FWIW, my prof for my 2000 person class knew my name. May take more effort on the part of the student to go to office hours and be connected but it’s possible.
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Even pre pandemic Cornell told us that a bunch of their classes were reversed — you first watch a recorded lecture in your room, and then go in person for a precept. I did not like this idea.
Why? I’m not talking about some small minority of students. I’m talking about what is likely the majority of students out there who are happy with large classes, or even prefer them.
If the majority of students liked smaller classes, more students would be applying to liberal arts colleges, and we would not be seeing so many close. There are enough public LACs out there for students who cannot afford expensive private ones, and these are colleges which are struggling with enrollment.
So why spend the money and personnel to have smaller classes which are not needed?
My complaint above are about the universities which are trying to increase enrollment by advertising something that they don’t have. Also, very large classes should be in the 500 range, not the 1,500 range.
As I wrote above, Biology majors have had that size classes for decades, because “being a doctor” was always a top career choice for people who hadn’t started their undergraduate degree. So classes of 500 or larger is neither new, nor is it limited to CS.
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Bingo 
This is the catch 22 that we’ve been wrestling with for over a year and now down to the wire. Is a small class better or worse for an introvert? Likewise, small or large college? I would pay for either scenario, should it be the best case scenario. Large college or large classes can overwhelm, but small college and small classes can force an introvert into too much discussion and lack opportunities. I’m left trying to figure out- which college offers the most opportunities that will be realistically embraced? For an introvert, this question resonates in a particularly meaningful way.
The point is that we all have such individual criteria for selecting a college and for paying more. In our house, it’s personality. In your house, it might me athletics, prestige, research, or pre-professional opportunities.
As humans, we are a wonderfully complex species, and as we try to make sense of this process, we may just have to come back to individuality? Or maybe there are overarching trends. I would love to know the answer if anyone finds it
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As a reformed semi-introvert (that can mean whatever you want it to mean), I can relate. I liked larger classes. However, if the teacher/prof was exceptionally good, I would love the smaller classes.
Absent that, I tended to stay away from smaller classes, especially if the teacher played favorites That can be the loneliest feeling in the world to be in a small class where you THINK you don’t fit in. I kinda’ despise the touchy-feely and teambuilding stuff that sometimes went on in the smaller size formats.
That being said, I guess age wisens you up. Now, I couldn’t care less about the format. Both large and small, to me, have good and bad sides.
But, in hindsight, I guess the one lesson I would convey to any students reading this is to ALWAYS be yourself but ALWAYS be open to new ideas and things. You will always grow that way. Forget about any petty stuff (except if the class/teacher s______. Feel free to provide any letters you want.)
I’m not sure that necessarily follows. These students likely didn’t apply to LACs for reasons other than class sizes (e.g. LACs may not have the majors they were looking for).
Cost is certainly an issue, but even STEM classes that are more suitable in large-class format can be a lot better with more interactions between the professor and the students.
Does it really make a difference in this range?
A couple of the colleges I attended decades ago never had classes that large. The largest one I had was around 100, certainly no more than 150 as I recall, perhaps because we didn’t have many premeds.
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I preferred large classes to small classes. I didn’t want the professor to know my name, and when you were the only girl, guess who’s they learned first. Blech. Hated that. I just wanted to learn what was taught, get my A and move on. I also thought grading was more fair when everyone was just a number. To each their own.
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Once you get to the hundreds, does it really matter too much to go over a thousand?
Introductory economics is also commonly a large class because of popularity, since it is commonly a prerequisite to business majors, and economics is a popular substitute major when business is not offered.
It actually does, because of the logistics of things like TA sections, what sort of exams you can have, etc. A course with 4 TAs is different to run than a course with 15 TAs. A class of 300 with 4 TAs can still have short answer questions on midterms and finals. AT 1,000 it’s only going to be multiple choice with scantrons.
At 500 or so is when the logistics of the staff that work with the course, like TAs and prep staff, becomes a logistical issue in and of itself, and when the course itself start becoming more industrial.
There is also the nature of the relationship between the instructor and the students. At up to 500 or so, the students in the lecture hall are individuals with whom you, as an instructor, interact. At 1,000, they are an amorphous mass to whom you lecture.
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Paying cuz of BS/MD. Gave up full rides for it.
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The class size discussion has gotten us off track.The subject line concerns what YOU think is worth paying for at college, not what everyone else thinks or should think.
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I paid for fit, but paid less because I don’t give a damn about perceived prestige.
Life is what you make of it.
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A class of 300 with only 4 TAs, each responsible for 75 students in her/his section/recitation? If that’s the case, the setup is clearly not scalable to 1000+ students. Back to the thread topic, I don’t think that’s a college worth paying extra for. Well-resourced colleges shouldn’t have more than 20 students for each TA and should never have to resort to multiple choice questions on midterms and finals.
BTW, I don’t think having 15 TAs for a class is a problem, as long as there’s a reasonable students-to-TA ratio (e.g. on a midterms or final, each TA could be responsible for just one problem on the exam).
Quite a few colleges, including some highly regarded schools, have some classes in this “inverted” format. After students have watched/studied each lecture, they come to the class to discuss. The follow-up discussions mean these classes can’t be too large.
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This just isn’t uniformly true. The classes I had that were large were core required courses in LOTS of majors (things like psych 101). It honestly didn’t matter to me if the prof knew my name. But if I had wanted him or her to know my name…I would have gone to office hours.
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This is a flipped classroom. My daughter had this in high school and college.
Profs can still know your name in larger classes.
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Counterexample for an introductory CS class that enrolls over 1,000 students: CS 61A Fall 2023
Yeah, but a name like “momofboiler1” is easy to remember.
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Yes, even a few of the most elite high schools have classes in this format. At Exeter, for example, all classes are in this format.
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I would pay for fit and my ideal college probably doesn’t exist: one with a genuine cross-section of the country in the student body, not entirely dependent on the top 10% of income earners for its survival and yet full of hardworking, deserving kids.
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