The Benefits of Small School Life: Why the Biggest College Isn’t Always the Best
Written by Brennan Berryhill
Not to offend our readers from Texas, but bigger isn’t always better! When I was considering whether or not to attend Hillsdale College, I was faced with a dilemma: Should I go to such a small school? With just north of 1,500 undergraduates, I worried that Hillsdale wouldn’t be…well…big enough.
Now that I have a year of the small school experience under my belt, I can safely say that my worries were unfounded—dorm culture, event quality, facilities, and much more are all top notch. Fewer students shouldn’t scare you away; in fact, it should make you want to come all the more!
Here are some of the benefits I’ve discovered about small school life at Hillsdale.
YOU DON’T GET LOST IN THE CROWD
Every day I walk to class and see familiar faces. When I eat in the cafeteria, I almost always see friends and classmates to join for a meal. There are very few times I walk somewhere and can’t say “Hi” to several people by name. At Hillsdale College, you don’t get lost in the crowd.
Some people worry that having 1,500 undergraduates on campus means they’ll know everyone and it will get repetitive. That hasn’t been the case for me. While I know a lot of people on campus, the vast majority I’ve never met. A college of this size is the perfect balance between familiarity and anonymity.
YOU MAKE REAL CONNECTIONS WITH FACULTY
Hillsdale College has a student to faculty ratio of 8:1, and 76% of classes have fewer than 20 students. You won’t see numbers that good at many other colleges, especially paired with the high-quality education you’ll receive at Hillsdale College. Also, at some larger colleges, a teacher’s assistant will be leading the class instead of a professor. You won’t find that at Hillsdale. Professors teach every class. What’s more, they care deeply about their students.
At bigger colleges, “office hours” means another lecture with 50 other students. But at Hillsdale College, office hours are true 1-on-1 mentorship opportunities with the professors. I’ve brought in essays to my English professors for them to shred apart, talked through tricky conversions with my science professors, and reviewed for exams. They genuinely care and want to help you succeed.
Some people will tell you that a 300-strong freshman section is a rite of passage at college, but it doesn’t have to be that way! The largest class I’ve been in so far had only 30 students, give or take. Even then, my professor knew every single person’s name and we were able to have lively discussions. There’s a level of engagement here you just can’t get anywhere else.
YOU MAKE REAL CONNECTIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY
Many large colleges are in a city without truly being a part of it. That is not the case with Hillsdale. The College is the beating heart of a town that shares many of its values and goals.
Because of the close proximity of a number of churches, students can develop relationships with people from the local community. Some, like College Baptist, even have programs where families “adopt” college students to deepen connections in the church body. There are also many volunteer programs in which students serve the city, from working with children to assisting low-income residents.
If you choose to engage, Hillsdale College provides atypical closeness with the local community that can give you lifelong connections and experiences.
GETTING PLACES IS SO MUCH EASIER
Here’s how conversations with friends from large schools always seem to go:
Me: Why do you leave 45 minutes early for class?
Friend: Well, I have to catch the bus, of course!
Me: The bus?
Friend: Yeah. I ride the bus for 10 minutes until I reach the metro station, and then I ride that for about four stops. A simple 15-minute walk, escalator climb, and elevator ride later, and I’m in class!
I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but such is the plight of my huge school compatriots. If the conversation turns the other way, however…
Friend: So how long does it take you to get to class?
Me: Two minutes.
Friend: What??
Me: Yeah. I just walk two minutes from my dorm to class.
While I am lucky to be in a dorm that’s a hop, skip, and a jump from my classes, even students living farther out from the center of campus have a relatively easy time getting places. Commuting around campus is much easier at a small school.
THERE ARE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED
Do you want to play an intramural sport? Try an activity you’ve never done before? Start a club? While all these things are possible at a large school, there are more opportunities to get involved at a small school. The barrier to entry for activities is a much smaller hurdle than what you’ll be facing at a large university. Hillsdale College is truly a place to branch out and try new things.
My primary activity on campus is participating in the Mock Trial team, and I believe I never would have been given this opportunity at a larger school. Either my lack of previous experience would have disqualified me, or I never would have found the 30-strong community in a sea of 50,000 students. But because Hillsdale College is a small school, I found the team, was able to give tryouts a chance, and wasn’t just a face in the crowd to the other members.
The increase in opportunities doesn’t have to come at the detriment of competitive success, either. Hillsdale’s Mock Trial team in particular is one of the most successful in the nation, and there are also many highly competitive intramural sports here along with high-quality clubs.
SMALL BUT MIGHTY
There are countless other reasons why the small school life is the best life. I’d encourage students who think they can only get the “college experience” at a large school to reconsider. Small schools give you a kind of intimate education that just can’t be replicated at a college with 50,000 undergraduates.
Hillsdale College’s focus on the liberal arts also requires a level of community and discourse that is only possible with a small student population. Here at Hillsdale, you not only learn ideas, but you truly discuss them with professors and fellow students alike.
So, in the spirit of Texas… smaller is better?
Brennan Berryhill, ’27, hails from Denver, Colorado, and when he isn’t writing or obsessively taking notes, you can find him playing trombone, debating, or nerding out over football.
Published in October 2024