I have studied in the US (big state college), a small Austrian private college / university of applied science and the University of Vienna (big public universi

I have studied in the US (big state college), a small Austrian private college / university of applied science and the University of Vienna (big public university) so maybe my take counts for something: Lecture sizes between European public universities and American universities are very different. While in the US few lectures were "MOOC-style" with most class sizes allowing for 1:1 interaction, in Austria you really generally are "just a number". (There is even some funny German comedy based around students abusing that the professor does not know the name or face to each student ID, many such lectures happen in one of our many so-called Audimax halls) This might be confusing to an American audience but works due to most classes in Europe having no required attendance and the grade being almost wholly determined by one exam at the end. One exception is the small Austrian / German private college (University of Applied Sciences) which limits access much more to allow for small class sizes. These usually have much stricter entrance criteria by necessity but once you're in you generally get a much more personalized experience like I had in the USA. As with everything, ymmv.