<p>I'm trying to decide between UVa and Rice. I plan to major history, English, philosophy, or political science. I'm an OOS student at UVa, so the tuition at both schools are relatively the same. </p>
<p>I'm apprehensive about UVa because I read that it's more impersonal than Rice; students and teachers don't collaborate as frequently, or even ever, and class sizes are bigger than those at Rice. How do classes at UVa operate with a subject like English? Are all classes lecture style or are some discussion oriented? What does each school bring to the table for a student majoring in the humanities? I'm interested in attending law school, so I'd also like to know about law school matriculation and pre-law programs at UVa.</p>
<p>I don’t agree that UVA is impersonal. There are a lot of opportunities for students and faculty to interact, and where else is there a program where students get to take their professors out to lunch?</p>
<p>Classes CAN be big, that is undeniable, but there are plenty of seminar courses (particularly upper level) where you will have 20-30 students tops!</p>
<p>As far as how classes operate, it is usually a mix. For larger courses, a lot of times they will be lecture oriented; however, there may be a mandatory ‘discussion’ section that will occur 1x/week. Those are usually lead by graduate students, but you definitely get to go into the topic in greater depth. These sections are usually <20 students. For smaller courses, it is usually a mix of lecture and discussion, and for seminar courses, I found many (at least in the humanities, social sciences, liberal arts) to be highly discussion oriented. UVA’s English department is quite rigorous, and I believe many of the courses are in the 20-40 range (You’ll have to forgive me if some of my information is off a little as I haven’t signed up for a course in two years!).</p>
<p>There aren’t really any defined “pre law” programs at UVA. You are free to pursue a program that you feel will help you best prepare for law school, particularly as law schools often encourage non-history, political science and pre-law students to apply. (Economics, math and English are great programs that will help you prepare for the analytical/critical thinking skills for law school in addition to a traditional pre-law track.) </p>
<p>UVA does well for law school placements, including T-14 schools. There used to be a file on the pre-law advising page that listed a lot of statistics on law school acceptance based on where the student applied, their GPA and their LSAT. It appears, however, that their re-vamping their page and the links are not presently working!</p>