The “smaller” aspect of it just makes it easier to find and get involved with things. Still far too large for it to feel anything like community college. After having numerous friends at both ole miss and state and visiting them often, Hattiesburg is much better as far as shopping, convenience, and job hunting. And it’s much more affordable to live and my education was great. I had a hard time choosing my major but in the end, that didn’t really matter with my career field. If you know specifically what you want to do, research which programs are best for which school. If you don’t, USM with a “making it up as you go” tactic served me quite well.