University of Delaware Top Questions

I am in the honors program, and it is a competitive program offering fantastic academic resources and rigorous classes.

Many of the classes I have are large lectures and the professor does not know your name, but there are the ocassional few classes that the professor makes an effort to know who you are. However, for the most part, the students are on their own to take the initiative to do well. Office hours are offered but many times they are inconvenient or not helpful. Some students work hard towards doing well in class while others tend to slack off and skip class. On exam days though, the class is usally the most full because everyone comes to class. There are many resources to help with academics as long as students are willing to look for help if they need it.

Academics at the University of Delaware are rigorous, but as at most other schools, time management is the key to success. By doing so you should not have a hard time with work here as long as you put in the effort. I personally am a double major in Econ & Finance and have great relationships with all of my teachers regardless of the class sizes.

I've never met a class I didn't like, or a class that was overwhelmingly challenging. Professors by no means want to hang out with you outside of class and most classes are pretty big (I'd say the average is about 65 students). There are TAs for big classes, but I've never heard of this being an issue. Although it's a big school and there aren't many personal relationships between students and professors, I've had a lot of professors who were enthusiastic about writing letters of recommendation and frequently reminding us that they were there to help us with our future careers. General classes tend to be dull and a bit discouraging for the intellectually curious, but once you get into higher classes or further into your major (sophomore or junior year) students are a lot more engaged in class discussion. No one is looked down on for being a "nerd" if they study a lot. Academically, UD varies a lot by professor; I've had professors who turn a huge lecture into a roundtable discussion and others who have a 30 student class and blandly read off of powerpoint slides.

What you get out of academics at UD is completely up to you. If you really want to learn and do well, you will. If you want your professors to know your name, they will. If you want to make friends who love politics as much as you do, you will. Because the school is so diverse in its population, what you gain academically, and in all other aspects of your experience at UD, is up to you.

If you want a professor to know your name you can make it happen. First year students will find themselves in a class with 300 students so unless you go constantly to the teachers office hours the teacher will never know who you are. My favorite class was computer science for engineers and my least favorite class was chemistry103. I did much better in chemistry but my teacher made computer science much more interesting to learn. Students study according to their major. Im an engineer so I study everyday for a couple of hours at least. In general students take there grades very seriously. Students are not competitive between each other but they aren't between each other willing to help one another. The most unique class has been computer science. Its learning a new language but in a completely different aspect. Im a civil engineer. My advisor is really helpful as well as the department as a whole. They are there to help you get through every class, they do try and get you the degree you want. People do get weeded out though. I have gone to several of my teachers office hours for extra help. They love helping, its there job. They will never turn you away, but instead encourage you to go regardless of your understanding of the material. The school has requirements that force you to learn things outside of your major. I think its great so you can have a greater global education than only from one specific school such as the engineering school. The education is definitely geared towards being able to get out in the real world and get a job. There are constant internship opportunities for anyone that is interested. Opportunities to build up your resume are there for anyone who wants to take advantage of the schools resources.

Here at UD throughout your academic career, you will go through a variety of class sizes. The general 101 classes tend to have upwards of 150 students and in those cases, it is very uncommon for a professor to know your name. On the other hand, as you start taking your major classes, the class size becomes smaller and professors do learn your name in those instances. Even in big classes though, class participation is welcome and expected. The professors want an interactive learning environment and in truth, it makes the class more fun. The professors are more than willing to offer help to students and have office hours frequently for extra help. The education at this school is definitely geared towards learning for its own sake rather than specifically towards gearing for a career field. The professors are passionate about their subjects and inspire passion in their students as well. My favorite class was MUSC101 because my professor was so quirky and interesting. He really made the material enjoyable and I laughed every class!

The school is very strong in the sciences. I meet a lot of engineering and majors. Psychology and business are also pretty popular. If you take a smaller class, you're professor will know your name, especially if you participate. In most classes, if you put in the effort, you'll have a better relationship with your professor. My favorite classes so far have been my communication classes, which is my major. I loved Theories in Mass Communication. It was a very large lecture - about 200. The professor was really engaging and interesting, and very helpful in office hours. I took an honors English class which focused on Southern Crimes. I wrote my research paper about how barbershops were cultural gathering places in the 1800s. It was a small class that involved a lot of participation. My professor was helpful in office hours and my writing definitely improved. I don't think our campus is very academic in the sense that students don't have a lot of intellectual conversation outside of class. We're all very concerned with our grades and managing our work and extracurriculars. I do think people are very concerned about resumes and their future jobs, more than just learning for the sake of learning. Especially because in the first year/year and a half many students are taking breadth requirement classes they don't care about. I think students are competitive depending on the major, but I don't feel a strong sense of competition on campus. Even engineers, who are in a competitive field, often do their work together.

The academics at Delaware are very good. The teachers are very reasonable and easily approachable. Most of the classes have a good amount of students however it depends on your major and what classes you take. The competitiveness at Delaware drives students to do well in school. Everyone is trying to do better than their friends. The library is always busy and people are always studying.

Academics are moderately competitive but it really depends on the major. Obviously communications and English are a joke, but chemical/biomedical engineering will kill you. A lot of people say all business majors are a piece of cake, but those are mostly former engineers who dropped out of their original major.