Current students, Class size? TA taught classes?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
1

<p>UIUC is known to over-use TAs and teach a lot of large classes even for higher level classes.</p>

<p>I was wondering if any engineering students could post their schedules junior/senior year and tell me what their class sizes were and which classes/sections were taught by TAs and which were taught by actual professors. How many classes have specifically mentioned to not contact the professor because of the large number of students they teach? (I have seen most calculus classes at UIUC really stress not to contact the professors.)</p>

<p>Or if any students with first hand knowledge could talk about these subjects.</p>

2

<p>I’ve seen your threads over the last 4 months CC. You seem to think that UIUC is (1) a 30000+ student party school, (2) expensive, and now (3) large classes and “overuse” of TAs, and yet you keep on drifting back to it. Let me ask you this. Are you applying, or just trash-talking?</p>

<p>There is drinking at every school. If you don’t want to drink, you don’t have to. No one is going to force a beer down your throat. It is seemingly expensive for a state school, but the tuition is fixed, locked in for 4 years for incoming freshman, and it is much less than any OOS institution with the caliber of UIUCs nationally known, top 5, Engineering program. TAs are no more prevalent at UIUC than at any other institution of its size.</p>

<p>You throw around terms like “over-use” and “a lot” with your only attribution being to the nebulous “UIUC is known to” mantra. If it was anywhere near as bad as you seem to want to believe that it is, it wouldn’t manage to be ranked as among the best in the country for an engineering degree, both undergraduate and graduate. So, bottom line, either transfer or don’t, and if you’re smart enough and dedicated enough to get in, you’ll greatly benefit from such a prestigious degree. </p>

<p>Here’s some attributed statistics, not rumors for you to consider:</p>

<p>One of the top 10 public national universities – 2010 U.S. News and World Report College Guide
One of the top 50 national universities – 2010 U.S. News and World Report College Guide
One of the “Best Values in Public Colleges” – 2008 Kiplingers’s Personal Finance
One of the top colleges for top students – Peterson’s Competitive Colleges </p>

<p>The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked first among Big Ten schools on Smart Money magazine’s list for how quickly graduates earn back the cost of their tuition (January 2009).
Illinois was ranked #1 by PC Magazine and The Princeton Review in its “America’s Top Wired Colleges,” 2008 Edition.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was ranked 16th among undergraduate programs and 21st among graduate programs in the fifth annual ranking of the nation’s top entrepreneurship educational programs by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review (October 2007).
In 2007, Engineering at Illinois was ranked #3 in the “Top 100 World Universities in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences” by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
In May 2007, Small Times magazine ranked Illinois fourth worldwide for research and education in nanotechnology, the science of creating materials and tools at the atomic and molecular levels.
The 2006 Fiske Guide to Colleges named Illinois as a “Public University with Strong Preprofessional Programs” in Architecture, Business, Communications/Journalism, and Engineering.
Diverse magazine ranked Illinois in its 2006 Top 100 Degree Producers in several areas, including 19th in total minority Doctoral degrees in all disciplines, 28th in total minority Baccalaureate degrees in all disciplines, 9th in total minority Engineering Baccalaureate degrees, and 13th in total minority Biological and Biomedical Science Baccalaureate degrees. </p>

<p>Undergraduate Class Size (From the UIUC Common Dataset)<br>
In the table below, please use the following definitions to report information about the size of classes and class sections offered in the Fall 2008 term.<br>
Class Sections: A class section is an organized course offered for credit, identified by discipline and number, meeting at a stated time or times in a classroom or similar setting, and not a subsection such as a laboratory or discussion session. Undergraduate class sections are defined as any sections in which at least one degree-seeking undergraduate student is enrolled for credit. Exclude distance learning classes and noncredit classes and individual instruction such as dissertation or thesis research, music instruction, or one-to-one readings. Exclude students in independent study, co-operative programs, internships, foreign language taped tutor sessions, practicums, and all students in one-on-one classes. Each class section should be counted only once and should not be duplicated because of course catalog cross-listings.<br>
Class Subsections: A class subsection includes any subsection of a course, such as laboratory, recitation, and discussion subsections that are supplementary in nature and are scheduled to meet separately from the lecture portion of the course. Undergraduate subsections are defined as any subsections of courses in which degree-seeking undergraduate students enrolled for credit. As above, exclude noncredit classes and individual instruction such as dissertation or thesis research, music instruction, or one-to-one readings. Each class subsection should be counted only once and should not be duplicated because of cross-listings.<br>
Using the above definitions, please report for each of the following class-size intervals the number of class sections and class subsections offered in Fall 2008. For example, a lecture class with 800 students who met at another time in 40 separate labs with 20 students should be counted once in the “100+” column in the class section column and 40 times under the “20-29” column of the class subsections table. </p>

