MSU, with a population about 140 times larger, was a big place for me. However, brochure after brochure assured me that MSU’s James Madison College would help me transition smoothly.

An intimate community nestled within a university that knows no limits, James Madison promised small class sizes, professor-student interaction and stimulation in a living-learning environment within and outside of the classroom. And that’s exactly what I found.

I could walk downstairs to an 8 a.m. class in my pajamas, take a two-minute jaunt between classes to visit a professor’s office hours and study with dozens of my peers for an exam, because let’s face it — I couldn’t get away from them.

During lecture, my Facebook feed was filled with James Madison student commentary. At 2 a.m. those very same people struggled with me in the study lounge through an MC 111 paper.

James Madison allows its students to be surrounded by others with similar interests and passions. This environment fosters the creation of student groups, seminars, friendships and even networking contacts for the future.

Benefits of the residential college experience extend far beyond freshman year. Student organizations plan activities to help freshmen choose a major within James Madison and events for sophomores to help guide decisions regarding study abroad, language options and specializations.

The Field Experience Office and the Office of Academic Affairs conveniently are housed in Case Hall and advisers often can meet with you on the spot.

James Madison’s career services office helps point students in the right direction for finding a job during their senior year, which especially is important in light of today’s job market.

And James Madison is not the only residential living experience that opens a world of opportunity for MSU students.

MSU provides endless opportunities to its student body — boasting the eighth largest in the country — and is doing a fantastic job of bringing a large university down to size.

Lyman Briggs College is housed in Holmes Hall for students studying natural sciences. The Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, or RCAH, housed in Snyder-Phillips Hall, is home to the living-learning experience of the arts: music, dance theatre, language and culture.

Similar initiatives by the university, if smaller and less established, have been made in creating similar environments for engineering students in Wilson Hall and business students in Shaw Hall.

The proximity of advising appointments, career fairs, social events, academic lectures and peer support all geared toward my interests definitely is an advantage of “living on” in an academic environment. Lyman Briggs and RCAH students benefit from these opportunities as well.

Marketing ploy or not, MSU has done well placing the worldly resources of a large university in the hands of students who can, at the same time, experience a small-college atmosphere.

And I, for one, am sold.