs and 1 professor. It’s a Top 50 private school with less than 6000 undergrads and DH felt that all the attention was on the grad students. Kiddo liked it, but DH says there’s no way it’s worth paying more to go there over one of the state schools. State school near us has 3x more kids, smaller class sizes and just felt more “personal.”
I know a lot of undergrads who like their GSI/TAs more than professors. The grad students are usually closer in age (and more understanding) and we are striving for good reviews. Especially those of us in the humanities and SSs, professorships are cut-throat and those good student reviews are critical to getting a teaching job.
My coworkers S attends a very small Midwest college ( 2000 students). He struggled in different ways in HS but wanted to go away to school. He is very, very social. His parents agreed to send him…as long as it was a supportive school FOR HIM. This kid meets with his advisor once a week to discuss upcoming tests, to make sure his work is handed in on time, etc. His mother gets weekly reports ( with her S’s agreement) and somebody monitors whether this student shows up for class… and if not… he is called and questioned. This student will be graduating next year. “Support” for this student means helping him to graduate and navigate school successfully… and helping him find an internship near his home… where he will be during the summer… he is not ready right now to be away from his support system for a summer internship. Some may agree with this level of support… while some may not and feel that perhaps this student should have started at a community college. That’s not the point here… the point is that the school supports HIS needs and works for this particular family.
Many kids do not need or want a support system like this. It’s not necessary or desired… at all. “Support” for these other kids may mean getting help for some social anxiety and making sure it’s readily available… and choosing a school that would be a good social fit…making sure there are things to do on a weekend besides parties… researching how active and involved the clubs are on campus. Some kids may need a social support system. They are already comfortable speaking up in class, navigating internships, studying for tests, introducing themselves to professors, seeking out the writing center on their own… even if they are strong writers and just want another opinion. “Supportive” … of course…can also mean having appropriate academic and professional opportunities. It is shocking to me how many people I know who do not consider this… but that’s another discussion.
“Support” means different things to different people, and corresponds on many levels with fit. We need to pick the school that gives us what we need in order to thrive… and this can be found at large and small schools.
@twogirls I have a friend with a D at one of our large public universities who gets similar support. Its a special program and part of the reason they chose that school.
You should consider big universities with special programs. University of Michigan has a special division called the “Residential College”. It is renowned for its foreign language courses as well as drama, creative writing and the social sciences. Students receive a lot of individualized attention and know their professors well. They also can take courses in the rest of the university. Other universities have similar programs.
My son attends the Ohio State University and as @PurpleTitan says above, the “richer” the school (aka the more endowment funds), the more opportunities to provide support for students. Ohio State has a great First Year Experience (FYE) program (highly encouraged, not mandatory) and leader who also conducts great student orientations. The FYE program is designed to get students acclimated to campus through a series of highly encouraged “sucess series” sessions offered in the Fall and Winter semester of freshman year, such as Academic Engagement & Career Exploration, Buckeye Book Community, Divesity and Global Awareness, Finances, Health & Wellness and Leadeship and Civic Engagement. The second year there is a highly encouraged Second Year Transformational Experience (STEP) program which provides students an opportunity to meet in group settings and explore education abroad programs, internships, undergrad research, leadership and creative and artisic endeavors). My son did STEP to outline a summer study abroad. Ohio State helped match him and other students get matched with companies for summer internships. Ohio State also has the Younkon Sucess Center for peer tutoring and Residential Hall tutoring programs available for interested students. There is also a very good Office of Disability Services and a Buckeyes Beyond Ohio group which sets up mixers for out-of-state students to meet and greet. Overall the OSU has exceeded my expectations for making a large university smaller in terms of the support they provide for the students. But i used the words “highly encouraged” twice above, because the students need to take the initiative to reach out and take advantage of the many opportunites offered by tOSU even though not mandatory.
Particularly the student. If a Prof is checking on a student daily there is definitely an unusual circumstance. I have S at an Ivy and one at an LAC and they have never had a Prof check in on them, period. The one at the LAC has all very small classes and the Profs certainly know who is who, but he has never felt in any class that a Prof has had any interest in him personally or in his success.
I have three kids, one at Michigan, one at Michigan State and one at DePauw, and I must say, I am most impressed with DePauw. My son, as a freshman is taking classes directly from professors who have PhD’s from Stanford and the University of Michigan–I mean they are grading his papers and he is meeting with them after class. He reached out to a famous artist for a group project and the next thing he knows, his professor found funding to bring the artist to campus and my son is scheduled to introduce the artist and run a dialog.
Today, as part of the DePauw Management Fellows Program, at lunch 11:30-12: 30 pm, he was required to attend a presentation which featured three speakers one from Deloitte, Monroe Partners, and Strives Consulting. All speakers even offered times students could meet with them for lunch or informal interviews. Next week at lunch he has an interviewing skills workshop and a meeting about a new business idea pitch competition he will be participating in during April. Because of the small campus, DePauw takes advantage of lunch activities.
DePauw supports the Greek system because it provides leadership opportunities and a lifelong connection. The university’s relationship with the Greek system is much different at large schools.
Michigan and Michigan State have many opportunities too but they are not integrated into the curriculum. There are so many kids fighting for the same slice of pie. Neither Michigan nor Michigan State can possibly aid in making sure all students get several internships, go overseas or get jobs when they graduate.
I agree that it depends on the school and the student.
In our case, both kids went to smallish private schools (Vanderbilt and Wake Forest) and Wake was far and above the more “supportive” school in most every way.
Neither of our kids needed academic support per se, but when it came to things like accessibility to professors, flexibility of those professors to understand conflicts and being open to helping out (similar to @rickle1 's post) , and just generally feeling like an integral part of the academic community, Wake was hands-down superior.
In addition, our Wake son had some health issues junior year and we were blown away by the amount of individual support, help and advice he received from every department of that school (health center doctors, professors, academic advisors, etc). Wake holds a special place in our hearts as a result!