<p>Hi all, I'm attending Vassar this coming fall and I was just wondering what the college is like for those that are introverted. I went on a tour of the college recently and my tour guide told me that 50% of the classes involve class discussions. Though I'm not lazy or slack off in class, I get extremely shy when talking in front of people, and I just wanted to know what the classes are like for someone like me. Thanks guys :)</p>
<p>When I visited I found that, more than anything, people are friendly. I am shy in front of strangers but I found myself very quickly adjusting to a more vociferous personality, as I wasn’t in the least intimidated.</p>
<p>I think far more of the classes involve discussions than 50%. Except for some of the hard sciences where it is more “lecture based” with comments/questions/answers always an important component, pretty much everything else involves some degree of discussion.</p>
<p>normally if a professor notices that you haven’t been saying much they will call on you. class participation is an important part of your grade in most classes, and it’s one of the ways professors get to know what you are thinking and how you think. Often there will only be one or two papers for a class, maybe a test, maybe not, and so a lot of what you get out of class and also how you are evaluated is from reading and then reflecting on that reading as a group. I would imagine that for someone who is more shy, the discussion aspect of class could be more challenging - but I also think that is part of the overall learning experience of being in college - learning to speak your mind when you have an idea or something to contribute.</p>
<p>I’m a Vassar sophomore and still working on the participation aspect, but in general professors really want to help you out in whatever way possible. I’ve found it very helpful to talk to my professors in the first few weeks of a course and let them know that I often find it difficult to speak up in classes, etc. The majority of them understand that not everyone finds class discussions easy to take part in, and by breaking in to smaller groups, doing in-class writing, sending your focus questions before class, and the likes, they will try their best to make it work for you. That being said, almost every class I’ve taken at Vassar has been heavily discussion based, including large intro classes. It is something that you (and I) will need to work on if you plan on taking classes outside of physical science and math.</p>
<p>Thank you all for responding, I really appreciate it! I understand that voicing my thoughts and opinions will be a little difficult and I will need to work on that in school. I have a few more questions, though:</p>
<p>1) Are discussions based on assignments from the previous night, such as reading, and then you talk about your thoughts on it the next day?
2) How casual are these discussions, for example does the professor go around the room asking opinions or does s/he just guide student discussion?
3)How often do you need to speak in class?</p>
<p>Thanks again guys…I know how anxious this sounds!</p>
<p>It’s all extremely professor and even course dependent. </p>
<p>The professors assume walking into the class that all of the students have read the material assigned. this might be a whole 300 page book, or a few hand outs of primary sources, or a chapter or something. It depends on how often the class meets the level of the class, and the structure of the course. Some classes will just be “so what did everyone think?” and take it from there. Some will have structured lecture to frame the discussion and the start, with lots of open ended questions and students commenting on what each other has to say. Some professors talk a lot, others would rather sit back and not say anything for long periods of time as the class discusses things among themselves, and then chime in every once in a while with a comment that ties everything together, or summaries, or clarifies. there is no set structure for how a professor runs a course. Some professors notice when there are some students who rarely talk, and they may say, “And what do you think about this, Sarahjane?” if they notice there are a couple of students dominating the discussion. How often people speak up depends on their personality, their agreement/disagreement with what is being said, and how many students are in the class. If it’s bigger, there will usually be a subset that talks a bit more, and a group that talks less. If it’s a class of 6 students, there is just no way you can get away with not speaking up every single time the class meets if it’s a discussion heavy class (and with 6 students, it will most certainly be).</p>
<p>in general, there is a bit less discussion in intro classes - professors are often trying to lay a foundation, so you will be discussing things, but they also might want to lay down some facts too. in seminar classes (any 300 level), expect the faculty to hardly say much of anything and for it to be mostly student driven discussion.</p>