<p>Would love to hear some insight from current or former undergraduates. This could make or break Chicago for me</p>
<p>I'm not a current student (attending next year) but Chicago has a 4:1 teacher ratio. From what I understand every professor has to teach - even the Nobel Prize winning ones.</p>
<p>My son is a first year - thus far (12 courses) professors have taught, and TA's handle discussion sections/labs.</p>
<p>Same here for my S. In fact one prof he had is a dean and two others in the sciences are world renown investigators, and all were fun as well.</p>
<p>I am auditing Intermediate Greek at the U. of C. now, and the prof is a winner of the U. of C.'s Quantrell Award for best undergraduate teaching. I think I am sitting in on a pretty damn good class.</p>
<p>I took Greek over the summer as well, and there were two advanced grad students in classics who led the computer lab drills and review sessions. They were both very competant and helpful. A terrific prof taught the course, and I am blessed to have had her as my teacher. She has ingrained in me not only forms and Greek syntax/sentence structure, but she has made my love for learning grow deeper (and my brain expand, I swear).</p>
<p>Depends on the course. Also depends on what you mean by profesor. Many classes have TAs that are grad students (in some cases undergrads), but some classes all have "profs" that are grad students.</p>
<p>In the very intro classes it is rarer to get an actual "prof" than a grad student teacher. This really depends on the classes though... a few examples:</p>
<p>Most of the early/mid level math courses at the school are taught by grad students / post-docs.</p>
<p>Most of the early chem/physics courses are taught by actual profs.</p>
<p>Courses in Econ/poli sci can be taught by either profs or Grad students.</p>
<p>Any insight into English courses?</p>
<p>Haven't take any english department specific courses here. The only things close I can offer are the core courses of HUM and SOSC. For Hum I had a real prof all three quarters. For Sosc, I've had grad students twice and a prof once.</p>
<p>Thank you. :)</p>
<p>4:1 ratio :)</p>
<p>Even the intro classes are taught by a real person (not a grad student or a ta, but a phd candidate or above). TA's in things like the early calc sequences are simply graders who dont even show up to the classes, you almost never see them. TA's in things like physics are Grad students who run discussion sections and labs but the course is still taught by a real prof. </p>
<p>My hum classes were all along the lines of a phd candidate teaching the course with a grad student/phd candidate working as the writing intern (I believe you have to do this for a while before you can teach hum classes). Many classes get you full tenured professors and I have never seen one actually taught by a TA</p>
<p>As far as I know, almost all classes that aren't core classes are taught by some variation of professor (assistant/associate/full depending on where they are on the tenure track). Occasionally a Ph.D. candidate will offer a class, usually in a pretty specific area of their interest.</p>
<p>Core seminar-type classes (Huma/Sosc/Civ) are taught by a mix of professors, teaching fellows, and Ph.D. candidates. This is by necessity (there are over 25 sections of some varieties of SOSC, for example). I've had all three variations. For HUM (Philosophical Perspectives), I had a Ph.D. candidate for two quarters, and the chair of the undergraduate Philosophy Department for one quarter. Other than the obvious age difference, I couldn't have told you which was which from the classes. For SOSC, I've had a teaching fellow (people with Ph.D.'s appointed to four-year fellowships during which they teach a lot, prior to embarking on their tenure-track career). It's been great. </p>
<p>The Intro Class for my major was taught by a two-time Quantrell Award winner (the undergrad teaching prize) who's been here since the '60s.</p>
<p>Basically, you're going to be taught by someone who either is already a professor or who will most likley be one in a few years (one benefit of the large number of post-graduate students here is that there is a surplus of people in the pool for undergraduate teaching jobs, from instructor to T.A.).</p>
<p>most courses are taught by faculty, but yes, some are taught by grad students or at least have a grad student ta to support/assist the professor. if you think grad students or ta's aren't good enough, you haven't met a uchicago phd candidate. and above all, most of these grad students and t.a.'s are really nice and helpful people to talk to so you don't bring all your questions, even your dumb ones, to senior faculty.</p>
<p>Dumb questions are all i have to live for.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider is that unlike many other schools, no graduate or PhD candidate at UofC is required to teach... if they do it, it is inherently because they are interested in it.</p>
<p>I've seen this question so many times...and I'm wondering between a prof. who hates teaching undergrads. (and consquently sucks at it) and a grad student who loves teaching and is good at it...
wouldn't you go with the grad?</p>