<p>I did a forum search, but couldn't find anything. </p>
<p>Can some of the current and former NE students talk about class sizes (largest, smallest, average)? I assume it varies in the Honors Program classes? Were you distracted in large classes? (I've got an easily distracted son :)</p>
<p>Oh, and do most students take notes on a laptop, or by hand?</p>
<p>I’ll give it a go!</p>
<p>Last semester:
Globalization & International Affairs: Like 250 students. But it’s a life-changing course, so that was alright. And Prof. Horn does an awesome job of walking throughout the lecture hall and making sure everyone has a chance to participate.
Advanced Spanish 1: Less than 20 students, I’d say. I think they have a cap for foreign language courses.
Principles of Macroeconomics (HONORS): I’d say there were probs 50 kids in that class… which really surprised me for an honors course. Not sure how many were in the non-honors sections. But there was a great prof for that too, and the class was really what you made of it.
Inquiries into Science & Technology-- Global Climate Change (HONORS) : 20-something students. They’re good about capping the First Year Inquiries courses, I believe. It was really nice having that small class.</p>
<p>And then I also took two 1-credit courses, Connections and Decisions (for undeclared students-- this had less than 20 students) and Enhancing Honors (every other week, it’s half of the honors program in a lecture hall or a small break-out group of less than 20 students).</p>
<p>This semester:
Peoples and Cultures: I’m really not sure… definitely not as big as Globalization, but it’s in a lecture hall with a lot of students. But again, the prof knows how to handle it.<br>
Advanced Spanish 2: Same as Adv Spanish 1, I’d say.
Comparative Politics: Hmmmmm, 50ish? This class also has a recitation once a week, with 15-20 students that is completely discussion-based.
Interactive Mathematics: Probs 20-something. A lot of group work.</p>
<p>What major is your son looking into? I suppose my experience would be different for a non-IAF major. My roommate is a Civil Engineer and takes mostly honors classes, so her classes have been a lot smaller than mine, I believe. But in my experience, class size really varies. But some of my favorite courses so far have been the big ones (and I thought for sure I wouldn’t be able to handle classes with much more than 20 students).</p>
<p>Laptops are the most distracting thing. My Globalization prof wouldn’t allow them for that very reason, which made sense to me, so I haven’t brought mine to any classes (although mine is also kinda heavy and I don’t want to lug it around). In the big classes that have allowed laptops, all I see is Facebook screens everywhere I look. Globalization, Spanish, and Math have all been handwritten notes. Macro, Comp Pol, Peoples and Cultures, and Global Climate Change had probably about/more than half the class taking notes on their laptops.</p>
<p>Sorry for such a long-winded response… let me know if you have any more questions!</p>
<p>Wow, blinkangel44, thanks! So it seems like a real mix.<br>
(Also, thanks for offering to answer more questions.:))</p>
<p>My son was accepted into the honors program, and will be majoring in business. I think he’s a little nervous about the size of the school. It’s bigger than the other schools we’re looking at, and he’s coming from a small, suburban, close-knit, high school. I think the adjustment might be difficult, but it’s good to hear that some of the classes will be on the smaller-side. </p>
<p>His biggest concern is the campus - primarily the lack of open space. He’s pretty athletic, and is used to meeting his friends at the local park for pick-up basketball and football games. We’ve been to the NEU campus twice (fall and winter) and didn’t see anyone just hanging around outside. Is there an outdoor space, that we missed, where that might happen?</p>
<p>If you bring a car, and pay for semester parking, do you get a designated spot?</p>
<p>Do you know anything about the Civic Engagement Program? I’m wondering what some of the projects are and what the actual time commitment is?</p>
<p>By the way, I cannot thank you enough for posting on these boards. I’ve done a ton of reading, and it’s been so helpful to have input from you, Emily2007, neuchimie, RedSox2007 and the other CC veterans.</p>
<p>Freshman year: </p>
<p>Calc 2 HONORS: 20
Comparative Cultures HONORS: 40
Engineering Design HONORS: 25
Chemistry HONORS: 40
Calc 3 HONORS: 25
Engineering Computations HONORS: 30
Physics: >100
College Writing: 19</p>
<p>Sophomore Year
Differential Equations: 50
Physics 2: 150
Organic Chemistry I> 200
ChemE Class: 40
Thermodynamics: 40
Transport: 40
Organic Chemistry 2: 35
Advanced Writing: 20</p>
<p>Middler Year
Thermo II: 30
Transport II: 30
Honors Seminar: 12
Genetics: 200</p>
<p>Thanks, RedSox2007. I really appreciate your reply, and all your other contributions to the NE threads as well. You guys have no idea what a huge help it is!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There isn’t really a big green space on campus, just a few spread out, smaller areas. But in the spring and summer (definitely not in the fall/winter, too cold), people are always out playing frisbee/football, reading, having lunch, etc. There’s also the Fens which is really nice in the daytime once it gets warm. Everyone is out when it’s warm, especially on the first really nice days of spring, but things quiet down a lot in the fall.</p>
<p>
Unless there’s a real reason for needing a car, I’d never want to deal with it. I forget how much parking costs exactly, but I know people who have paid around $200/month. Some people need cars for co-op, but most of them ditch once they’re back in classes. It’s expensive, driving here sucks, parking sucks, and public transportation is cheap & easy.</p>
<p>And ditto on class sizes, some are huge and some are really small. Big lecture classes sound more scary than they are… they usually only give huge classes to professors who can handle it (Globalization, Jazz, Sociology… all the biggest classes at the school but also the ones people love the most)</p>
