<p>I'm at a small liberal arts college now and the humanities and social science courses I have taken (specifically political science and history) have been heavily essay-based rather than having traditional multiple choice exams. Do large class sizes prevent this or do humanities and social science courses still have lots of essays just graded by TAs?
Thanks</p>
<p>It's been a while for me, but I think things are the same. Expect essays. Large classes are broken into smaller - 10-15 person - discussion sections led by TA's with whom you meet regularly. Some TA's grade and some Prof's grade. As you progress from 100 level classes up, the courses get smaller and while there is usually a TA involved direct interaction with the Prof increases. Keep in mind many of the Social Sci departments are among the best anywhere, so the TA's tend to be some of the highest quality graduate students you'll find.</p>
<p>You can also expect "blue book" exams in math/science classes- where you have to show your work in solving problems, proving things- points add up for how you came up with the answer, you can lose points for getting the correct end result with faulty logic/methods, or incomplete documentation. A blue book is a light blue covered staple bound sheaf of lined papers (16 pages?) much smaller than typical 8x11 pieces of paper. In my day we had to buy our blue books- saved the school money when they didn't have to provide space to answer the question on their paper.</p>