Tricia
During freshman and sophomore year (taking General Education classes) you can be in classes up to 500 people, so obviously those professors won't know your name. As you get older or take more specialized classes, the classes get smaller and you usually end up taking a lot of classes with the same professors, so then you can build more personal relationships.
My favorite class was military science. It has nothing to do with my major, but we got to go outside and play around with compasses and my professor was hilarious. My least favorite class was Math 107 because I couldn't understand my teacher.
My freshman year no one studied or did work, and we all got bad grades, but I feel like thats how it is at a lot of schools. Being a junior now I study a lot, you have to as you get older because the work load just keeps growing.
In a lot of my classes you get credit for class participation.
You will often hear people talking about their classes while they are walking across the quad, there are also different clubs you can join about different topics.
In my major we aren't really competitive with each other, I'm not sure about other majors.
The most unique class I've taken is military science.
My major is Public Relations. It is a relatively new program here and is still trying to find its place here. We have some good professors and some not so good, but all of them really do want to help you and will usually go out of their way to try and help at least. Advising as a whole is kind of difficult to deal with here so you do have to find your own way sometimes.
Tim
Here is the best warning I can give any incoming freshman: PSY 113 with Professor Boatwright is like Chinese water torture. It's a 750 person lecture and just about every student at URI will end up taking it at some point. My advice: go to class or don't, but read the book like there's no tomorrow, because all the quizzes and tests are directly from it. Also, make friends there, it's boring so it's good to have help studying.
The professors in my major all know my name for one simple reason: I participate in class discussion. There is no better way to get in with a professor than to talk in class and answer questions, not to mention asking them. I know a lot of people are shy and this is hard, but it's really the best way to get ahead. Going to office hours is also good, it gives you a chance to be one-on-one with the professor, which they love.
Lindsay
If you are a non-science major who has to complete science credits at URI, take BIO 286 with professor Lebrun. The class is titled "Humans, Insects, and Disease" and it is one of the best classes I have taken at URI. I am a Political Science and English major so science is not my forte, but this class was wonderful.
Neil
The professors all know your name as you get into more concentrated classes within your major. Some general education electives the professors are phenomenal and seem to know all 500 students names in big lectures. My favorite class is the Ram Fund. We manage a real equity portfolio through endowed funds. We learn a lot and get real world experience. Students study a lot... the library is always filled with students. We have intellectual conversations outside of class all the time... whether it be about politics, wall street, or the latest happening around the world, URI students are in the loop. Students are competitive, that ram fund class is hand picked and people have to apply to be in it. Most unique class I have taken was speculative markets. Advanced derivative securities strategies allowed us to understand what it means to hedge and really eliminate risk. Professors go on group trips sometimes, but outside of class we really only see them at office hours. The academic requirements are good and only getting better. We raised the bar in the business school last year and now URI graduates will be that much better. Education at URI is amazing. We use active learning techniques and do not just sit through lectures. When we leave we have real world knowledge that will help us get jobs and we will be able to utilize that knowledge in our jobs.