University of Connecticut Top Questions

Sometimes it is difficult attending uconn out of a highschool setting because the classes are so much larger! However you get used to it and it really teaches you how to be responsible for yourself.

I'm enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources as a Natural Resources Management and Engineering major. My friends and I do discuss classroom topics out of class because we find it to be an interesting subject (even some of us who aren't in NRME). But then again, who isn't concerned about the environment these days? This past semester was my first at UConn and as a transfer I had a later registration date that most of the university. I took five three-credit classes. They were all pretty interesting and my professors all enthusiastic about their subjects. I'll admit, though, that they were all pretty easy and that I haven't taken any challenging classes yet. I've heard that chemistry classes are pretty hard and some advice about that to students who aren't in engineering or pharmacy: if you need chemistry, take it in the spring. In the fall, they make it harder to weed out students form those programs.

Professors do not know or care about students' names. Grad student teachers do, however. Students are not very competitive.

I was very fortunate because most of my classes weren't huge, even though I did have one 100+ class and another 350+ class. Students are constantly in the library, but there are a good bit of slackers. Class participation depends on the size of the class. UConn's academic requirements are good.

A lot of classes are large lectures, so the professor won't know you unless you go to his office hours. However, a lot of professors in classes of about 30-35 people or smaller usually do make the effort to try to get to know their students. Expect a workload - especially in the school of education. I hear the school of business isn't all that difficult once you're in, though. The nice thing about UConn is that it's so highly accredited, so many jobs will take you into account, especially from the schools of education, business, and probably pharmacy. It's a research university, so expect some professors to assign their own work as well. And one cool thing that a lot of people take for granted is that many times, professors will be able to have experts in the field come to speak to the class. Skipping guest lectures is not advised - a lot of times, you may receive bonus points for attending, and skipping tends to make professors angry. Once, my entire 125 person lecture got an angry email from a professor because only about 1/3 of the class showed for a guest lecture.

Class participation varies from class to class, the students in the school of ed are sickly competitive to the point of being catty but otherwise everyone helps eachother out. No time spent with professors outside of class

At the regional campus the professors know your name, otherwise in a big class with anywhere from 300-60 some professors would obviously have the study more then the students just to know every name. people are always in the library studying and during finals week at storrs the library is open 24 hours and quiet hours are reinforced. in some classes class participation varies. when a professor asks a question openly to the class there is always that one student that answers it. Think of Hermione in Harry Potter, and it gets annoying. I'm not saying not to participate and if it is in a philosophy class your opinion is obviously wanted. if you know your major, thats great but if not, don't take ALL your Gen. Eds. at the same time, because in your junior and senior year you will be wishing to take those easy classes.

Academics at UConn are diverse. There are so many majors to choose from and different schools and departments that one can take classes in virtually anything that interests them. As a science major, I have experienced some of the most difficult "weeding out" classes for freshmen. For a science major, the requirements are difficult, but not impossible. Class sizes vary. As we go to a large school, large lectures make up a majority of classes. However, small discussions which are taken concurrently with lectures consist of intimate settings in which students may ask questions and discuss material covered during lecture.

classes are too huge, no real learning just memorizing. impossible to form relations with professors. most are rude new englanders anyway

UConn is the #1 public university in New England, and our academics are reasonably tough, for a public school. There are some huge classes in popular Intro courses, up to like 300 in a section, but complementary lab or discussion sections can make those a little more comprehensive than just taking notes in a lecture. Once you get into upper-level courses, the classes get much smaller. All the professors I know are very intelligent and pretty good at teaching, and the TA's are okay for the most part. Some of them don't speak english well. Certain niches of people discuss academics outside class, but for the most part the work ethic of UConn doesn't match that of tougher colleges.