When you think of the typical university experience I bet you imagine frat parties, sororities, wine Wednesday’s, partying almost every night of the week, roommates, dorms, and of course getting an education. When I was in high school and starting to apply to schools I couldn’t wait to get to university. So much freedom to do whatever, whenever, it all sounded great. 

Skip forward a couple years and I am definitely not getting that full university life experience but honestly I’m not regretting it. I did go to a bigger university for my first year of school but I transferred out, took a gap year and ended up at BCIT. I can definitely say from getting to experience both opposite post secondary lifes, I prefer the culture of a small school.

First of all, my teachers actually know my names. Sitting in lectures of 200 kids is just overwhelming, and honestly, I don’t even think half the teachers really liked teaching. They just stood up and started yapping, knew nobody’s name, taught the class, and then ended us the final. But at a small school I’m on more than just a first name basis with my teachers, they actually know what I’m working on and what’s going on in the other classes. 

Having a small class is also awesome. Getting to be close with the same people everyday is something I didn’t expect to like but I actually ended up really appreciating. Before starting at BCIT I was worried about being with the same group for every class, but now I can’t imagine it any other way. 

One of the downsides I find is that with any commuter school the drive does wear it out of you over time. I’m super lucky my commute takes me 45 minutes tops but for some of my classmates it can take up to 2.5 hours… yikes. I know for me the last thing I want to do after a day’s classes is get in my car and sit in traffic, it was super nice to be able to go from the classroom to my dorm in under a 10 minute walk. 

The social life on a big university campus is obviously a lot more present. But in my opinion non-stop partying is overrated. Like really tequila Tuesday, wine Wednesday, and thirsty Thursday? What happened to just good ol’ Friday. 

Small schools and big universities have massively different cultures to them and overall vibes but it’s honestly all subjective. I mean you could definitely find a way to get the party started at a small school, or even force your friends for a night in at a big school.