<p>I was wondering how difficult English classes (and the major in general) are at Yale. How are the class sizes? Are they generally well taught? (I've heard horrible things about some science/math courses. Good thing I'm straying away from them for the most part!) How are the grades for these classes? Are professors particularly stingy about giving A's? </p>
<p>My major is tentatively Theater Studies, but I was hoping to possibly change/combine it with English. Any feedback would be much appreciated. </p>
<p>This might be better answered on the main Yale forum. This one is for ingoing Freshmen (class of 2013). Also what “horrible” things have you heard about math/sci classes at Yale? They have some of the biggest funded departments in the country and research opps abound for undergrads. Their grads fill many grad science programs and med schools.</p>
<p>My advice: worry about getting IN to Yale before worrying about what major. English and Theatre Studies are world renown departments (although Theatre requires approval after Sophomore year)</p>
<p>Sorry for not clarifying/ sounding quite immature. I’m actually a member of the class of 2013. I was just hoping to get more student insight on the English department. </p>
<p>And I apologize for my rash statement about the math and science courses. Perhaps it’s because I was only inquiring about the more basic level classes. For example, I’ve heard that Math 112, 115, and 120 are taught primarily by TAs who speak broken English and that students are basically on their own in teaching themselves the material. Some of my science-y friends there also complain about many of their intro level courses/ premed competition. </p>
<p>I chose this forum because I wanted to avoid all the “Chance me” type threads. lol. Do you think I would get more answers there though?</p>
<p>okee,
My D just declared English as her major. Since she’s a transfer and is also taking premed coursework, she hasn’t taken that many English courses yet. She has taken one of the very small writing workshops (about 10-15 students, I think), Daily Themes (about 40-50ish?) and one of the required lecture courses, I’m not sure of the size of this one. I know that she really liked the instructor for the workshop and is hoping to take another this year. She liked DT more some weeks than others and she had a pretty good TA (there’s another name for them, but I can’t remember what it is). She hasn’t said much about the teacher for the lecture course. </p>
<p>Grades are a really hard thing to address, although I can say that my D has been more vocal and concerned about the grading in her science classes than her English ones. However, that may have more to do with her interest/talent in English compared to science rather than how hard the grading is ;).</p>
<p>She did have some concerns about majoring in English since it’s one of the larger departments, but she hopes to get into the Writing concentration which would make it smaller. </p>
<p>If you’re sharp enough to get into Y, I’m sure you’ll do fine in English or any other field you choose!</p>
<p>You’ll be both surprised and intimidated by the quality of some kids’ writing as well as the amount of knowledge some already have. Class size, IMHO, is meaningless in most cases. College learning functions well with lecture. Discussion-oriented classes are an appropriate size at every school. I had kids in classes who made me feel very inadequate in terms of talent, preparation and ambition. Be prepared for that. BTW, you’ll find the same thing in theatre.*</p>
<p>A funny (to me) story. I had a romantic poetry class with a strange teacher who was up front about her prejudices. She hated Byron. She refused to countenance the idea that Blake was nuts. One kid needed 1 class to graduate after a year abroad. I am simply demented. So, I wrote a paper about Byron from the point of view of a idiotic Byron hater that made the satirical point that idiots don’t like Byron. He wrote a paper - in 4 languages - that argued Blake’s poetry was influenced by insanity. He got a D, which was all he needed. I got a B+, which in those ancient days was a solid grade. (His paper, btw, was really cool and mine was funny - Byron is wonderfully comic - with a nasty edge.)</p>
<p>*And that impressiveness does not necessarily mean a thing for later life. One of the best actors I knew in school became a teacher. The best writers … beats the heck out of me.</p>