big class at UCLA

<p>It was said that UCLA recruits more students these years and many classes have more than 100 students and are taught by Grads rather than professors. is that true or not?</p>

<p>I’ve had classes with over 500-600 students, and that was 5 years ago… I can only imagine it could be bigger now. (But auditorium size limits could cap it at 600, depending on the auditorium.)</p>

<p>Most sections are taught by grads and I know a couple rare instances where grads teach the actual class. It doesn’t make a real different in my opinion. Being a professor/doctor doesn’t make someone a better teacher and most of the time, the more distinguished professors could care less about the lower div classes so they aren’t great teachers either. </p>

<p>Your bigger concern about class size should be getting into all the classes you need.</p>

<p>I’m not entirely sure about UCLA, but I know people who go to other UCs (UCSD, UCSB, UCI) and they have to face similar problems. Yes, it is very likely that your general Ed. classes will be huge and the hardest to get (this is when good scores on AP tests might help you out a bit as you can skip some classes). Sometimes the actual professor teaches the big class and the class splits into smaller groups with a grad TA per group. I’ve never actually heard of a grad student teaching the actual class. Also, most professors are required to have office hours for students who have questions. Even if you aren’t really struggling in the class, definitely take advantage of these; this is an opportunity to stand out in a large class and actually get to know your professor. Hopefully this helps :).</p>

<p>Instructors or professors (i.e. doctorates) teach the lectures.</p>

<p>Graduate students hold the discussion sections/recitations.</p>

<p>Graduate students supervise chemistry labs.</p>

<p>On rare occasions the lecture may be taught by a graduate student (e.g. summer course in Applied Linguistics).</p>

<p>On some occasions the lab classes are taught by postdoctoral scholars (e.g. doctorates supervising Life Science labs).</p>

<p>On some occasions postdoctoral fellows will substitute lectures when professors are away for seminars.</p>