<p>Am posting this thread, in thinking that some parents/students may find this of interest as they decide on college choices;especially as they weigh big vs small.</p>
<p>S1 participated in commencement at UC Berkeley this past week. On Tuesday, we went to the university-wide undergraduate commencement for which 1500+ students participated. Yesterday, we went to the Classics department's commencement. There were 38 students receiving their undergraduate degree and the head of the department commented on how this was their largest graduating class ever. The overwhelming feeling was of a small, close knit group. Students spoke glowingly about professors and likewise the professors spoke glowingly about the students. </p>
<p>My point is just that the overall numbers may be big, but when you drill down to the departments you may find another story.</p>
<p>I had the same experience, though my college wasn't nearly as large as Berkeley. My department was very small and because I took a fair number of studio art classes I got to know my fellow majors pretty well.</p>
<p>S is having the "small sch. in a big sch." experience. His state u. has over 28,000 students but his Dept. has about 60. His classes in his major generally have about 12 students and he has gotten lots of help in scheduling/advising from his departmental advisor. When S was assigned to this advisor as a freshman S was the Dr's only freshman advisee.</p>
<p>D's experience at UCLA ('05) was similar - he majored in design|media arts (department had 55 slots for his freshman class) that was part of the School of the Arts and Architecture. There is no university-wide commencement exercise at UCLA, so we attended the School's commencement that was tremendously fun - music and dance abounded. A reception for the design major took place off-campus and that made for a truly intimate moment.</p>
<p>So, I agree that one can find a small school experience at a large public university!</p>
<p>My son at Berkeley finds his department(s) have provided that small school feeling as well. I'll keep you all posted if this remains consistent school wide if/when he changes his major again. lol.</p>
<p>I had a very similar experience when I graduated from Berkeley long ago. I think our graduating class was even smaller, but we had a famous speaker (Deborah Tannen). The graduation was outside in an oak grove up above Berkeley.</p>
<p>booklady,
He is also getting a degree in applied mathematics, and will be doing one additional semester in Thailand to complete it. After that, who knows?</p>
<p>This is something many people fail to understand about large univeristies. They are comprised of many smaller parts, some which are similar to much smaller LAC's. My Civil Engineering class at Ohio State numbers about 35 student, smaller and as intimate as many LAC departments.</p>
<p>
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He is also getting a degree in applied mathematics, and will be doing one additional semester in Thailand to complete it. After that, who knows?
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</p>
<p>Ah, well he'll have something practical for the job hunt. D says that while she'd eventually like to go to grad school for Classics, she wants at least a one-year break to work before that. We're interested to see what sort of job she comes up with!</p>
<p>While its a little early, as D has just finished her freshman year, she is having a similar experience. The school had nearly 6000 graduates in 2007, but only 33 in her department (Physics). Given that said department has 3 Nobel winners amongst an overall distinguished and well-funded faculty, with ample opportunity for undergrad involvement, her academic experience can potentially rival that which might be had at schools well above hers on rank lists.</p>
<p>However, AP'ing out of several intro courses did spare her the experience of taking a final exam in the basketball arena.</p>
<p>avoidingwork, my son is also has a double major at Cal, math and philosophy. He seems to think he will be able to do it in 4 years. He'll be a junior next year.
But thats nice to know about the graduation and the intimate experience.</p>