SCIENCE at Columbia

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>Could anyone please offer some insight as to how the classes are taught?
Do they typically have small or enormous class sizes? (except for introductory classes I suppose) And do they place emphasis on hands-on or lab work? Can an undergraduate work in a lab during the year or in the summer? Would a biochemistry student have access to shiny, fancy research machinery?</p>

<p>Thank you for any help you can give!</p>

2

<p>Oh, my only experience with science at Columbia has been Frontiers of Science, and we all know that there is absolutely no science at all involved in it.</p>

3

<p>" Do they typically have small or enormous class sizes?"</p>

<p>intro classes are bigish, 50-100 students, and they usually decrease in size as time goes on and subject matter becomes more specialized.</p>

<p>"And do they place emphasis on hands-on or lab work?"</p>

<p>there are seperate lab classes which students take for a whole semester</p>

<p>"Can an undergraduate work in a lab during the year or in the summer?"</p>

<p>yes, i have many friends who do, it isn't too difficult to work under a professor. Many do research during the summer, it doesn't come automatically, you have to seek out opportunities especially in your freshman and soph years, but if you want to do such work, you certainly can, the process isn't difficult. </p>

<p>"Would a biochemistry student have access to shiny, fancy research machinery?"</p>

<p>i'm not a bio-chem major but i assume, yes, you would have the same research opportunities as other science fields. i don't know the specifics of the shiny and fancy machinery you are asking about, but i can't see how it matters. The beneficial part is working with a prof, and learning about his research, and doing a little yourself, you probably aren't going to be pushing the bounds of biochem as an undergrad.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
Would a biochemistry student have access to shiny, fancy research machinery?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Brand new lab equipment looks pretty crappy rather than fancy and shiny. It's not like a Rolls Royce where they have to impress people with the aesthetics; it's all about the inside.</p>

5

<p>Oh dear God, I was being facetious. I work in a lab and am well aware of what a lot of the equipment looks like. I don't care if it's from the 90s. </p>

<p>You either couldn't answer me or completely missed the essence of the question.</p>

6

<p>i think C02 generally prefers to focus on the aspect of a post which he can most easily criticize.</p>

<p>confidentialcoll's answers mirror what I would say. Also, the professors are rockstars - at least half of them were simply incredible teachers (and, we assume, not so bad on the research end either).</p>

<p>PM user "Shraf" if you want further detail, he was a Biomedical Engineer.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
i think C02 generally prefers to focus on the aspect of a post which he can most easily criticize.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That was the only part of the question that piqued my interest.</p>

8

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<p>who was your teacher? The idea of that (new) course is to get you thinking, not memorize formulas. They go through 4-5 fields in 3 months so what can you expect?</p>

9

<p>fairlyconfident,
you are one arrogant and spoiled person. Poor people who go to school with you</p>

10

<p>what did he say that was so terrible?</p>

11

<p>Wow. This old thing has been resurrected?</p>

<p>Shortly after I asked the CCer's this question, I wrote to the head of the biology department and she redirected me to this website:</p>

<p>Undergraduate</a> Research</p>

<p>That, for anyone who is interested, is most of the information you should need. Intro classes are big, they get smaller. T.A.'s don't teach, they run the discussion groups and supervise labs. Yes, you can do research during the school year, get internships, and generally be a participant in the research with the right motivation.</p>

<p>Ta-da! The wonders of the intra-web. </p>

<p>And I'm....spoiled and arrogant? Uhh...I'm not sure what warranted that comment, since I'm simply trying to squeeze every possible opportunity out of the American education system.</p>

12

<p>i'm not sure either. i'd ignore 'em, whoever they are.</p>

13

<p>half of them are rockstar teachers?
more like 1/10.
professors are hired irrespective of teaching capabilities in engineering/science departments.
science departments hire professors based almost exclusively on previous schooling/grades + postdoctoral positions held + maginitude and quality of publications.</p>