Private vs. Public

As you may or may not know, I will be starting college at a California Community College. Hopefully after two years I will be able to transfer to a 4 year university. This, however, will apply to all undergrads, freshman or transfer applicants [even though I know there's already alot on information on this].

It has occured to me that students tend to only consider public universities or college because they can't afford it. Until recently, I myself have overlooked the option of private colleges because they were "too expensive". Many of my peers have also ruled out private schools, or simply overlooked them.

When choosing ANY university, i believe there are a few important things you should look at:

Majors, Student Life [Clubs/Sports], Class Size, and Tuition, are the one's I will touch on.

Majors

If you have an idea of what you want to study, you will have a good start to choosing a university. Some people might have an idea of what they want to study, but [more often than not] will end up switching majors. Many other students enter college undecided, which is perfectly fine. College is a time to explore, to find out what you like, what really interests you, and to find out who you are.

Now if you want to go to med school, people often think they have to take Biology, Chemistry, or Biochemistry. While these majors have classes that are prerequisites for med school, they are not necessary majors. A liberal arts major will help you stick out & might take a bit more work. But you should major in what you love & enjoy. [Law school doesn't have any pre-reqs, thus, you can major in anything as well.]

Now my point is, if you know what you want to major in, this will help narrow down your school search and possibly decide between two schools.

Class Size

Public Universites are known for there grand lecture halls & thousands upon thousands of students [well the big ones are anyways.] Private Universities are known to have smaller teacher:student ratios. In California there are two main public systems of universites: UC's & CSU's. CSU's have smaller class sizes & are more hands on, a bit cheaper, and with less prestige [according to some]. Class sizes may vary by class & by universities.

At a private university you might have the chance to get to know your professors better and ask for help, where as at a public university in a class of 100+ you might not. You have to decide if you want a bigger community or a smaller one.

Student Life

At a public university there are many students, many different organizations, clubs, and sports a person can join. At a private university, there is a sense of a tight-knit community and there are lots of opportunities to shine. Overall you just have to choose what you'll feel more comfortable in. [It often helps when you visit the campus.]

Price

If you are a resident in the state of the public university you want to attend, school will probably be cheaper. If you go out of state, it will be more expensive by who knows how many thousands of dollars. If you choose to go to a private school [in or out of state it's the same] it will look like you will pay alot more.

The truth is, although private school may look like a lot more, there is often more money to give out and can sometimes be cheaper than public school.

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who attends Stanford University and I asked her what the perks of private school were and she said:

"hmm... well financial aid is way better

so even if the bill is larger than for a public school, you might end up paying less.
and theyre usually smaller, so classes are smaller and you get more attention from teachers.

and they usually just really take care of you.. lots of cool programs & job opportunities & stuff like that. because there are less students, you have a chance to stand out more and participate more."

As a future transfer student I had really only paid attention to this one UC in particular [which i might mention later] but recently I have been looking at private schools and will take all of this into serious consideration.

[sorry if i seemed a little biased on what system is better, but like i said, it all depends on what you want out of your school]