<p>uscd<em>ucla</em>dad, I disagree that you can’t tell ahead of time when this will happen. I had a very specific conversation with D1 about the two large universities she had applied to regarding this issue. We discussed that (1) generally you have very little contact personally with full professors until at least your junior year, and (2) some of the TAs you will deal with will have poor English skills and/or be relatively uninterested in teaching (in fact, I found that many professors at the major university I attended also seemed to dislike teaching undergrads). We are a family that DID vote with our pocketbook and pay more for a college where this was less likely to be an issue. I realize that not every family has this option. But I don’t think anyone should be surprised when this happens at a large school. It is part and parcel of the “research university”, and was part of our decision making process.</p>