<p>There have been some posts on this topic here, but I need more :-). I am trying to narrow down the list of schools to apply to next year, and would appreciate a more meaty discussion. Yes, I plan on visiting, but in the mean time I would appreciate info on the topics below. PLEASE BE SPECIFIC WHENEVER POISSIBLE.</p>
<p>Thanks - Da Geek</p>
<li><p>What are the top 3 things you like about ACADEMICS. I don’t not care about the social life/party scene.</p></li>
<li><p>Ditto for the top 2 things you dislike about academics.</p></li>
<li><p>How would you describe academic instruction - buttoned down/routine; focused on rote memorization; quirky/free-spirited; etc. Do instructors on average try to make it engaging, or is it a typical “lecture” thing?</p></li>
<li><p>How difficult it is to get into the classes you are interested in?</p></li>
<li><p>How would you rate the opportunity for interdisciplinary studies? I am mostly humanties-oriented, but I do like art and some of the sciences, and would not mind to get a broad taste of things.</p></li>
<li><p>When are you expected to declare a major? Do you apply to a specific college and then have to major there, or is it wide open, e.g., through sophomore year.</p></li>
<li><p>Are students generally helpful and supportive of each other, or is it dog-eat-dog? </p></li>
<li><p>Did you feel that you had adequate internship/practical experience opportunites. Please include your major when responding to this one.</p></li>
<li><p>Does the school feel like it is on the upswing or downswing? Are facilities properly maintained, particularly the library?</p></li>
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<ol>
<li>Good professors, material is fairly interesting</li>
<li>Some teachers can be stupid as far as material goes and try to teach you stuff over your head, and expect you to know it. That and the Chem dept. is very very very tough.</li>
<li>Routine, whatever way works for you, but like at any college memorization wont get you much, you must be able to interpret everything and figure things out. Lecturers in big lectures lecture and thats it, like at any school. </li>
<li>Classes are pretty easy to get into.</li>
<li>You can take anything you want whenever you want, you can even make your own major</li>
<li>By end of soph year</li>
<li>Supportive</li>
<li>Biomed Eng. and if you want an internship you will get one. simple as that</li>
<li>Upswing. Facilities are all brand new, or are being built, we are spending more money then anyone in New England for facilities, 2 billion in the next 10 years. The library is one of the best if not the best at a public school in new england. It is HUGE. 5 football fields stacked on top of each other is what they like to say. But it seems even bigger then that. Its fairly new, and has everything you can think of in it since UCONN is a research I university.</li>
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<ol>
<li>Availability of professors, willingness of professors to relate their research to the classroom in some way (science courses), small honors classes</li>
<li>Having common exams for larger classes (like calc), Large lectures (although discussion sections help)</li>
<li>Depends completely on the instructor</li>
<li>Once again, depends... gen ed's tend to fill up quickly, but usually professors will give you permission numbers if you express enough interest in taking a course.</li>
<li>A major advantage of attending a bigger school like UConn is that there are soo many academic opportunites here and so many fields available to explore to match your own interests. </li>
<li>By end of sophomore year</li>
<li>Incredibly helpful. I am in the honors program and I was actually surprised at first when some of my fellow classmates spent like 2 hours going over some chem problems with me that I didnt get. Even in the honors program, which one might expect to be more competitive regarding the mentalities of students, students are surprisingly supportive.</li>
<li>Molecular and Cell Bio.... I recently filled out a form to participate in some undergrad research next semester for credit... so we'll see how it goes...</li>
<li>Definite upswing.... UConn has been updating buildings for a good decade or so now and will be updating all of the older buildings soon. Great library.</li>
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