<p>I just realized that besides what I know from tv shows and movies (which probably aren't the best examples to go by), I really don't know much about how college classes function. Sometimes they take place in large auditoriums, sometimes the professor seems really cool and then tries to steal your girlfriend (Boy Meets World...), sometimes the teachers are really scary and give you two hundred pages to read in one night, sometimes they dismiss class after five minutes...
I have no idea how true or untrue those examples are, but I would like to know. </p>
<p>Are they similar to AP classes- well, AP classes that are actually rigorous? The only one I had that felt any different from a regular honors high school class was AP US History, because our teacher felt the need to assign us two or three 30 page chapters to read each week with a multiple choice and essay test each Friday over those chapters. I'm just curious as to whether or not all my classes are going to be that intensive. Most of my classes are honors, so I'll mostly have small classes, so what are those like? And for the larger classes, how do those work out? Do the teachers actually take an interest in your life like they do in high school? Is it possible to ask questions during class?
I just have so many questions.</p>
<p>From the first paragraph, a lot of classes are indeed in large lecture halls, especially those that satisfy GE requirements, but majors-only courses tend to be smaller in size and held in smaller lecture rooms. And the ones about the professors are generally not true, especially not the dismissing class after 5 minutes one and the professor stealing your girlfriend one. The reading assignments one depends on your professors–none of my professors actually required any readings (I’m a science major), but one of my roommates, who was a Psych major, had classes where she had to read 30+ pages a week (but NOT 100+ pages).</p>
<p>I don’t know about other universities, but at UC Davis, professors actually do care. They hold office hours twice a week (sometimes even 3 times a week), and they will stay behind after class to answer any questions (provided another class isn’t coming in, in which case the professor will tell students to come by office hours). Many classes also come with discussions (science classes can have both discussions and labs), and those are broken down into smaller sections with around 15-20 students on average (sometimes smaller).</p>
<p>I think the answer for all of your questions is it depends. It depends on the class, on the professor, and on the school. It also depends on how rigorous your high school was and how prepared you are for college work. For many of the classes, it isn’t really about how hard the class is objectively, but how prepared you are for it. Some classes have a hundred pages of reading a week. One of my friends had to read an academic book a week. Some classes are entirely lecture based, and the textbook is a reference (if they have a textbook at all). Sometimes the page number won’t be very high, but they will all be academic articles. Some have problem sets that are due and some sets aren’t due. Some classes have lab reports, computer assignments, or papers. Some classes are just midterm and final.</p>
<p>Smaller classes may have a participation grade (or discussion sections may count as part of your grade in a larger class). Professors typically won’t be as close to you as high school teachers unless you make an active effort to get to know them and let them get to know you (or your class is small).</p>
<p>So it depends. But I think the general rule of thumb about college classes is that the professor isn’t going to hold your hand through the class. You are expected to do the work on your own, whether or not you are held accountable for it, and you are expected to keep up with the material or ask for help.</p>
<p>You can go see for yourself - there’s lots of college lectures uploaded to Youtube. Just search for “introduction to (insert subject here) lecture (number)” and you’ll find tons of examples. Similarly, you can search for “introduction to (subject) course website” on Google to see class syllabi and how the grading breakdowns work for various classes.</p>
<p>Many AP courses cover only about a semester’s worth of college course over a whole year in high school. Examples include calculus AB, statistics, environmental science, psychology, human geography. A few do cover a year of college course at the same pace as in college, such as calculus BC if your high school does not split calculus into two years after you complete precalculus.</p>
<p>Also, some colleges may not accept some AP courses for subject credit because they do not fully cover, or cover in enough depth, the material in the college’s courses on the same subject. Or the threshold for getting subject credit may be a score of 4 or 5, rather than a “passing” score of 3.</p>
I’ve had three lecture classes, I think. Over four semesters. Point is, most of my classes (at a large state school of over 30,000 students) have been in small classes of 25 people or less. Other friends of mine at the exact same school have had the exact opposite experience. It depends on your major. I’ve had some teacher assign outrageous amounts of reading and I had one professor one semester who literally let us out within 15 or 20 minutes of class starting and it was a class scheduled to last an hour and 15 minutes. The longest we ever had class was half an hour the entire semester and that was once.</p>
