UCLA v. Haverford?

<p>I don’t need to. They know that if they took 4 classes that filled requirements every quarter they couldn’t help but graduate in time. But the people that don’t do that do so intentionally, either because they’d rather take a lighter load or because they want to make a late switch in majors.</p>

<p>Of course that’s another difference between the departments. Haverford requires 8 English classes; UCLA’s department requires 17.</p>

<p>thiscouldbe, yes, that makes sense…the lower 4 year graduation rate at UCLA could be partly due to students not deciding on major until later on or changing majors…</p>

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<p>This is a myth. I’ve taken over 30 courses at UCLA, and I have had ZERO that were taught by TAs. ALL CLASSES ARE TAUGHT BY PROFESSORS. Unless you take the ones taught by the editor of the LA Times, Warren Christopher or Michael Dukakis, in which case I guess you’ll have to hope their experience suffices ;-)</p>

<p>@nose2Dgrind:</p>

<p>Really? o__O Wow, that’s surprising. Everyone keeps telling me that at UCs, it’s the TAs teaching instead of the professors. Thanks for the input!</p>

<p>Hey</p>

<p>I realize that its been a while since any posts have been made, but in case you haven’t made up your mind:</p>

<p>I am currently a junior Haverford, and I highly recommend picking it. The school is great, as many of the people on this thread have noted - I would make the same decision again. </p>

<p>One important thing for you to remember as you choose the school is that you need to make the decision for you, not your parents. I understand that you want to make them happy, but it is your education at the end of the day. </p>

<p>You mentioned that you have heard that you think it is hard to get into some classes at Haverford. That’s not exactly true. While some courses are capped and have a lottery, most are not. Plus, if you don’t make the lottery, you can usually attend the first few classes. If enough people don’t drop out, you can talk to the professor and express your desire to take the class. Usually, they will be fine with that.</p>

<p>Personally, I have not taken an English class at Haverford, though I have heard great things about them. I have, though, taken one at Bryn Mawr, which was really good.</p>

<p>Hope this helps, and best of luck in your decision if you have not already made it.</p>

<p>@Blacksquirrell: Thanks for the info! </p>

<p>I actually have made my decision, and I sent in my SIR to UCLA yesterday. =) After I visited the campus, I realized that I like having a big school vs. a small school (my high school right now is only somewhat bigger than Haverford).</p>

<p>Thank you to everyone who contributed information in this thread!</p>

<p>dreamball, great decision! You will have a great time at UCLA.</p>

<p>dreamball: Great decision. I was going to jump in here but starting reading this thread a bit late. I have on daughter about to graduate from a LAC with less than 2000 students and my younger daughter is a sophomore at UCLA. Each school is a perfect fit for each daughter. My UCLA daughter has had numerous classes with 25 or less. A class she took last quarter also had an honors seminar attached to it with 7 students in it. The huge classes tend to be entry level bio or pol sci classes but they are taught by professors, not TAs. Discussions that meet once a week that are a part of the big lecture are often taught by TAs but my daughter has had some extremely helpful TAs. UCLA is big but you can make it small through clubs, organizations, friends, dorm life or sororities/fraternities. You know what they say…you can make a big school small but you can’t make a small school big. This is nothing against Haverford, which I know is a fabulous school, but you will be fine at UCLA. Also, on the UCLA page there was a recent discussion about the English dept. Evidently it is a very strong dept. and thought very highly of. Enjoy UCLA!</p>