<p>You get a 50% parking discount if you’re on coop. It works out to be $90/month to park on campus if you’re on coop. Like Emily said, if you were to come yesterday or today, you would have no idea the campus was in the middle of a city. People are always outside as soon as the weather gets above 50F. Also like Emily said, there are a lot of small green areas to play sports in. There are a lot of unexplored areas of campus too that people don’t pick up on in the warmer months like behind certain buildings. So if we want to be social and just hang out, we’ll go to the student packed quad. If we want to play football or catch, we’ll go to a more discrete, but green nonetheless, location.</p>
<p>I also came from a small, close knit high school. It was a private school with about 14 people/class. Northeastern was the only large school I applied to and ended up coming here. It really is a great experience to live in the city especially coming from a small high school. Even the big classes aren’t bad. It’s not like you can’t ask questions in a large lecture and professors are usually pretty good about office hours so you can go talk to them one on one. Even in my large classes (orgo, physics), the professors knew me personally because I would go talk to them during office hours.</p>
<p>Looks like the real CC vets answered your questions :)</p>
<p>I don’t really know anything about the Civic Engagement program, sorry. But I have enjoyed the community service that I’ve participated while here at NU!</p>
<p>And I think the honors program could be described as close-knit. The honors kids arrive on campus early for Welcome Week and they all live in IV, and a lot take the same honors courses. But then you still get to be in classes with non-honors, so I think it’s the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Just about to graduate so have had the real mix of class sizes ranging from 7 to 75. Poli Sci Intro classes were the biggest at 75, but they break into smaller classes once a week, about 15-20 kids. After that you have mid level courses with between 20 and 40. And then advanced classes with 25 or less. I feel like if you are signing up for a class that is over 75 people and not an intro class for your major, its worthless unless you are just trying to get an A and satisfy credits. When you sign up for classes you can see how many kids are signed up and what the cap of the class is. If you know you do well in a small class, you can easily plan your schedule accordingly. Also the university really makes the language and english classes small. Those are examples of classes where its essential to be small enough to work with the teacher and peers without in being out of control. I think its significant that the university knows this and works to break it up really well. My smallest classes were advanced Arabic classes and classes taught by visiting professors (Evolution of Modern Israel, Jewish Arab Relations)</p>
<p>I’m in honors and my class sizes have never been particularly large. The most I’ve ever had in a class has been 50ish. I just got back on campus from co-op, but here are my class sizes this semester.</p>
<p>Corporate Finance (at 8am): 15
Modern China: 40
Middler Writing: 12
Investments: 35</p>
<p>Never have I felt like I wouldn’t be able to communicate with my professor or have troubles due to a large class size.</p>
<p>my sophomore classes are too large but i never had a class with less than 30.
These are my classes this semester.
calc1-49(8am surprised everyone comes)
Japanese literature and culture-32
Intermediate micro-53
intermediate macro-54
Not everyone carries laptops to class since some teachers don’t allow it or it is not needed. It depends on the class or the teacher if he/she has a lot of notes. Personally, i don’t carry it because i get easily distracted.</p>
<p>Are you sure it was 53 and 54? Are you counting TAs that were included on the roster? Because they capped my micro theory class at 49 and were VERY strict about it. So I don’t see why they’d let in a few more in yours (but I may be wrong obviously).</p>
<p>Most of the classes that are “small” are 19 and a lot of “medium” classes are capped at 49. It’s because in the US News ranking system, they consider the percentage of classes with less than 20 students and the percentage with less than 50.</p>
<p>classes were over filled this semester due to so many econ majors. my micro theory class had to request a bigger room because people were sitting on the floor. Some students were transfers so they gave them a place.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for the responses. </p>
<hr>
<p>…NEU insider said: “Never have I felt like I wouldn’t be able to communicate with my professor or have troubles due to a large class size.”…</p>
<p>That’s very reassuring.</p>
<hr>
<p>@JumpStart, freshmen are not allowed to have overnight parking passes. So your son would need to wait until sophomore year to bring his car. Really, it’s not worth it unless you live further from campus or if you need it for co-op. Other than that, walking and the T will get you anywhere you need to go. It’s kind of a hassle to have a car, pay for gas, pay for tolls to go ANYWHERE, pay for parking all around the city, and traffic.</p>
<p>You do not have a designated spot. However, my boyfriend has a parking pass (he lives off-campus) and he says he never has a problem finding a spot.</p>
<p>RoyalRooter…Thanks for that info. Good to know about freshmen not being able to get the overnight pass. (My son doesn’t even have a car, but he’s been saving for one, so it looks like he can just continue to save. :))</p>
<p>Having a car in Boston, unless you are doing coop in the suburbs is insane:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Boston Driver’s Handbook: Wild in the Streets–The Almost Post Big Dig Edition (9780306813269): Ira Gershkoff, Richard Trachtman: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Boston-Drivers-Handbook-Streets-Almost/dp/0306813262/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268364404&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Boston-Drivers-Handbook-Streets-Almost/dp/0306813262/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268364404&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>Ha ha…thanks for the link. I’ve driven up in Boston many times, and I agree, but a boy can dream, right?</p>