<p>hey, i was just wondering what the average class sizes are for freshman classes in CAS. i'm going to be majoring in biology, and i've seen a few numbers saying class averages at NYU are around 20 students, but i was hoping someone had more specific numbers for freshman classes, as these often are much larger. also, does anyone have any opinions about studying biology and pre-med at NYU?</p>
<p>average is pretty meaningless... some classes are 12 people and some classes are 500 people, you'll get an average of like 30-40 probably, but it won't really mean anything. MAP classes are really big, whereas major classes, wte, etc are generally tiny. In the bigger classes freshmen year you'll have recitations with 10-15 people.</p>
<p>MAP? WTE? whatz that?</p>
<p>MAP = morse academic plan = freshmen year required liberal arts classes
WTE = writing the essay = hell</p>
<p>Why is writing the essay hell? I've heard so many people complain :( Do English majors or comparative literature majors complain about this class too?</p>
<p>LIES... at least the intro bio classes will probably have more like 70-100 kids in it (but you also have recitations which are smaller, 15-20 person classes led by a TA where you can get a little more personalized attention)</p>
<p>Writing the Essay sucks because the quality of teachers is very uneven and you have to write 5-15 pages a week, most of it BS. I had a mediocre experience with the all NYU WTE, then a much better one with my Stern WTE class - not because the material was any different or better, but because my teacher for the Stern WTE class was cool and let me write on any topic I wanted, so I was actually interested.</p>
<p>The class sizes really do have a large range. My Writing the Essay class has 12 kids, while my Chem lecture has about 250 (there are recitations which are led by TAs with like 20 kids).</p>
<p>Writing the Essay is hell for me because of the tons of writing we have to do with such vauge prompts and such.</p>
<p>Is WTE a hard A/easy B? Is there a curve? Or does grading vary with every teacher?</p>
<p>hard A/ Easy B is a good way to phrase it. Most people get B+/A-</p>
<p>I think grading is similar with most profs. From what I've heard, most students get Bs. If you are an awesome writer, then maybe B+/A-.</p>
<p>is anyone on here premed who might know the acceptance rate to med school from cas?</p>
<p>I had a question about MAP classes... can you choose when to take them? Or do you have to take certain ones freshman year, certain ones sophomore year, etc...</p>
<p>you can take them whenever.</p>