DePaul University Top Questions

There are many different options for classes. However, all of your classes do need to be taken seriously because the quarters move so fast! All of my professors are willing to help me, and they really want me to do well in their class. Classes are not too hard, but they do need to be taken seriously.

There are many different options for classes. However, all of your classes do need to be taken seriously because the quarters move so fast! All of my professors are willing to help me, and they really want me to do well in their class. Classes are not too hard, but they do need to be taken seriously.

DePaul University works on a quarter system. That means you have three sets of classes (sounds like tri-mesters right?) and one quarter of optional summer courses. Unless your behind or trying to get ahead, you don't really need the summer course load. My courses as an Honors English Literature student is heavily dependent on class readings, be it novels or printed/online exerts given to students by professors. Needless to say, with four English courses this coming quarter, I am planning on spending a lot of time in my big comfy chair with blankets and pillows galore. This is what I enjoy doing, reading, writing, talking about what I thought of said reading. For me its great, especially because I have made friendships with several of my professors. It makes discussions more interesting, as well as discussions after class less awkward as its not with a complete stranger. This student-teacher relationship, I feel is mostly due to the smaller class sizes, as well as the openness of professors to be approached. At DePaul, professors are always open to help and don't think its odd when someone asks for it, so there is no shame is having to. I took a statistics course, after having been out of math for four years. I didn't have the money to purchase the book, and told this to the professor, who worked with me and would put up the homework problems online so I didn't have to worry about missing assignments. He also worked with me on those problems that I did not understand, having had no review on the subject or any college level idea of statistics. I was so relieved to have his help, and to know that I was doing my work correctly. At the end of the course I had received an A- which I was extremely proud of. Luckily that course only lasted one quarter, which meant that it was over quickly, and let me move on to courses I was more excited about. Over all, classes can be as easy as hard as you want them to be. When you take a required course, it doesn't have to be the end of your life, in fact it only has to be about nine weeks of your life before it's gone.

For the most part, my classes at DePaul have been pretty interesting. Of course, there are those classes that we all have to take and wonder why, but I think that's part of the college experience. You develop a better perspective on things when you learn a little bit of everything I think. I recently had to take a nursing class for my liberal studies requirement and I hated it. But, I did leave the class with an A and know for sure that nursing is definitely NOT for me. So, I guess things tend to balance out. So far, my favorite classes have been my creative writing workshops. The students write stories, and read them aloud so that the class can give feedback on them. This is probably the most productive of my classes because you find out what people are really thinking of your work and what you've actually been doing for the class. It's not always easy to sit and listen to your own writing be critiqued, but it helps in the re-writing process!

I've taken classes on many different topics like Irish Literature, Latin American History, American Radicalism, American Youth Culture, Arabic literature, etc. I've learned about so many different cultures, disciplines and ways of approaching the world. Most professors I've had are incredibly invested because we are not a research institution. Most of them truly enjoy learning from us as well, which makes for a conversation-based learning experience rather than dry lectures.

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