<p>I'm currently in the process of applying to Wisconsin, and it's the largest school I'm applying to by a long shot. I visited this summer and loved the campus and everything about it, but I'm really worried about the class sizes.
If I get into the honors program will class sizes be smaller?
What is it like with larger class sizes? Do people tend to like them? Are most classes really large lectures?
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Most classes are not large lectures. Only the intro level classes for each major tend to be large which at UW is around 200-400. Some similar schools go to 600+. And honors will get you some smaller intro and lower level classes. Upper level class sizes also depend on the major. Also this</p>
<p>[The</a> College of Letters & Science Undergraduate Academic Services](<a href=“http://uas.ls.wisc.edu/events/soar/presoar.html]The”>http://uas.ls.wisc.edu/events/soar/presoar.html)</p>
<p>I went to Texas, another huge school. My FAVORITE class had over 300 students in it! It was American History. The professor was an amazing lecturer / story teller. I couldn’t wait to go to class. He also assigned great books to read. He was always available during office hours and we had some good talks.</p>
<p>The wonderful thing about big schools is all the opportunities you’ll have. But in general, the school doesn’t FEEL huge, because you’ll get to know the other students in your major. I tell people it’s like living in a big city with lots of small, vibrant neighborhoods.</p>
<p>My husband went to UW and loved it, by the way. We met when he came to UT for grad school.</p>
<p>Good luck, aaluke!</p>
<p>Class sizes are large, it can be intimidating at times. Very easy to not pay attention
Discussions are smaller and better. Honors will depend on the class</p>
<p>My daughter’s honors Spanish class has 12 students in it this semester.</p>
<p>You can look at class sizes in the following report. If the class seems large such as over 2-3 hundred you might need to check the dept site or the timetable to see if they have more than one section of it as this lumps all sections together. most upperlevels have only one section.</p>
<p><a href=“http://registrar.wisc.edu/documents/Stats_CourseCredit_Fall_2010-2011.pdf[/url]”>http://registrar.wisc.edu/documents/Stats_CourseCredit_Fall_2010-2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>My daughter is doing honors courses and even for freshman chemistry her course was smaller, same is true for organic this year, as an honors course. But then again, in her bigger courses she has great faculty and then smaller discussions, and she really likes the discussions.</p>
<p>I really like huge classes. I thrive on the anonymity, although I tend to go to smaller classes more. I get about the same kinds of grades in each. </p>
<p>Big classes aren’t harder, you just have to kind of take initiative yourself, there’s less hand-holding. I will admit that in bigger classes it’s more common for the lecturer to be behind (or ahead, but that’s your own problem) where you currently are in the material (the lecturer has to cater to more students with a variety of learning speeds and work ethics), and if your prof is behind, it makes lectures seem really useless. In smaller classes the prof can kind of adjust it more to the speed of individual students. You can also get more leeway with things like deadlines if your class is smaller (that kind of stuff just isn’t really feasible in a class of 300 and teachers kind of have to have strict rules about that sort of thing). But it’s nice if you like to learn passively, like I do.</p>
<p>I also had a class of just 8 this semester (a section of a larger class, though). I think that’s the smallest the university allows. I haven’t had too many small classes beyond the discussions that are usually part of a big lecture, but that’s more of a personal preference than anything else, I think.</p>
<p>I doubt the lecturer adjusts the material to the class in a college course. S/he tries to present all of the planned material by the end of the semester. It is the students’ job to learn what is presented in the timeframe. I would hate to take a course that didn’t cover everything because some students needed a slower pace.</p>
<p>A didactic lecture can be the same regardless of the number of students attending. The discussion sizes are small enough at UW for their purpose. There are advantages to having TA’s lead them as well. And you can’t beat the lab facilities.</p>
<p>Do the link to class registration info- you need to click on an actual section to get the number allowed and signed up for a class. Honors courses will typically be smaller and a lot tougher- take them for the course, not the size.</p>