TOEFL® essay: Mansfield University

[Gabby]

Im not asking for anything special, but if there are any mistakes that are obvious to you, please tell me. Thanks!

TOEFL essay: Mansfield University

What is most important to you when you think about your education? For most high school students, going to college is an opportunity to be in a completely new situation with endless academic and social opportunities. The idea is to jump into a new world without limitations. Since limitation can be referenced with size, it makes sense that many of you will therefore decide that bigger is better. If your first choice school offers you 20 housing options, 10 different dining halls, and 50 majors to choose from, it is understandable that you will feel compelled to apply. Bigger isn’t always better. For most, getting to know people, and feeling closer to them, is the greatest quality a school can give and Mansfield University is where you can find it.

To get an overall friendly undergraduate experience, you must get to know some friendly people. It is said and proven that smaller colleges feel closer to home, and many find that developing strong relationships with professors is what a great college experience should be like. Mansfield University offers you a place where you can take this opportunity. If your professors do not have the time to meet with you, or do not even know your name, the school is probably too big for a quality undergraduate experience. Mansfield combines the best qualities of a small liberal arts college with the resources of a larger and more comprehensive university.

According to the Mansfield University website, the Student-Faculty Ratio is 18:1. Approximately 72% of the classes have fewer than 30 students; 41% have fewer than 20 students; and only 2% have 50 or more students.
Additionally, large universities often have large classes. This can mean that your freshman English class might have as many as 150 students. There may also be lecture classes with as many as three hundred students. Many undergraduates that have a great college experience attend schools where they get to know their professors well, and this usually happens in classes that are small enough so that no student goes unnoticed.

Smaller colleges, schools averaging 3,500 students are usually teaching institutions with few graduate students. These are colleges dedicated to providing undergraduates with a strong sense of community and a first-rate academic experience.

Colleges that have classes with fewer than 30 students are typically better able to meet students' individual academic needs, because large classes are not overwhelming the faculty. This school has a strong advising system where every student is paired with an advisor who can take the time to get to know him or her. This kind of school can protect you from being one of those students who slips through the cracks. It is the typical school where you can feel known. You feel important, and excited about what you are studying.

Here at Mansfield, you can probably find all or most of what's usually found at much larger universities: an impressive faculty of teacher-scholars, a particularly wide range of courses and majors, career focused experiences, high tech equipment, and the latest facilities. As a Mansfield student, you'll have practically unlimited access to everyone and everything that's here. Higher quality shouldn’t mean only “high tech”. There is a high quality of learning here which should be taken seriously by students. Most students will find it challenging by mid semester to focus on all of their studies. With 70 degree programs to choose form, it's small enough to get individual attention and large enough to have first-rate resources and faculty.

Now that you know about the quality of the campus, I hope you are convinced that Mansfield University is a high quality school. Getting to know people, and feeling closer to them, having access to major facilities, having 70 degree choices, and smaller classrooms, makes any school high quality.

[Torsten]