<p>What are some of the academic aspects of UVA that you feel is lacking? For example, a particular major that is not available, etc.</p>
<p>Please only give academic disadvantages Thank you.</p>
<p>In the past, I’ve heard complaints about the lack of a journalism major. However, I wouldn’t encourage anyone to study print journalism. </p>
<p>People have said that you cannot do a Spanish minor because of a shortage of Spanish professors.</p>
<p>Many other colleges rely upon part-time adjuncts, which UVa does not. However, that is a trade-off, because many of the intro classes taught by professors are very large. I’d personally like to see the U. hire some full time instructors with benefits to concentrate on teaching, and who would be chosen specifically for their teaching ability. They could shrink the size of the some of the absurdly large intro classes in the sciences, and offer more choices for classes where
1st year students are often turned away. They would carry a heavy teaching load, because there would have be no research expectations. </p>
<p>There are a couple hundred thousand highly qualified excellent college instructors out there who would love to teach at UVa. Many are starving and can’t afford health insurance. Instead, the U. will probably stick SOLELY to the traditional tenure-track research-emphasis professor system in new hiring. </p>
<p>A number of students with high GPAs are turned away from the Comm School. That selectivity increases the value of a Comm School degree, but it does limit choices for some students.</p>
<p>Some of the profs assigned to large intro classes are not the best. The 3000 level stats class that hundreds of students take each year has had a series of mediocre or worse professors.</p>
<p>Grad school oriented - bad in the sense that professors are more interested in researching than teaching, real-world classes are not offered or pegged as non-rigorous while theoretical classes are emphasized or only offered, etc. Again not always true but you asked for downsides. This is true of things like math/cs for sure.</p>
<p>Can’t move finals dates - one year I chose to go home for a week in between finals because you can’t move them around for that reason alone.</p>
<p>I didn’t really enjoy the mandated gen eds, though there are fewer at UVa than many other schools. I enjoyed them until about halfway into the semester, then I was ready for them to be over.</p>
<p>Cabell hall and its atrocious classrooms…</p>
<p>Language requirement is really troublesome. So is the math/science req for people that don’t like math/science.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it is still true, but back in the old days, I was easily able to meet the science requirement with a couple non-technical environmental science classes. I’m more concerned about the quality and size of the intro hard science classes, that many students need to take for their careers. </p>
<p>“new” Cabell Hall is scheduled for a massive renovation.</p>
<p>As a Government major, the main issue I have is the problem of getting into some of the classes I want. Many great professors have left/are leaving the UVA Politics department.</p>
<p>Yes, the first year students couldn’t take any Government or International Relations courses - they were all full before the first years had a chance to register.</p>