Thread: Does a large university == a bad education?

  1. #1
    CIS and business major
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    Question Does a large university == a bad education?

    I plan on enrolling at UMass- Amherst, which is a large university with about 25,000 undergrad students.

    I plan on going there to save money, rather than going to an expensive small school.

    But I was wondering if going to a large university will hurt my education. A lot of my classes are going to have hundreds of students, and most of my grades will depend on midterm and final exams.

    Oh well, what benefits are there of large universities?

  2. #2
    Registered User Scourfish's Avatar
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    How many times do I have to spell it out to you kids: Larger colleges have more places where one can score cheap/free beer. Smaller colleges only have dead poet societies.
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  3. #3
    & the hat of GPL slaying Thantos's Avatar
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    It depends on the student more then anything. Larger universities generally have less approachable professors. I'm going the junior collage route and am gonna try to stay there until I have enough to transfer to the University as a senor. I like being able to talk to my instructors and having instructors that aren't full of themselves.

  4. #4
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    yeah, from what I hear, smaller universities usually have more approachable profs. You can still get a good education at a large university. It is up to you what you get out of your education. If you think the teacher isn't right for you, transfer classes. Ask profs questions if you don't understand something. Make an effort to learn as much as you can, and you will.

  5. #5
    Just a Member ammar's Avatar
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    If you really want to learn, the size of the university won't matter...
    In the university don't expect to have all the information you need delevered to you easily, you will have to do alot of extra work.
    none...

  6. #6
    Banned nickname_changed's Avatar
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    I'm on the other side of the fence. I'm in a small rural town, but we have our own university (of something like 300 people). I've had lots of friends from the city (adelaide) telling me I should move there when I'm ready for Uni, because I'll get a much better education than I will at a small town. But the one here has a lot more one on one contact with the professors, which I think would be much better than a lecturer with over 300 students to teach.

    I still have a year and a half to go though before I make the desicion.

  7. #7
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Thantos
    I like being able to talk to my instructors and having instructors that aren't full of themselves.
    That depends more on the school. My friend goes to MSU (45000+ students) and knows a lot of his profs really well. My school has about 2000 students, and most of the profs in my degree department don't even know my name.

    Does a large university == a bad education?
    Not necessarily. It's what you make of it yourself, really.

  8. #8
    Seven years? civix's Avatar
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    Code:
    #include <string.h>
    #include <iostream.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>
    
    int main()
    {
    char college[256];
    cout<<"Do you go to a large or small college?";
    cin.getline(college,256,'\n');
    if(strcmpi(college,"small")==0)
    {
      cout<<"You go to a small college. Good scholarship opportunities and a great learning experience.. you suck.\n";
    }
    if(strcmpi(college,"large")==0)
    {
     cout<<"You go to a large college.. lots of booze and chicks, just waiting to sleep with a 1337 H4x0r like you. You rule.\n";
    }
    system("PAUSE");
    return 0;
    }
    Compiles perfectly in Dev 4.
    (Very simple and newbish!)
    Last edited by civix; 08-23-2003 at 11:09 PM.
    .

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