<p>Is Berkeley "too big" of a school? I don't want to be stuck at a place where I have huge classes and no interaction with the professor. So does that mean Berkeley isn't a good match?</p>
<p>it is really as huge as you hear esp in classes like chem 1a/math 1a/astro c110...but most ppl dont go to office hours for either their gsi/instructor (which you should really do if you want that whole "small college" feel)...it can be a good match for you if you join clubs that are tailored to your major plans/already existing/potential interests...hope this helps</p>
<p>Depends a lot on your intended major. go to schedule.berkeley.edu for Fall 2008 and look at the actual class sizes for specfic courses. Make sure to distinguish between Lec (lecture) and Sec (section).</p>
<p>My son went in undeclared and had both huge and small classes. Every semester, without fail, he would have opportunities to have meaningful interactions with his professors. They would often occur as a result of him asking a question during or after class and then spending time discussing it with the profs. He also went to office hours once or twice, which I never thought he would do unless he needed something. The prof's would end up talking to him for an hour or even longer. I should note that this happened in Humanities courses, which tend to encourage discussion. I think Berkeley is as small as you make it, both academically and socially.</p>
<p>^Exactly. Berkeley is big, but you /can/ make it small.</p>
<p>Being big has its advantages, too. According to the law of large numbers, the more people in a class, the more stable the average score on a test. So, at Berkeley you're less likely to be affected by outliers. =)</p>
<p>^ You have just inspired me to take statistics</p>
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Being big has its advantages, too. According to the law of large numbers, the more people in a class, the more stable the average score on a test. So, at Berkeley you're less likely to be affected by outliers
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<p>Yeah, well, that's simply making a virtue out of necessity. Yes, a large sample size creates a more stable curve. But, frankly, the reason why a curve is used in the first place is because the class is so large. If you as a prof are teaching a class of, say, just 10-20 people, you're probably not going to rely on a curve because you have enough information to provide individualized grades to every student. Curves tend to be used when classes become so large that you can't possibly know every single student.</p>
<p>casey2009,
Your question: "I don't want to be stuck at a place where I have huge classes and no interaction with the professor. So does that mean Berkeley isn't a good match?"</p>
<p>My answer: Fans of Berkeley will sing its praises. Fine. The answer, in my opinion, to your question is, no, it is not a good match for you, based only on your desires. I have one child who went to a UC and loved every minute there. My other two chose private schools with small classes and amazingly close interactions with professors. The fact is, of course you can have interactions with professors, but it IS more difficult than smaller schools and UCs DO have quite a few very large, impersonal classes.</p>
<p>Visit, before applying, if you can. Then you will have a good idea of what you like and can narrow you applications down. My son applied to Berkeley without visiting, and visited after his acceptance. Definitely see all of your schools in person, at least after you are accepted to them.</p>
<p>isn't berkeley one of the smallest UC campuses?</p>
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isn't berkeley one of the smallest UC campuses?
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<p>It's actually the 2nd largest. Only UCLA is larger. </p>
<p>University</a> of California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>This is stolen from a tour I had (seemingly so long ago) at UW-Madison:
Very few people do actually go to office hours unless they desperately need help. If you want interaction, those and seminars are easy bets for as much interaction as you want.</p>
<p>I came from a small high school (87 in my graduating class) where everyone called teachers by their first names, and I still stay in touch with several of my teachers there. Smaller classes were definitely great for knowing your teacher during class, but really getting to know who they are came from hanging out or other events with them outside of class, when they don't need to teach more than a few people at a time. Thus far, my GSIs all know me by my first name, and yes, they're able to be much more personable with groups of 20 than my professors with 150-500 at a time.</p>
<p>Huge classes aren't too bad, considering all my high school classes were 20-25 students. If you want solely small classes, consider a smaller major like Engineering Physics or Nuclear Engineering in College of Engineering, or College of Natural Resources. The most popular majors will have large classes because they have to, but keep in mind that it's very easy to pick out and find great professors. College is what you make it, and the ability to be a part of several incredibly specific clubs (CHAOS, Cal Fishing, CALPIRG) more than makes up for big lectures.</p>
<p>That quote sums it up perfectly. </p>
<p>Only at Berkeley can you talk to world-famous professors about football or lasers and still go unnoticed when you ditch lectures. You can get as much help as you want or as little as you'd like. There's a near-infinite amount of guidance accessible through your various counselors, but you're free to do everything on your own. </p>
<p>Small schools spoon feed you everything you need, but at Berkeley, you need to be proactive and find stuff. If you think you need more care than the average bear, first, rethink your circumstance. If you're just lazy, come to Cal anyway. You'll only be forced to better yourself. Otherwise, reconsider Cal -- maybe going to a smaller school will give you an opportunity to flourish in ways you can't at Cal. </p>
<p>Just give it a decent amount of thought.</p>
<p>inconnu, that was very insightful. Thank you.</p>
<p>One of my DDs went to a UC and kinda got lost, after a small HS, she wanted a big school where every one did not know everything about every one. But, in her UC she really did not have the dream college experience.</p>
<p>My Berkeley DD has really made the school small- sports, Greek, getting to know profs, internships, etc. It is not easy though, you really have to have the personality to seek interaction and pursue it; you can only find time to pursue just so many profs.</p>
<p>yes it is
don't come to cal unless you fit into both of the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>you are motivated and smart enough to be in at least the top 20% in cal</p></li>
<li><p>you want to save money</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am happy that I came to Cal, but I have also seem many of my peers who failed here</p>
<p>At any rate, you need to be an independent person who is willing to advocate for him/herself. There is a lot of help available at Cal, but YOU will have to go find the help if you need it. Same socially, you have to make an effort at a big school.</p>
<p>Cal's is the perfect size. sometimes there's big classes but the majority is small classes (at least for me). I would hate to go to a small lib arts school with only small classes. it would suck. sometimes I like just just sitting back and learn and not having to be so attentive like I have to do in the small classes.</p>