I'm about to finish college and can't decide if the small company with less pay but good work environment is better than the corporation with better pay but more bureaucratic BS (or so I've heard). What does devRant prefer?

SOS

If you're good, big companies with big pay will always be there, even more so with a few years of experience. Try it, enjoy the culture and see if it's for you before you get sucked into the corporate black hole. Just don't stay for too long if you're eventually not growing.

This is your first of many jobs in your career. Which one will let you learn more, and help you be better and more employable later on?

Starting out environment is always better. Im lucky, company I work for is a nice balance of pay and good environment

I finished undergrad last summer and the better pay tempted me more because you are starting to build your savings and enjoying young social life. I am in a big company and I still learn a lot from senior engineers, there is a bunch of bureaucratic bs but that doesn't prevent me from learning new things on the job while getting a nice paycheck to go to nicer places for a vacation and so on

For me it all comes down to how much stress it is. I was a freelance for 4 years and eventually just stopped because it was too much hassle for me. Working as a lead Dev at a small company now and I'm far happier. Now I get to concentrate on coding for most of my day, not handling clients.
All depends on why you want out of life.

I feel you'll get more real-life experience in the big company. That is very valuable.

I would start with the best work environment possible. Makes everything much more enjoyable.

I am not driven by money personally so environment always more important to me.