<p>How big are most of your classes? I'm going to major in BME, and how big are the intro classes and how big are the specialized classes? Do the professors get to know you? Do they care about undergraduates, or are they just focused on their research? How are the professors' office hours and how easy is it to find research opportunities?</p>
<p>I know nothing about BME - and we have people here who do - but a couple of pieces of basic wisdom.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Lecture classes are far more appropriate for much college material. This may be difficult for a high school student or family of same to grasp. In college material tends to be presented, whether the room holds 20 or 100. And a good lecturer is a wonderful teacher.</p></li>
<li><p>You have sections in larger classes. And I know at UR you have a wide array of additional resources for intro classes. And some kids take advantage of those.</p></li>
<li><p>The biggest pity is that not enough kids take the time to visit professors during office hours. They all have them. Want to get advice? Want to understand things? Want to get an idea of what you need to know in the field? Want some contacts? Visit the professor. Chat. Not enough kids do. And remember, they mostly like college kids or they wouldn’t be teaching. </p></li>
<li><p>A problem at all schools but certainly at research universities is professors do both research and teaching. UR tries to address that problem by getting rid of distribution requirements and having clusters - with the idea being kids don’t fill classes they don’t want to take. But all departments at all schools need to teach introductory courses and those are often seen by professors as a chore. Some are really good at it. Some are not. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Pretty much everything I said except the last bit about clusters instead of distribution reqs applies to every school.</p>
<p>Class size will depend on the particular class.</p>
<p>Science lectures (gen chem, intro bio and intro physics) will have large lectures. Class size 250-300. Lecture classes will have smaller recitation/workshop sections of ~25 lead by a TA (undergrad who has previously taken and aced the class). Lab section have 25 students and are usually led by grad students.</p>
<p>Intro BME is capped at 125 students for lecture. Lab and recitation will be ~25 student per section.</p>
<p>MTH 161-165 are lecture classes of ~100 students. Required recitations have ~25 students. Recitations led by a grad student or occasionally an undergrad.</p>
<p>All freshman writing classes have ~25 students/section.</p>
<p>Most upper level BME classes are capped at between 15-30 students. (Exception: MATLab which enrolls 100 students but requires co-enrollment in a smaller lab/practicum. Labs have 25 students)</p>
<p>Now w/r/t the rest of your questions–</p>
<p>Some profs are easier to get to know than others. Some profs make an effort to learn everyone’s name. (D1 had a prof who knew the name of every single person in a 300 person lecture by the end of the first week of class. Really.) Some won’t know you from a random stranger on the street even after you’ve been in their class for a whole semester.</p>
<p>It’s up to you to initiate contact. Stay after class class to chat, go to office hours, ask intelligent questions during class.</p>
<p>Any prof who teaches is required to hold office hours. Typically 1 hour per week per each course taught. Office hours are scheduled at a time of prof’s choosing and may or may not be at a convenient time for you. Some profs will make appointments to meet outside of office hours; some won’t.</p>
<p>Some profs are focused on their their research; some are more student-focused. But don’t necessarily expect the more student-focused science and engineering profs to de facto better teachers. Why? Because grad education in STEM fields doesn’t include any instruction or preparation in teaching methodology or skills. </p>
<p>Research opportunities are available, esp in STEM areas where URoch has plenty of funding. However, most research labs don’t encourage freshmen to apply. Mostly because freshmen lack basic lab skills and don’t have any foundational knowledge in the field. They are a time suck on productive lab members because they require training and intensive supervision. (IOW, more trouble than they’re worth.) You can still ask, though, if you feel you have something unique or special to offer the research group. (Computer programming, script writing experience for MATLab/Excel/specialized software used by the lab, advanced analytic math and statistical analysis skill sets, circuit design–are all typically considered useful.)</p>
<p>No experience with your particular major. My child’s classes have been relatively small. Smallest was writing 15, and his calc class, which had a huge drop rate I believe maybe has 40 still. The rest between that number. Maybe he just took weird classes, but he didn’t take intro chem, physics or bio which may be different.</p>
<p>He’s probably going to be charged rent with the amount of time he hangs out with the professors during office hours. We’re not from the area, or the northeast, yet one prof once lived in our teeny little nowhere area. The prof of one class goes out to lunch once a week or so with interested students. </p>
<p>However, if a student wants to remain anonymous, I bet they can. Much like life in general, you get out of it what you put into it.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the course listings for several semesters. If you choose a semester and a class you’re interested in, you’ll see how many enrolled in the class. Most large classes have weekly recitations in smaller groups - those are listed too. Just be aware that if you look at classes for NEXT fall, no incoming freshman are registered, so the numbers won’t be right. Look at past semesters.</p>
<p><a href=“https://cdcs.ur.rochester.edu/[/url]”>https://cdcs.ur.rochester.edu/</a></p>