<p>Number of Class Sections with Undergraduates Enrolled </p>

<p>Undergraduate Class Size (provide numbers)<br>
CLASS SECTIONS 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 100+ Total
503 1008 1021 430 221 357 362 3902</p>

<p>CLASS SUB-SECTIONS 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 100+ Total
555 764 1132 483 151 54 16 3155</p>

3

<p>All large universities utilize TA’s, it’s purely a numbers thing (high enrollment, high course demand). Balthezar has done a good job of highlighting the pros of UIUC. Are there cons? Sure, not everyone is suited to large U’s. Some prefer the smaller class sizes and the more individualized attention of LAC’s. If you’re looking for that kind of college experience, any of the very good LAC’s might be a better choice for you.</p>

<p>I can understand your concern, but frankly, sometimes the TA’s are better teachers than the profs. Research the courses and their instructors to get a general impression of how those who have taken the courses feel about them.</p>

4

<p>The TA issue is not what you think it is at Illinois for engineering. Professors teach most engineering, science and math courses both lower and upper level. Labs attached to courses are usually TAs, and many of the courses have attached to them weekly small group quiz and review sections that are done by a TA. Large junior level classes exist only for courses that everyone (regardless of engineering major) has to take.</p>

5

<p>Balthezar, I have been to UIUC many times over the last 3 or 4 years. The party-school and large number of students isn’t something I need information on. I’m fine with the school in that respect. Its not perfect in location, size, or students but its not terrible.</p>

<p>I used the term ‘over-used’ because I came over a thread were UIUC was listed top as ‘over-used TAs in high-level classes’. So I thought I would get more info about the higher level classes at UIUC. I do feel almost every public school over-uses TAs. </p>

<p>The common data sheet and other USnews type info can be mis-leading and not give all the info.</p>

<p>I realize it is highly ranked. It has one of the best computer engineering programs out there. According to the lists.</p>

<p>I was wondering more about the higher-level math and engineering classes that people would be taking junior and senior year. I already know about their calculus classes and lots of freshman level classes. Beyond calculus math classes and other engineering or computer science focused course are what I was wondering about. </p>

<p>So I was wondering what Jr. and Sr. year look like for engineering students. Do most of their classes have TA sections attached to them? Do the math classes start to ‘thin out’ after calculus classes. Are you enrolled in any courses with 30 students that is professor taught?</p>

6

<p>“The common data sheet and other USnews type info can be mis-leading and not give all the info.”</p>

<p>The common data set contains facts. US News rankings have been disputed, but are widely recognized as generally accurate. College Confidential, on the other hand, is pure opinion, most of which is severely uninformed and often wrong. There are only a few sources from which you can get an informed answer, and Drusba is one of them. Since he’s weighed in, I think we’re done here.</p>

7

<p>i am an engineering student at UIUC.</p>

<p>i have only taken one class that wasn’t taught by a professor or full-time instructor. (ENGL 109)</p>

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</p>

<p>Only if there is a lab component. Otherwise, no.</p>

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<p>Yes. This semester I’m in a math course this semester with 7 people in it. I’m also in two other classes this semester that have fewer than 30 students.</p>

8

<p>Thanks Silence for clearing up the rampant rumors that TAs are “over-used”. But, I had asked in an earlier thread whether some TAs made already difficult to grasp subjects like advanced science or math even more difficult because of a difficult to understand accent. I was worried that would cause some people grief.</p>

9

<p>That worry too is overblown. It really isn’t hard to get used to someone’s accent when you are listening to him or her talk for 3+ hours a week.</p>

<p>I don’t understand the grief that other people have about foreign professors. My two most favorite lecturers in my subject were both born in other countries and have pretty heavy accents.</p>