<p>Does the biology major seem overcrowded at Carleton? I think the website says something like 10% of the students major in bio. Does this correlate to larger class sizes than other subjects and perhaps harsher competition?</p>
<p>I know bio majors, and from what I've heard, yes--it does mean less personal attention and larger classes. Most (good) bio departments today are popular, so that doesn't surprise me. When you declare your major here, your academic adviser is assigned to you from your major department. The only complaint that I've heard is that they don't put as much time into that process in the bio department because if they did, there would be an uneven distribution of students per professor. Since bio is one of the most popular majors at Carleton, I wouldn't worry about the quality of classes as much as class availability.</p>
<p>Biology is not only very popular, it is THE most popular major on campus among current juniors (followed by econ). More like 14% of juniors have declared bio majors - this may be a record for the department. The 10% stat you quote is accurate for the last few graduation cohorts. Bio classes are, not surprisingly, more "crowded" than typical for Carleton. Still, intro courses this year had average enrollments in the high 50's, sophomore levels in the mid-upper 20's and upperclass courses in the low 20's. It's easy to get spoiled by small class sizes here.</p>