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Businessconquerer
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3 REASONS FOR MERIT OF SMALLER PROGRAMS 28 Apr 2025, 05:25
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I know that over the past few years, I have expressed strong opinions on programs with larger class size because I have seen how a smaller class size can help some schools jump up in the rankings (even accidentally because by just docking a couple of people from the employment report as not reporting to the employment survey or not seeking, the percentage shift in the number employed can be bigger compared to the ones with bigger class size). There have been many schools over the years that have a class size less than 100 that ended up making a jump in the ranking and then slipped down by 10-20 ranks. Also, smaller class size has a smaller alumni network- depending on industry or sometimes overall!


BUT.... This topic is not really about those factors. Even though I stand by my words on those schools, size matters... this article is to show you some hidden strengths of Business schools with a smaller class size!


1. MORE LEADERSHIP POSITIONS FOR YOUR RESUME
It is not like the university you are gonna be a part of has pre-decided through collusion who will be the student leadership for different clubs or different TA or RA positions or any form of positions of influence or that any position you will ever hold will be controlled through some person of the university asserting their influence by using you as a scapegoat leader, right??? That would be unethical and so much more. Not to forget, an insult to your autonomy and freedom- not that everyone cares!

So obviously when you get into schools with smaller class size, you will have achieved those positions to demonstrate your leadership, initiative and influence to the employers. Larger schools have limited positions for meaningful clubs in professional clubs such as Consulting club, Finance club etc. In smaller program, the level of persuasion required to get things done as a club leader is much less. You can create new clubs by looking at some niche club some other larger institutions have (ex. Finance club can have sub-set of people who want to be in Fintech, that can serve as a separate club too). An opportunity to demonstrate your leadership will not be lost in the crowd.

2. AVAILABILITY OF PROFESSORS
I think that one of the better things of a program with smaller class size is the student to faculty ratio. To the types that want a professor to be available more than one would need- for meetings, for helping with your recruitment (if you have a lot of adjunct professors working in the field), etc. such things can help.

3. ELECTIVES
While it is true that some students choose schools because the schools have some exceptional electives, it is also true that most of the larger programs have to limit the class sizes for the electives due to the interest and that leads to an unnecessary waitlist and then you have trouble navigating it. The smaller programs make it easier on you. It is not like some schools have designated students for electives already or made them pre-requisite on purpose to make more people take the classes to get a concentration so they can manipulate your elective selection criteria to the people they favour, which offer them a greater control over your grading system that can affect your graduation and your scholarship amount too. (That would be unethical and so much more, right?) So yeah, since that is not the case, you get more freedom to choose in any program and smaller programs make it easier on you to get the desired electives.

So, yes!! There is certain merit to joining smaller programs!


If you can see, these factors can also help you become more employable as you will have peace of mind, more leadership to demonstrate, better extracurriculars, essential mentorship, and also demonstrate your merit by taking the classes you seek. If these factors matter to you, do consider those while making the pros and cons list! And by the way, these can also serve as a way to show your leverage in scholarship negotiations ;)

In case you wanna check the scholarship negotiations articles, you can check them out here- << Negotiations Strategy >>