Brandeis University Top Questions

Being from Oklahoma, few people there know what Brandeis is, but those who do are impressed that I go there. They say things like, "Oh? That's a pretty.. uhm.. academic school, right?" Yes, it is. There are a lot of smart people there- yes, smarter than you. And the classes are hard. You will be challenged. The art department is surprisingly awesome. It's a tight-knit community with small classes where the professors care about you and your work. Classes at Brandeis are geared toward learning for its own sake. I took classes on American conspiracy theories, anatomy and gender, aging, ethics, and one fusion of studio art and russian literature. They have some weird classes, that's for sure, but some are so fascinating. Most Brandeis kids plan on going to grad school, so the classes are meant to expose you to new things and help you find an area of interest.

Brandeis students work really hard, there's no doubt about that. I am premed, so I may be part of the extreme, but I have literally worked my ass off in my science classes. Students can be competitive, but it's not a sabotage kind of place. Especially for premed kids though, the stress level is high. I also take lots of Spanish literature classes, which are never more than 15-20 kids, and the professors knew my name within the first week or so of class. If you're willing to put in a little effort and have a few awkward moments, you can certainly get to know your professors. The general education requirements (creative arts, non-western, quantitative reasoning, etc...) are relatively easy to meet, but it varies based on your major and interests. I satisfied all of the requirements by the end of sophomore year. There are so many different options/ways to get them done. I took an American Musical Theater class which I absolutely loved, but a lot of people would absolutely hate it. There is something for everyone (ex. my friend hates theater and so he took a 3D art class which wasn't an insane amount of work but satisfied the creative arts requirement). There is also a phys. ed. test to get out of the 2 semester requirement, and it is not too difficult to get out of at least 1. I really do believe that I am getting a good education here, but I do have to work really hard.

Classes are "difficult" in the sense that to do well in them, you actually have to go to class and do the reading. Professors are generally very friendly, very helpful, and want to get to know you. Students are more likely to help each other study than compete.

All of my professors knew my name. It's more difficult in larger classes like lecture classes where there is an upwards of one hundred students. However, it all depends upon if you make yourself known to your professors and you are engaged in your classes. My favorite class last semester was one about Totalitarian Regimes and how authors' writings are affected by those influences. It was incredible and opened my eyes to so many world issues. I haven't noticed that students are very competitive. Everyone does their best in class, studies hard, writes their essays, and goes out to party on the weekend to relax. It's just the right balance of fun and work. The requirements for academics are really realistic. I'm a sociology major and have found that completely the requirements and meeting with advisors is fairly easy to do as long as you keep on top of what you're doing. There are so many internship and fellowship opportunities. It's hard to decide where to begin sometimes! However, there are a lot of career services and internship advisors to narrow down your choices. Brandeis alumn are VOCAL on campus and ready to help.

Classes are usually small, professors make an effort to get to know students. Professors are ALWAYS available and for the most part truly care about student success. Professors are open to relationship with students and are never too busy to talk. Students at Brandeis like to get good grades, but support each other and often study together.

professors definetely know your name, they even take attandence.. profs really show alot of effort to help students individually.. class participation is very common.. profs make sure to encourage you to participate.. they are always available outside of class, they value your opinions truly, always push you to fillout evaluations about them so they can improve.

My favorite class this past semester has to be Acting for Musical Theater with Liz Terry. It was great; who wouldn't love spending three hours a week singing and dancing? In that class, we were paired with another student and during the semester, we learned a scene and duet from a musical in one hour sessions while also learning social dances (everyone loved the Cha-Cha). My partner and I sang "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd-- it was the best time!

The classes are great. I have had great professors who I have gotten to know very well. You need to make an effort to get to know your professors. Most students are pretty good about participating and are genuinely interested in what they are doing. The professors really care about your learning, they are always quick to answer questions and will make extra time and give you extra advice if you ask for it. Brandeis certainly emphasizes learning for the sake of learning, but some of my peers seem a little too geared toward the job market and not geared enough toward learning. Others, however, genuinely love to learn and are just learning now with no future job in mind yet. The career center, which had been dormant before I came here, has undergone significant changes and is a great resource. While they try and help you find jobs, internships, etc. they also put heavy emphasis on taking classes purely for the sake of learning.

I love the education I'm getting at Brandeis. I can't speak for any science or math or theater or psychology classes- or really that much out of the spheres of history and politics, of which I am a double major, but the classes I've taken at Brandeis are amazing. My largest class to date has been The American Revolution last fall with David Hackett Fischer. It was a 150 person lecture with a weekly discussion with a TA, but Fischer is such an amazing professor that it really didn't matter that the lectures were large for Brandeis standards. Lectures with the most amazing and well loved professors and intro level lectures are probably all around that size or a little smaller. For the most part, classes are discussion based with 30-50 or so students as a large class. I'm currently in a class with only 2 other students. Professors are really good at having one on one relationships with students and class participation is expected in all but the largest lectures. When it comes down to crunch time, almost everyone studies, the library is open 24 hours during finals, but for the most part, Brandeis students both study and do work and have fun. Most people don't study all the time and most people don't completely slack off and do nothing. I think most people might skip readings, but pretty much everyone goes to classes and does the general work for a class. Another thing that's important about Brandeis academics is that we have no majors specially for certain jobs. There's a pre-med track, must most of the education at Brandeis is directed away from professional training. What professional or pre-professional stuff we do have typically take the form of minors. For example, we do not have a business major, only a business minor. The same is true for education and pre-law. The general Brandeis education, the requirements of the university, are for a well rounded liberal arts education. Everyone has to take certain types of classes- the freshman seminar, freshman writing, and a class with a non- western focus are probably the only real universal requirements. Everything else you can opt out of. We need 3 semesters of a language, but AP or SAT II grades or a placement test can get rid that requirement. AP scorces can also be used for the required humanities, science, social science and creative arts class each student needs and also for the quanative reasoning course everyone needs. If you do have to take a QR, it doesn't mean a math class, there are a handful of social sciences classes that for some reason or another count as a QR. We also have to take 2 PE classes or opt out with a fitness test, which is fine. Overall, because the requirements are really flexible, it's not too bad to have these requirements. And I do like the idea of learning outside of one's specific fields of interest. And it's crazy easy to double or even triple major. Most of the humanities and social science majors are really small in terms of course requirements. Outside of science and theater, it's really rare for someone to have just one major with no or only one minor.

The classes at Brandeis are pretty varied, but in general the standards are very high. Class discussions are excellent and the professors are approachable. The academic requirements aren't too strenuous - two english/writing classes, one science, one math, one art, one non-western, and a language. You'd probably end up taking some of them anyway. Cross-listing is allowed, and double-majoring is really common. My friends at least are intellectual, but I am too so I can't really speak for the rest - if they weren't intellectuals we wouldn't hang out.