<p>What are the class sizes at UCLA? On average? I got accepted and one of the reasons I may turn down UCLA is because I heard the classes are overcrowded. </p>
<p>It depends on the classes. You should go <a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx</a> to check.</p>
<p>I think the idea of class sizes is overblown. It doesn’t matter if your class has 10 people or 300. You get to decide how to spend your time. Your book usually only has one student using it. The materials are what’s most important, not how many people are sitting next to you. I don’t understand what you mean by overcrowded, since classes all have caps on how many people can enroll. </p>
<p>I think the idea of class-size is very important. Having the ability to take part in discussions and hear the contributions of your fellow students, to ask questions of the prof, to get the kind of personal attention a small class can give that a lecture of 300 students cannot fix a difference in your education. And if someday you’ll be applying for grad school than being in small classes gives you profs a chance to get to know you in a way that never happens when your another body in a class of 300. </p>
<p>Look at the large Publics. When they set up an honors college to attract top students what is the first thing they do? Talk about how they put them all in large lecture classes together? No! It’s to provide small classes. UCLA seems to think that small size is important. They calls the fiat lux classes a cornerstone of their curriculum right on the webpage describing them. And what are they? Small classes.</p>
<p>I thought some more about what I’d want someone to tell me if I was in your shoes. And its this. Don’t look for some absolute measure of good and bad, think about what’s good for you. Many grads think of UCLA as fantastic but there are some for whom it wasn’t a good fit. UCLA has endless opportunities, but they are just that. Opportunities. Nobody is going to ask you to come to the career center for a chat, stop by office hours to get to know profs better & get questions answered, etc. If you aren’t the kind of person that will take advantage of things like that then a smaller more personal environment may be a better fit. </p>
<p>That is a really good post mikemac and something someone told us a year ago when we were making our decision. It is a very important aspect to consider when looking at any college (not just UCLA). They need to evaluate how a school’s environment of opportunities fits the personality of that particular student. </p>
<p>Thanks guys! I’m not the kind of person who can work well with loads of students in the classroom. I prefer a class with 20-30 students. That was, everyone knows each other and the professors personally know the students. Students are less likely to be just a number for them. </p>
<p>I looked online, but can’t really find information unless I know exactly which classes I’m going to take, Still haven’t decided. I just know they’ll be math and/or computer science.</p>
<p>It all depends on your major. My friend is a classics major and the average class size is around 20 students. For my spanish minor all of my classes have been 14-40 students. Someone I know is in a Latin class… with two people. For intro lower division classes, most will be at least 100 people, but the difference between 100 and 400 is negligible. Upper divs tend to be around 100 or less, but differ hugely between professors and majors. Even in classes with 14 students, if I don’t make the effort to go to office hours, the professor won’t get to “know” me, same as with a class of 400 students. It’s all about the effort you want to make. The key is going to office hours. However some professors definitely like to have more of a personal connection with students more than others, so it depends on them too. </p>