<p>I was accepted for the upcoming 2013 school year and I'm deciding on studying one of: Political Science-American Government or Public Policy with Statistics. </p>
<p>My question is how prevalent are TA's?
Do the TA's have a big negative impact on the educational experience at Michigan?
Are they hired by the school or are they just GSI's?
How large do the classes get (not lectures)?
What does the school do to shrink class sizes?</p>
<p>Also what are the BIG benefits of life at Michigan? What are the big cons (besides weather)? </p>
<p>Michigan at the moment is my first choice. But I need some info on the above. Any help would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Go Blue!</p>
<ol>
<li>You will have a TA or GSI for just about all level 100 and level 200 courses (besides seminars). I’m not sure about upper-level courses, though I do know some of them do have TAs and GSIs, it’s just in a smaller percentage.</li>
<li>I have yet to have a “bad” GSI or TA. I’ve had a couple of good ones, a few phenomenal ones, and a few that are so-so. But none have had a negative impact and most have had a positive impact.</li>
<li>There are significantly more GSIs than TAs, which is to be expected, as GSIs are much more economically efficient for the school and are more often than not fully capable of leading a discussion. Also, discussion is less important than the lectures, so if your GSI does suck, a good grade and a learning experience are both still well within the realm of possibility. If you have a bad lecturer, on the other hand…</li>
<li>Non-lecture class sizes are capped out at about 20 students, and can be anything up to that.</li>
<li>I’m not sure what you’re asking. Lower-level lectures can range from 40 to 400 students, but lecture sizes matter little. No matter how many students are in your lecture, there will be no more than about 20 in your discussion section. So a 400 person class is made manageable through the creation of many discussion sections.</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m not going to go into the pros/cons for a couple reasons: 1. Such questions have been answered on this board countless times so it would be more beneficial to you to just do a Google search for College Confidential to find answers. 2. I don’t really have the time at the moment, haha. But if someone wants to answer this, then they should by all means go for it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They are quite prevalent especially in entry level classes and in large classes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think the general impact is positive. Some are better than others. For every one that isn’t great there are many more who are terrific. They often can bridge the gap between student and prof especially where the prof may be out of touch. They can assume the role of peer and teacher. A good one will definite have a positive impact on your education.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>GSI is the 21st century terminology for TA. There is not difference. They interview for their positions.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There are some lecture halls that hold more than 500 students. At some point if its a lecture it doesn’t really matter if there is 100 or 500.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>While some classes are large, there are many that are smaller. There is an added focus on seminar classes which are smaller. Math and language classes are usually capped at 25 students. Most large lectures have smaller discussion sections. Many upper level classes are smaller. It is possible to have a semester with no class of more than 50 students. The more popular classes are larger.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The opportunities are endless. The programs are strong in so many fields that you can go in as undecided and not worry about having to sacrifice. The Poli Sci and Public Policy programs are some of the best. The school spirit is at the top.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Parking sucks
Exercise facilities could use renovation</p>
<p>The use of TAs/GSIs is often misunderstood. Below are some facts that should help dispel any misconceptions. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Virtually all major research universities have hundreds, if not thousands, of TAs/GSIs. That is how PhD and graduate students pay for their tuition and their cost of living. Michigan does not use TAs/GSIs more heavily than say Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, Penn or Stanford. </p></li>
<li><p>TAs/GSIs do not usually teach. Most of their activity is centred around leading discussion groups. At Michigan, only 7% of lower division classes, and 1% of upper division classes (3% of all undergraduate classes) are taught by TAs/GSIs. 97% of undergraduate classes at Michigan are taught by faculty.</p></li>
<li><p>TAs/GSIs are typically 3rd or 4th year PhD students. At Michigan, those are usually highly qualified and intelligent graduate students completing their terminal degree in one of the top 15 departments in the nation. In many cases, their next job will be as faculty members at one of the nation’s leading universities. In other words, there is not that much of a drop in quality between faculty and TAs/GSIs.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This said, Political Science is a popular major at Michigan, as it is at most universities. Regardless of where you go to college, you are likely to have large-ish Political Science lectures, most of which will be led by professors but broken down into discussion groups led by TAs/GSIs. The other majors you are thinking of tend to attract far fewer undergrads, at Michigan anyway, and small classes taught exclusively by professors are far more likely there. But when you consider that Michigan has one of the top 5 Political Science department in the country (#1 in American Politics by a margin), it is probably worth the sacrifice. The Ford school of Public Affairs generally has classes with fewer than 25 students led by leading faculty. Same with Statistics.</p>
<p>The pros of Michigan are many. Feel free to peruse the thread at the top of this Forum; “Is Michigan weak in any way”. I would say that Michigan’s strongest assets are (1) prestige, (2) academic excellence, (3) campus life and (4) athletic tradition…in that order.</p>
<p>Michigan’s main con is its size. It takes time to manage the University and make it work for you. However, once you figure out how to work the system, there is nothing you cannot accomplish.</p>
<p>The quality of GSI is like anything involving humans. Some are great, better than the prof even, and some are lousy. What gets annoying is when they send emails 5 minutes before class expecting a response, or on Sundays. They’re often in their own little frantic world. Still, they won’t have a big impact either way in most cases, as it’s just 50 minutes a week per class. </p>
<p>You don’t want on their bad side, though, cause they basically decide your grade, including exams. As an example, I had a GSI who told us first day “If you just give me facts on the exams, half points. I would go to wikipedia for facts. I want you to know what you think about this.” Just figure out what they’re looking for and you’ll do fine. Class sizes, whether it’s 200 or 400 won’t make any diff. It’s either in a traditional classroom of 20-30, or you sit there and take notes. You can browse the course guide to see which classes are lecture/discussion, lecture only, or under 30 and get a sense of the work involved.</p>