#GA导师博客#选择公立学校还是常春藤院校,美国留学问问微信公众号文章

State schools vs. the Ivy League/Anjali S.

公立学校 vs. 常春藤院校

#Go America导师博客专栏#

Anjali S. is a third year Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania, and an English language and test prep teacher, tutor, and consultant. She holds a master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and undergraduate degrees in Linguistics and Psychology. Currently, Anjali assists in teaching several different graduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania, serves as an editor-in-chief of a major student-run journal, and continues to mentor master’s students in their academic pursuits. In addition to her academic commitments, Anjali has 5 years of experience teaching a variety of tests with Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions as well as teaching English classes and training English teachers both in the US and in Hong Kong. She applies these skills with her time serving on university admissions boards to coach students to admissions to top-tier schools and the grants and scholarships to finance them. With her, your future is in good hands.

College. The opportunity you’ve worked your entire life for is finally here. But there are so many. Which should you choose? Harvard, the name that lives in infamy? Davidson, a highly selective liberal arts college in North Carolina? UCLA, University of Florida, or another state school? The choices seem endless. How can you possibly know which one is right for you?

The first step is to consider what kind of environment you need to thrive. Do you want to live in a large city like Philadelphia, Boston, or Los Angeles? Do you prefer a smaller town like Swarthmore, Pennsylvania or Gainesville, Florida? Do you want to go to a large school where you can meet thousands of different people like University of Florida with its 50,000 students or do you prefer a smaller, more intimate campus where you know everyone and everyone knows you? What about specializations? If you know you want to go into STEM fields, then choosing a liberal arts school may not be right for you.

I did my undergraduate at University of Florida, a large state school in the southern US. I loved the warm weather, the large, spacious campus, and the sports culture (we won national champion ships in football and basketball several times while I was there!). Students were highly motivated and produced cutting edge research, but they also knew how to take a break and spend an afternoon at the beach. UF had a very diverse student population, and active clubs with interests ranging from languages and religion to team sports and academics. We even had an aerial dance team and a juggling club for students who wanted to hone their circus skills. Most importantly for me, there was a huge number of international students from China, India, and other countries. My parents lived close by in Tampa, but I had lived in several different countries, and it was important to me to be able to make friends who had a lot of international experience as well.

So far as academics go, a downside of the state school was having many classes that were huge – up to 300 or 400 students for the large introductory math and science classes. Once I got into higher levels, it wasn’t so bad, but the result was that sometimes professors were too busy to provide academic support to their students. Instead, I worked more closely with graduate students who assisted professors. There wasn’t very much hand-holding – I had to look for my own opportunities and actively make my future. The plus side though, was that only highly motivated students succeeded – I had to find my own research opportunities and funding.

Now, I’m working on my Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Penn is a member of the Ivy League, a coalition of the best and oldest universities in the US. Penn is very different from University of Florida, where I did my undergraduate. The weather is colder, the campus is smaller, and no one seems to notice when there are football games or other sporting events. I have to say though, this is a much more academically stimulating environment than UF ever was. The most gifted students from around the world are here making history. They work hard around the clock with internationally known professors producing cutting-edge contributions to science, medicine, business, law, and more. Classes are smaller, professors are more interested in individual students, and the competition is much, much tougher. Firms from around the world recruit directly from Ivy League graduating classes.

That said, people play hard too. Even though school sports aren’t that big, almost every student here is physically active. We have everything from club basketball and football to yoga, squash, and a 4-storey climbing wall. There is a lively international community here also, both among undergraduate and graduate students. Funding for student clubs and organizations generous, so salsa nights, musical performances, Chinese theater, and more can happen very successfully.

All in all, it just depends what you’re looking for. Being academically successful is definitely important, but so is your happiness. Think about what’s right for you. College is supposed to be the best time of your life. Make it that way!

(好吧，被发现了！主页君偷懒了！翻译的版本马上就会来哈！)