<p>Are professors easily accessible at UVA? How are the class sizes? Also, would a double-major in, say, English and public policy be pretty doable? Thanks :)</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/464200-tell-me-about-uva.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/464200-tell-me-about-uva.html</a> press ctrl+f and search for "office hours" that should do you.</p>
<p>most double majors are doable. even some impossible ones ppl end up doing (one in the eschool and college, etc).</p>
<p>thanks hazelorb for the link....but seriously, 150 views and no one else has anything to say? are the profs really that intimidating?! ;)</p>
<p>I see that vco8 and learnmestuff are both from ca. where and do you want to go to any schools out west? just curious.</p>
<p>Hah! I guess you all didn't know that Spring break for UVA was last week and that's why not many students are responding. But I'm back to reality now, so long exotic vacation.......
The professors I've had, have been great!! The introductory classes, are large. I'm taking the intro level science courses and these classes are in the range of 300 students, maybe even 350? But my English and seminar classes have 15 students each. The large science classes do have "recitations" where either the professor or TA's meet to review issues. Also there are office hours for the professors. Though my Biology class was large, my professor knew me on a first name basis, responded to questions by e-mail (as do TA's). I'm a fairly serious student, and I sit up front, ask questions. I guess if one wants to be anonymous, that's possible too; I just didn't want to be, and I enjoy having a good professor with whom to have a scholarly interaction. These kind of basic courses will, for the most part, be fairly large anywhere (IMO)--unless one goes to a liberal arts school.
So, to answer the original question, professors are so accessible, kind, and interactive. UVA is very conducive to this original Jeffersonian plan. Once one progresses beyond the introductory level in the major courses (i.e.>Biology or Chemistry), classes get smaller. Popular courses like Sabato's political science or Elzingas (sp?) economics remain in the 200 student class size, but people love them! I have not personally taken these courses yet, but hope to some day!
"Intimidating">>never!</p>
<p>sweet, that pretty much answered my Q. thanks for all the input ;)</p>
<p>just a minor/trivial correction, Dr.Elzinga's intro econ class has about 500 people in each session. But there are smaller discussion section with TAs and IMO both TAs and Dr.Elzinga are pretty accessible through email and office hours.
Agreeing with what powderpuff has to say, a great deal of interaction also depends on the initiative that students show in interacting with professors. Most of the classes I have been in are large and one of the best way I've gotten to know professors is to ask a question about the lecture after class and sometimes even about advise in the general field of study. To what extent that works for different people, depends, I guess but - coming back to OPs question, the answer is: yes, for the most part.</p>
<p>Thanks for correcting me tweety. I didn't know that Elzinga's class was so big, but I still hope to take it someday.</p>
<p>Also, a reason why some classes are so large is because their professors are so popular. For example, during Thanksgiving Break, Mr. Elzinga always invites his students who can't go home for Thanksgiving to come over to his house - we're talking 100+ students here. Plus, Sabato's Intro Government Class is pretty cool because he has real politicians come speak and sometimes teach the class. </p>
<p>According to this [url=<a href="http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2008/02/07/clinton-to-lecture-sabatos-class-monday/%5Darticle%5B/url">http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2008/02/07/clinton-to-lecture-sabatos-class-monday/]article[/url</a>]...</p>
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[quote]
“This class has had Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan in addition to over 100 senators, governors, and cabinet officers, and this will be another wonderful opportunity for the students to learn directly from someone very important.”
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</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with my D (3rd year-McIntire). She had been out to lunch with one of her business professors and she wanted to clue me in on some of his advice re: this summer and her career direction. I asked her about OP's question re: prof accessibility. She laughed. If you want their help and seek interaction...well, she says sometimes it can almost be "annoying" how accessible they are. In my opinion, the interaction/help/advice that she has received from her profs at UVa has been the single most impressive aspect of the school. Numerous invites to homes for dinners, BBQs, lunches, consistent email communication......all above and beyond simply having an open door for every day matters. I truly didn't think it could be this good....especially at a "large" school. I hope she appreciates these blessings--I'm not sure she even understands how exceptional her experience has been. The interview and internship process since X-mas has also been overwhelmingly positive. Now I understand what Cav. and Globalist mean about UVa being connected.......didn't quite believe it before now. Keep the grades up!</p>
<p>^^^Thanks, that's really, really great to hear :)</p>
<p>Also, I noticed you're from NorCal, what area? I'm from San Diego...</p>
<p>Powderpuff:</p>
<p>My son took Mr. Elzinga's Econ class last semester and really enjoyed it. Like you, he is taking two science courses (Biology and Chemistry). He found the Economics course to be a nice "change of pace" from the science lectures and labs. As Globalist said, in additional to being a good professor Mr. Elzinga genuinely cares about his students. If you have a chance to take his class, I suggest you go for it. (It also meets one of the two Social Sciences Area Requirements if you need to punch that ticket.)</p>
<p>Last semester my son had three large (340/495/500) lecture classes, but he found all three professors to be personable and very approachable. He spoke with each of them after class, and also utilized their office hours as needed. It was a blessing to have, at a large school like UVa, helpful and encouraging professors like Mr. Kittleson, Mr. Harman and Mr. Elzinga.</p>
<p>In addition to his large intro science lectures, my son has also enjoyed the ENWR and USEM courses he is taking this semester, and he has found these professors friendly and very easy to get to know as well.</p>
<p>Bottom line for the OP -- if you're an interested student, and make an effort to reach out to your professors at UVa, you'll likely find many of them to be accessible and helpful, regardless of the class size.</p>
<p>I will echo everything that's been said here. My D had the same experiences with her professors, and also really enjoyed some of the most popular classes even though they were large. One of her professors, Julian Bond, even made it possible for her to get tickets and attend the NAACP sponsored (he's a board member) Image Awards one year after she expressed an interest. Sabato helped her meet some key people around the state for a project she was working on, etc. Her other professors were similarly accessible and I don't recall any complaints about class sizes. </p>
<p>I guess that sounds a little like name dropping, but it's not intended to come off that way. I'm just making the point that the professors, no matter how busy or popular, seemed to make time for interested students. It was not the kind of impersonal experience that might be anticipated at a large public university.</p>
<p>^^^
Hi vc08!
We've lived in the Bay area for the past 10 years, though lived in suburbs of L.A. for many years prior to that. Grew up in Seattle. I'm one of those west coast people that grew up thinking it was only the Pac-10.. and whatever school happened to be unfortunate enough to be playing us in the Rose Bowl...(yes, even U Mich!) Sending one of our kids to a school so far away and with such a different "culture" and mindset has been as eye-opening for us (parents) as it has been for D. It almost makes OOS tuition worth it....yeah, it's definitely been worth it.</p>
<p>Higher level classes tend to be smaller (about 20-40 students) while introductory classes can have as many as 200 students.</p>
<p>Aceit,
Introductory classes will have MORE than 200 students. They might be more like 350 students or so. My ENWR (English/writing) class though is 15 people, and another great seminar class is like 15 people, so it varies.</p>
<p>The last set of stats I saw were:</p>
<p>47% of courses are less than 20 students
84% of courses are less than 50 students
7% of courses are more than 100 students</p>
<p>As everyone has already pointed out, you'll see those bigger classes as a first year and when you take a classes taught by a "big name" professor or ones that are very popular for fulfilling general requirements. Obviously, in Nursing and Architecture, your idea of a "large" class will be very different from a CLAS student's.</p>
<p>If you come to Days on the Lawn, when you pick classes to visit, try to pick one low number and one higher number course to give yourself a better chance at seeing some variety. Don't get too hung up on the course titles or descriptions.</p>