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 There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to small colleges according to these articles. The major advantages of a small school are the small class sizes, the access to teachers and focus teachers have on the students, the close community atmosphere, and the power given to the students to influence their community. All of these aspects create a long lasting experience that teaches their student how to think. On the other hand, small colleges cost an incredible amount that can put many students into debt for years to come. In additions, students find themselves in a community without diversity, there are fewer people to meet in the university, and the opportunities allotted at bigger universities pertaining to class sizes and academic research are not as readily available at smaller colleges. A particularly interesting argument against small schools is that more elite smaller schools create an ignorant environment that stops people from interacting with those of the different class or ethnicity. I strongly disagree with this argument. Deresiwicz, the author of this particular article, attended all Ivy League schools for his education and taught at Yale for a decade. He claims, “My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to, regardless of their class”. Although I understand the basis of the arguments, I find his argument ignorant and too general. He makes extreme generalizations about college students but disregards their experience prior to college. Many people go to public schools and interact with a variety of races and classes. College experiences are supposed to create tolerance and general respect for others because people live in a community. Overall, both of these arguments are strong and have basis. A student must base their decision on which type of school best fits their needs. 

Annotated Bibliography

Deresiewicz, William. "The Disadvantages of an Elite Education." The American Scholar, the magazine of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/>.

Deresiewicz argues that small and elite universities create a sheltered community that creates ignorance when communicating with others outside of the community. Because they have never had to communicate with people from different class/cultures, they do not know how too. He claims that all communities like this are ignorant and continue their ignorance in their adult hood. In the future, like him, students will not be able to communicate with workers such as plumbers or mechanics.

This is an accredited source because it comes from an elite collection of articles and the author is a professor from Yale. He does not cite information, mostly because it is opinion based. There are few facts that need to be cited and his opinions are information I can use when analyzing the options.

I will use this information because it is a very opinionated argument that I can spend time arguing against.

Rockler-Gladen, Naomi. "Liberal Arts Colleges: Advantages and disadvantages of small private colleges and a liberal arts education | Suite101.com." Colleges | Suite101.com. 21 Jan. 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://collegeuniversity.suite101.com/article.cfm/liberal_arts_colleges>.

This article clearly lays out the advantages and disadvantages of small colleges. For disadvantages the author discusses such ideas as the high costs, lack of diversity, lesser amount of people in the community, more sheltered environment, and fewer options available for the students. For the advantages, the article mentions the attention a student receives from the teachers, the close knit community, the academic emphasis on students, the more access to classes, the ability to stay engaged, and the easy ability to get involved in opportunities even if they are limited.

This article comes from a source of online magazines and articles about a variety of topics. Because it is accredited in this sense, I can trust the source. It lays out the information clearly and which makes it easier to understand. It does not back up its information’s with other sources and so this lets me know its most likely opinion. Overall, I can use this information.

I will apply this to my research because it clearly lays out the pros and cons to my argument. In essence, the information allotted is my argument.

"What are the Advantages of a Small University?" Yellow Pages: Superpages Yellow Pages, Maps, Driving Directions, Weather... Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://www.superpages.com/supertips/advantages-of-a-small-university.html>.

This article gives a brief summary of the advantages that come with attending a small college or university. They mention the strong teacher/student relationships, the easy access and navigation on the campus, the friendly environment, and the increase of opportunities in both athletic and social programs in the community.

This source is trust worthy in that it gives a succinct summary of the advantages of small colleges. Because it is simply a summary and does not go into further explanations – makes generalizations that many could make by observing such schools – it has trust worthy information. The author is not cited and there aren’t citations that this information comes from, letting me know that this is probably mostly opinion and has little scholarly evidence to back it up.

This source gives me a strong summary of some of the advantages of small schools which I can apply to dissecting the good and bad aspects of curriculums.