When people from my small, rural town heard I was considering PSU main campus, they had a whole list of negative things to say about the size. So this is a DANGEROUS move on my part… I am about to list NEGATIVE myths about the school I love. But I do this in confidence– confidence that you will hear me out, and realize that the following statements are ALL JUST MYTHS:
“My dad went to Penn State, and he said there were over 1000 people in his class, and the professor just put on a video and left.”
“Nobody ever knows who you are at a school like that. Do you really want to go through four years being a nobody?”
“Big schools are so impersonal. It’s like you walk around, and all you see is strangers every day because you are there with thousands and thousands of other people, and you never really get to know any of them.”
“You won’t ever get to know any of your professors at a big school like how you know teachers here in high school. You can’t just raise your hand in the middle of a giant lecture and ask the professor to go over that one more time. That will also make it a lot harder to get a good letter of reccomendation.”
Ok. Again, I repeat, MYTHS. I would like to point out I have never had a class with 1000 people. My professor has never put in a video and left (well, unless you count The Art of Cinema… but that’s a little different.) People know who I am. In fact, the Dean of the Honors College wrote me one of my letters of recommendations this summer, and I know I am not the only one who has a close enough relationship with him to ask that favor. My professors know me by name. Even in my big physics lectures, the professor calls on students by name. Sure it takes awhile for him to learn–but he makes the effort. I run into people I know ALL over campus, at all sorts of events. I have many personal friends, not just strangers. And lectures aren’t scary. The professors DO stop, and ask for questions, and talk with kids in the room. There are office hours, and review sessions, teacher’s assistants, and emails. Furthermore, if you plan on going to med school, you will (at some point) need to learn how to learn in a lecture setting. People aren’t going to hold your hand for the rest of your academic life.
Looking back, here’s the thing that annoys me most about these myths: None of them were from people who went to Penn State. In fact, none of them were even from people who had gone to a school half the size of Penn State. I may even be willing to bet some of the above individuals have never left the small town they were raised in. It is the phenomenon of Big School Bashing. I don’t think it’s intentional. It’s a mix of resentment, misunderstanding, and ignorance. Even know, when I go home and talk to my friends about college, they still occasionally make negative remarks about Penn State being this monstrous, intimidating “big school.” Like when I told them all our classrooms had smartboards, and my friend caustically remarked, “My classrooms may not have smartboards, but at least I’m not sitting in every class with 500 other people!”
LIES. That was pretty much the last straw for me. All this big-school bashing by people who haven’t been here just promotes the negative stereotype of what others perceive a big school to be. And I hate it.
Big schools are NOT for everyone, but they ARE for some people. So when you’re exploring colleges, please keep this in mind: Decide For Yourself. Visit PSU. Talk to current students. Get the “vibe.”
You may decide Penn State really is too big, and you can’t picture yourself here. And that’s okay. Like I said, big schools and Penn State are not for everyone. But make sure this is YOUR decision. Not your mom’s, or your teacher’s, or your friend’s.
Read Chris’ entry on all the awesome opportunities we have to offer.
Give “big schools” a chance.
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