Benefits of a Smaller College

Ivy League schools may offer a wonderful addition to a resume, but some students decide instead to go to small honors programs at public universities in order to save on tuition and have a more positive experience along the way.

When Joy Furman looked into colleges to attend, she wanted something more enjoyable than her high-school experience.

“It was really important to me that I would be well-prepared for the business world, but at the same time I also really wanted to have a positive college experience – unlike high school where I was just a workaholic,” she said.

Although she looked at Ivy-League schools, she wanted a change of pace from her heavy high-school workload.

“I outwardly wanted to go to an Ivy League school because that’s what my parents and friends expected of me, but inside I just wanted to be with a different class of people,” she said. “I felt like my whole high school experience had been less than genuine and I really wanted to explore myself in college.”

When talking with her guidance counselor one day, Furman found what she was looking for — a brochure for the City University of New York. The lower tuition rates and the pictures of students inside the brochure intrigued her.

CUNY also offered scholarships to qualified suburban honors students, and after talking to some people who attended the college, she decided to take a tour. She went to the business school, Zicklin, and talked with students who were in the honors program.

“They were all suburban high-achievers who, like me, were tired of the academic rat-race and wanted to do their own thing while still getting a quality education without accumulating debt,” Furman said.

To wrap up her visit, she met the dean, who was a former dean of Columbia University. He told her about the benefits of attending CUNY and how several students decided to attend the college for exactly the same reasons she was considering it.

She also met several of the female students at the cafeteria.

“They were just the opposite of the unapproachable Prada-wearing, cliquish girls that I was used to,” Furman said.

Furman returned to her guidance counselor and said she had decided to attend CUNY. While earning her degree, she also found the college experience she was looking for.

“I got a great education for very little debt, made some good friends and never regretted it for a second,” she said.