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Your classes likely won’t be anything like that. That’s a lot of busy work and busy work isn’t really given in college. The burden of studying and learning the material will be placed on you. If reading that much is what helps you, then great, but more than likely you’ll find other ways to learn the material. You also probably won’t be tested that much. The only classes I was tested that much in were French language courses, and even then it was still a smaller amount than what you’re talking about.</p>
<p>And yes, you’ll be able to ask questions during class… including in larger lecture classes. I’ve never taken a course where we couldn’t ask questions.</p>
<p>Smaller classes tend to me more discussion based and you’ll probably get to know your professor and fellow classmates fairly well, which is a treat imo.</p>
<p>College is very different than high school. While professors will be interested in you, they really don’t want to hear about your puppy or your fight with your parents or your boyfriend. They will be interested in your ideas and your academic and career goals.</p>
<p>Classes will be different as well. You will receive a syllabus for each class. it’s unlikely that professor will ever mention it again, but you are responsible for everything on it, without reminders. You will not be reminded of due dates, quizzes or exams.</p>
<p>Each professor runs his classes differently. Sometimes the lectures or discussions track with the assigned readings; sometimes they do not. Sometimes the lectures or discussions use the readings as a jumping off point. Sometimes the lectures offer contrasts or other theories to those in the readings. Sometimes they have nothing to do with the readings at all. It is assumed that you are in college, and that you can read–and if you don’t understand something in the readings, that you figure it out on your own or go to either the TA or the professor for help.</p>
<p>The workload can vary. My middle eastern studies son had tons of readings (several hundred pages a week) and spent hours in language labs and in the library writing papers. My political science son also had tons of reading and papers. My business major son had less reading but a lot more time spent on projects.</p>
<p>Another big difference–many time professors assign “homework” but don’t collect it or include it as part of a grade. You don’t have to do it–it’s up to you. But it could bite you come exam time if you aren’t fluent in completing the exercises covered in the homework assignments. Very few of my sons’ classes had regular quizzes or homework assignments that counted for grades of any significance ( for example, one of my son’s classes last year had 5% of the class grade determined from quizzes and assignments, 10% based on the quality of class participation, 20% on a midterm, 25% on a paper, and the rest on the final exam, which included coverage of papers submitted by all members of the class).</p>
<p>I’ve found this to be very untrue at my university. Most of my professors mention upcoming tests and due dates in class if at the very least to say “No questions will be answered after midnight” or to review over what is going to be covered on the exams. It’s not necessarily that they’re “hand-holding” or “babying” us, either. The semester is a long period of time and it can be easy for dates to slip up on you, whether you’re the professor or the student. On top of that, syllabi often change in classes, so the dates for a lot of things end up changing.</p>
<p>In my experience, this varies by professor, but the original comment brings up a good point that you are responsible for everything on the syllabus, regardless of if the professor ever talks about it. Most professors will mention that a test is coming up (usually like a week before or the class before), and they will often talk a little bit about what you should bring. But I’ve also had professors that had a paper due at the end of the course, and never mentioned it the entire quarter. It was in the syllabus, and we were still responsible but he never said a word about it during class. That may be the exception rather than the norm, but it’s good to note that you are responsible for all deadlines, whether the professor directly tells you about it or not.</p>
<p>1) Responsibility - Professors have a lot of expectations for you, but they do understand that you are human. These expectations are that you learn from your mistakes and don’t make them again, show maturity, and grow as person from their class.</p>
<p>2) Pace - College classes are only a semester long and maybe two or three classes a week. This means that you learn things very rapidly and quickly move on to other material. Accelerated courses are nightmares when it comes to pace!</p>
<p>@ IThinkICan: don’t forget that not all college classes are a semester long. Most of the UCs, with the exception of UC Berkeley and UC Merced, are on a quarter system, so they’re only 10 weeks long.</p>
<p>The only input I have (since I’m not in college) is on the AP vs college class part. AP classes have become an issue with colleges, and they have been gradually bumping up the scores required. 3 may be “passing” but nowadays many top colleges require 4s or 5s (I took 6 APs, my school only accepts 4 of the scores, and I got all 4s and 5s). So, college classes are packed into shorter time, and they’re generally covering even more info as evidenced by the increase in score required.</p>