<p>can any current Trojans tell me how large class sizes actually are?</p>
<p>They're not that large. Only the GEs and lower-div classes are big. Even then, in some GEs, a lot of people won't show up for lecture, and the class feels smaller, even though you're in a big auditorium. I know in humanities departments, you can have classes with only 10-15 people, not only because the major is small, but because the classes are actually capped at that amount. Upper division courses for most majors are under 40-50, if not smaller. If you want to check for yourself, go to USC</a> Schedule of Classes: Select a Term and click on Spring 2008.</p>
<p>some big lectures can have classes up to 200 but with most if not all of these classes there are smaller discussion classes made up of about 20 people if not less.</p>
<p>What about class size at Viterbi Engineering? Does it make a difference which major you are at Viterbi?</p>
<p>class size at viterbi?</p>
<p>Some introductory classes are fairly large lectures with small discussion groups. Classes in Thornton are all limited. The ratio there is 6/1. In the School of Dramatic Arts, School of Public Policy and Thornton the freshmen class in those schools is slightly over 100. The Davis School of Gerontology also has classes with limited numbers of students.</p>
<p>The freshmen class at Viterbi is usually 400. I think there are 11 majors. Perhaps engineeringstudent will post and tell us the number in his classes.</p>
<p>Thanks Georgia Girl, I’ll happily address class sizes at Viterbi!</p>
<p>Engineering classes themselves tend to be on the small side, though larger than Thornton. Some can be less than 10 and the absolute largest probably caps out around 80, and usually they skew towards the 20-30 range.</p>
<p>I’ll share some personal experience to back that up:
- I had a class which was around 80- a sophomore year BME class that everyone takes together. Despite the “large” class size, the professor (one of our favorites :D) knew everyone’s name and drew participation during class.
- Right now I’m in a class with 10 people where we’re working in small teams on a design project. I have been in one or two other classes of this size.
- Most of my other classes average around 30 students, like my electrical engineering C++ class. Again, this might sound large, but we have an online discussion board where the professor responds to questions within a few hours and he leads a great, active class, with lots of participation from the students. This is pretty representative of my other classes, like BME senior design or medical imaging, which fall in this size range.</p>
<p>Of course, you’ll take general classes like Chemistry/Physics/Bio with non-engineers, and you’ll have the larger lecture halls as mentioned, but I’ve honestly felt the professors were still very approachable and helpful in office hours, and supplemental instruction is provided, which is basically a super helpful optional session with review sheets each week. I think I went to my physics professors office every week for course help and career advice.</p>
<p>I’m a biomedical engineer, and we are one of the larger majors in Viterbi. Other majors may have even smaller classes (and some may have slightly larger ones), but they all average to pretty similar ranges, and Viterbi definitely has a great small-school feeling (2200 undergrads is smaller than my high school) in the large university setting of USC.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Steve
Viterbi Class of 2013</p>
<p>Steve, about how many people were in your largest class? Any class, not just engineering. Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any “single” class larger than BISC 220 which currently has 319/314/158 people in 3 sections which is technically just split up cause there is no room to hold 800 people at once and to offer varying times (but grade/curve wise it is considered one “group” of people).</p>
<p><a href=“http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/[/url]”>http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/</a></p>
<p>My largest class was definitely BISC 220, as War Chant mentioned. It definitely didn’t feel that big and I was surprised by those numbers, so I looked it up out of curiosity and see the exact same numbers War Chant just listed so I guess it was probably around the same for me. Intro chemistry is second largest at ~200 people, and after that everything fell into the 80’s or lower I think. </p>
<p>Anyway, I never felt like the class size detracted from my experience in any way, since it’s just that large of a group for lecture. The professor was responsive to questions in and out of class, each lab section has 2 knowledgeable TA’s and around 20 students, and there is optional supplemental instruction which really helps. Not all the students ever take advantage of all the resources at the same time, so between the professor, the TA’s, and the SI leaders, I felt very well supported. You can also definitely get to know the professor well if you put in a little effort outside of class (just visit their office hours - they’ll love you for it!)</p>