Brandeis University Top Questions

Strong academics, but very tough. The average at Brandeis is a B+... and most people have to work really hard just to get "average" grades.

Almost everyone at Brandeis has two majors, or one major and multiple minors, or more. People here want to study everything, and you get the opportunity to do that. Requirements are so easy to fulfill, and majors are easy to complete. You can really do what you want with academics. Classes are small, for the most point, except in some of the sciences. The professors here are usually really brilliant and amazing. I've had a few I hate, I won't lie, but the ones I'm close with make up for it. There are professors I will miss almost as much as my friends.

So far I have managed to avoid taking classes with more than thirty-five students in them, and I would say that 2/3 of my teachers knew my name within the first week. The Student Union also has a take-your-professor-to-lunch thing, where you get vouchers for a free meal with a professor of your choice at the Stein, the Faculty Club, or Sherman Function Hall. I made use of this a few weeks ago, and it was wonderful. Many of the professors at Brandeis are really interesting, and completely willing to talk to you about your academic interests, anything that is even remotely linked to their subject matter, or sometimes anything at all. Of the three lecture courses I have taken, only one has had minimal student participation. My other five classes have been discussion-based, and they were wonderful. The students here come from all different backgrounds, and classes often end up in debates which expose students to things they never even thought of before. Cliche, yes, but true. Brandeis doesn't have any required courses, but rather groups of classes you have to take. During freshman year all students need to take a university seminar (USEM) and a university writing seminar (UWS), but these classes come in a variety of different subjects. Students also need to complete two writing-intensive or oral communication classes, two PE classes, a quantitative reasoning class, and a class each from the School of Science, the School of Social Science, and the School of Humanities before graduation. Many students try to fill their requirements freshman year, but you don't need to. So many courses fit under each requirement that you can easily knock out most of them just by taking classes that you want to take over your Brandeis career. While the above was written a year ago, as a sophomore everything I said stands true. I still haven't taken a class with more than 35 people, nor have I taken any classes that I really didn't want to take. If anything, a second year at Brandeis has raised my views of the academics here. We have some pretty awesome professors, including brilliant lecturers (Professors Kimelman and Sarna among them) and professors whom you can visit during office hours for a specific question and leave having discussed so much more (such as Professors Better and Freeze).

I love that students here have tons of freedom to take whatever classes they wish to take. The education is very much geared towards learning for its own sake, which is refreshing in a society that emphasizes efficiency and material concerns.

Good. Definitely great. If I have any complaints I would probably blame them first on my laziness or stubbornness before I would blame them on teachers or classes.

The professors at Brandeis are great! While it's hard to know the professors personally in the big classes, in the small ones they really make the effort to get to know you. Class participation is very common since the professors really want to know what you think about many issues. The professors want to get to know you better and encourage you to come to their office hours.

Academics is one of the best parts of Brandeis. There are almost no "general ed" requirements, which allows students to take what they want, when they want, and still graduate on time. The requirements that do exist, ensure that each students gets a sampling of different types of thought, but even within those requirements, there's so much leeway, you're unlikely to be stuck taking a class you weren't interested in in the first place. Also, we can elect to take a class "pass/fail" which means that if, at the end of the semester, you don't like your grade, you can "cover" it with a P. This means that we can take classes normally most of us wouldn't consider because it is hard, isn't required, and would "ruin our GPA". Classes are interesting, professors (with a few exceptions) are spectacular, and I generally find myself struggling to cut down to the maximum course load of interesting classes I want to take, rather than struggling to find one or two more that wouldn't bore me to tears.

The academics are rigorous and good. They have all sorts of classes for all sorts of interests, I have taken many great classes and gotten to know some very interesting professors.

UWS is the biggest bullshit ever. Some people study far too often, and have no life beyond that. I don't do that. I've had deep intellectual conversations out of class, and obviously some of my friends have, but I dunno that everyone does that. Academic requirements are pretty chill, but we're definitely talking about a liberal artsy fartsy education. I have no idea what I'll do after college or if college will prep me for anything.

Like I said before, the academics are really nice. The professors are down to earth and it is rare to find a professor that isn't capable of teaching. The classes run the gamut- I have had philosophy classes that have changed my life, and I've had lab classes that are pulling teeth. However, you really do learn something from each class you take. In class participation is common, depending on the size of the class, although some students can be a little overzealous and competitive, again depending on the size of the class. Outside of class, people really do enjoy having deep conversations- only problem is, everybody's got an opinion. My department (biochem) is great; it's very small, personal, and the professors are all brilliant without exception. Overall, the feel of the academics just seems right to me.