As high school seniors fill out applications to colleges one of the biggest factor determining where they apply and where they hope to be in the next year is the size of the school. Big schools often are associated with excessive school spirit as well as large and impersonal lectures, while small schools are often associated with intimate classes, but are seen as somewhat boring. As someone who attends a small school, there were many unexpected perks of a small school that I found in my first semester, that might even influence high school seniors to apply to small schools.

A stereotype of small schools is that people see the same old people, and never expand their horizons by meeting new people, due to the limited number of people attending the school. I have found this to be extremely false. I have always been able to find new faces and meet new friends, however, I just have a couple of familiar faces while doing so.

In my curriculum, I have noticed that I write significantly more papers when compared to the curriculum of my friends who attend larger schools. These people often are assessed through multiple choice tests, and if they do write an essay, it is graded by a teacher's assistant with a strict rubric. While this method is somewhat easier at times, it is ultimately not as helpful. Multiple choice tests often rely on recognition rather than understanding and applications of the material. They also do not account for how close a student was to the actual answer and leave very few opportunities for comments on wrong answers by the professor. Teacher's assistants' grading by rubrics are often not much better either. Since these assistants are students and not professionals, they must use a rubric to grade the papers. As a result, they cannot give unique comments and tips to students to help with the essay and future projects.

High school students often overlook the small and routine aspects of the college experience. The most common of these is walking to classes. Because I go to a small school, there have been times where I have left five minutes before a lecture and have made it with around a minute to sit down and get comfortable. My friends at larger schools often complain about walking half an hour to classes, then not being able to go back to the dorm, because it takes too long to get back. This does not seem like a horrible issue, but once you factor in weather, it becomes an aspect that could change a person's college experience for the better or for the worse.