University of Connecticut Top Questions

Some classes are huge, others are not that big. If you get to know your professors, they can be able to help you in the long run. The classes are challenging, but all you need to do is to find the best way to study. The nursing program is very competitive here. If you get into the nursing school, consider yourself lucky.

Whether or not the professor knows your name depends on the class and the nature of the professor him- or herself. A lot of the Gen-Eds are huge and there's just no hope for the professor to know your name unless you really try hard. In smaller classes, though, your odds increase quite a bunch. Oh, and for some weird reason there aren't any lecture halls in the math part of MSB, so as far as I know, each math class is taught in a regular classroom with about 25 students or less (unless the professor over-enrolls) -- no huge lecture hall. I really liked that. Some professors try to get the students to participate, and others don't; in that respect, it's like high school. As a chemical engineering major, I'm destined for a mountain of work, and higher-level Cheg courses (junior and senior year) are only tought by one or two people, a few of whom I've already had, and one of whom is my academic advisor. I realize that it's going to be a ton of work to complete a chemical engineering degree, but the amazing thing is that even with a carefully structured plan of studies and a relatively full schedule, I still have anough "wiggle room" in that plan to acquire two minors as well: one in chemistry and one in environmental engineering. Also, it's important to note that the "ease" of majors at the school varies greatly. Business catches some heat in the Instant Daily part of the Daily Campus for being one of the easiest majors, but getting into the School of Pharmacy is supposed to be one of the hardest things on campus.

In high school, classes are pretty much self-explanitory. If you're taking English, you're going to learn about Shakespeare. If you're taking math, you're going to have to find x. But at UConn, the area that a class falls under doesn't even come close to revealing how much ground you'll cover in one brief semester. I've had some of the most intense political debates in my Spanish class and have written some of the most philisophical essays for my English class. Here, knowledge has a neat way of melding together.

Social sciences department gets no funding and is completely ignored at the University. If you're doing business, you'll do extremely well!

None of my professors know my name. I usually am always encouraged to talk to TA's when I need help or have a problem and most of the time the TA's are not knowledgeable on the material because its not their expertise. Its hard to get into classes you need for your major and they don't offer the variety you might like. The acedemic requirements are a bit aggrivating and don't really allow students to pursue what they want/are good at. Students are not competitive and I don't think professors encourage it at all. Its very easy to get by on the bare minumum amount of work.

At UConn, you experience a wide variety of interaction with students/professors. Last semester I was in an English class that was held for an hour and a half in a small classroom where the average number of students present was 15. My professor knew my name (and in fact, everyones!) and engaged with all the students as best he could (especially if you were reluctant to speak up). This semester most of my classes are huge lecture halls and then small sections for discussion. I don't get to interact with my professors directly except for in one class, but there's always the option of going to their office hours and talking to them them. The class I'm in now, The Historian's Craft, required of all history majors the semester after they declare, is a small, roughly 20 student, class where once again, the professor knows everyone's names and interacts with them. Participation in class can be common, depending on if you get a good group. If you get a bunch of nervous people or ones that don't do the readings/homeworks then the class is going to be really boring, if you get a group of people who are interested in what the class is about and do the readings, the discussion and interaction will be the sole reason that you'd want to get to class, to see what your classmates thought of the readings and if you thought the same things. The most Unique class I've taken was a class called "Modern Revolutions" Which is kind of a misnomer, because we learned about revolutions as far back as the French revolution in the 18th century. The class was roughly 70 students and the one professor. She made it her job to know all of our names (handing out masking tape and a marker the first few weeks to aid her in remembering) and to engage the class. This was a three hour, once a week class that was never truly painful to sit through, because we didn't just listen to Phoebe (or Professor Godfrey if you wanted to get formal) talk about the revolution, but the people who weren't talked about, what ways some of the things that were happening now were similar to things going on in the past. She always encouraged debate and discussion amongst the class. Nothing would have pleased her more than to sit and moderate a class debate over points of a revolution or a certain political goings on in the present, than to stand and write facts on the board about that revolution. It was a really fun really interesting class and I always looked forward to Mondays that semester.

very hard to get to know/be known by professors since classes are so large. they say the average class size is a low number but that's only because they include discussion and english classes. (it's misleading)

The classes range from small classes where everyone knows everyone, including the teacher, to 200 students and no one knowing if you went to class or not. Its nice, though, you dont always skip, but for the times you cant get out of bed, its not a big deal. At least we dont have to ask permission to go to the bathroom like some other CT colleges. Classes go smoother when you have someone you can make friends with. It pretty tough to do it alone.

The programs they off are really good and getting into them can be competitive. I only know my professors name in smaller classes of about 20 or in the discussion sections. I don't know the names of my lecture teachers (unless they are really good and I enjoy the class).

Classes are real big but thats only through your required general education courses. Once you start taking classes in your major the environment and classes get smaller. You'll get to know your professors and classmates really well.