Are large public/state universities easier in curriculum than smaller private coleges in US?

Question

Like comparing Ohio State University having around 50,000 students ( quarter system ) to a small private school having 1800 students ( semester system ). I personally think public OSU would be easier than that other school. What do you people think?

Answer 1

It depends on the university and on what you want to do.

For example, a place like The University of Minnesota (or Ohio State) is a large university that isn't as selective as a place like UC-Berkeley, or Virginia. However, because it is so large and because it has excellent graduate programs, there is an opportunity for someone to get as good an education there as at any school in the world. They can make it very difficult if they want to. On the other hand, because it is not so selective, there are lots of easy classes and someone who wanted to work the system could skate through without really challenging himself.

Some state schools are very selective -- and much harder than many private schools.

I believe that someone can get as good an education at Ohio State or Minnesota as they can get going to Harvard or Princeton. The big difference is that at Harvard or Princeton it is harder to get a bad education.

As for small private schools -- it depends on which ones you are talking about. If you mean a nationally ranked school like Swathmore or Wliliams -- or even a good regional school like Villanova or Claremont -- then Yes -- it is harder and probably a better education. But there are a lot of bad small private schools out there -- like Liberty or -- well, let's just leave it at Liberty for now.

Go to Princeton Review's web site to see more about possible schools.

My advice: Go for the challenging degree, not the easy one.

Answer 2

I think they're harder. I went to the community college for all my pre-reqs. Not only was it WAY cheaper, but I never had a class with more than 48 students. Every professor I had knew everyone's name by the second week, and their entire life by the end of the semester. They were approachable and accessible. You can't get that at a University of any kind.

Also, when I made it into the nursing world, we called the nurses from Arizona State A-S-Useless because they didn't have half of the lab time that we did in the community college. Some of them had never even seen a catheter.