Brandeis University Top Questions

Professors all know my name or at least my face. In my bigger classes, they answer my questions if I approach them and seem generally concerned about how I'm learning the material. In my smaller classes, I often call my professors by first name. If I take multiple classes with a professor, we definitely bond. My least favorite class was a big, boring lecture-style one, with a TA who didn't speak English well. It could have been worse, though. Students study hard, but not obsessively. Students run into trouble when they take too much, which many of them do. Although the recommended course load is 4, my friends rarely take just 4. Many take 4.5, 5, 5.5 (the official maximum), but I know some who have taken 6 or 7 classes in a semester. The tendency is to overload rather than slack off, definitely. Students aren't competitive with each other, they just like to do as much as they can handle (sometimes a little more). Class participation is generally great. I like that Brandeis' academic requirements are very light. It gives you freedom to take classes that you care about, and have the flexibility to double major. In fact, it's possible to triple major, or triple minor. That's a little excessive, but it's doable. I take most of my classes in the Theater and Music departments. Both of these are very strong and reputable outside of Brandeis. The main reason for this is that they both have graduate programs. For instance, the Brandeis Theater Company is designed to put on professional-level shows casting mostly grad students, but undergraduate students (even non-theater majors) can participate. Theater is a popular major, but it's a lot of work. Most of the professors are great, and some are fantastic. There are opportunities for design students, too. The music department is very strong in composition, performance, classical music. I wish there was a greater emphasis on non-Western music, Jazz, and contemporary.

Yeah, my professors know my name. Favorite class: Principles of Neuroscience. Organic Chemistry. Intro to Biochemistry. Do those sound like classes someone should love? No. But I LOVED them. Also amany of the random humanities classes I was forced to take- Intro to Literary Methods, Roman History. I am currently in a Ballet class for PE... I suck but its fun. Also I took an economics class on globalization with Thomas Friedman... amazing. Least fave- Intro chem, intro physics. Biostatistics. Math 10b (second semester calculus). See a pattern? I don't like math. Slash the math department. How often students study really really depends on their majors and their career goals. And what year they are. I studied more but got worse grades sophomore year than I do now. I just wasn't doing it right. No intellectual conversations outside of class. I wouldn't say NO, and maybe it's just my friends. This is actually probably my pet peeve about Brandeis, I haven't met those people. Except for intense conversations about Israel. Students are not competitive. I mean, we are, but we help each other. Sure I HOPE everyone else fails the orgo midterm, but I'll help anyone who asks and study with them! Most unique class- Thomas Friedman class on glabalization. Actually, I loved the professor who co-taught it maybe even more, Chad Bown. The Neuroscience department is amazing. They are all big deals in their field, you'll slowly realize when you go see other speakers or read other papers that your professor from last semester is cited as the groundbreaking experimenter in a field. And they rule. It's a lot of classes though. I always say I hate Brandeis' academic requirements but then realize in the end I'm glad I took all the required classes I did- an english class, a history class, an art history class, ballet, a non-western (in my case economics) class, etc. They have made me a better rounded, more interesting person Brandeis is a liberal arts school, but I personally am deeply encroached in the sciences and the medical school process, with which they are very helpful. My friends are all getting jobs and its going VERY well for most of them. I'd say more so, Brandeis is geared towards grad school... the in between to just learning and getting a job.

All of my professors know my name, no matter what the size of the class is. There is a lot of work, but classes are fun and inspiring.

I often describe the academic scene at Brandeis as a bunch of people who didn't get into Harvard but would have liked to, and I'm not the only one who has used this expression. Students work *very* hard and take their studies seriously, but this is possibly because they are not naturally that smart and they have to work that hard to succeed at all.

Varies on what subject classes are in. In most classes, professors know who you are. My favorite classes have been small and discussion-based. Students study ALL THE TIME. Students aren't competitive with each other necessarily, but applying for leadership positions, etc, on campus can be extremely competitive because there are some very top notch students here. I'm majoring in Anthro and Art History. Both are small departments with small classes which I really like. Art History department tends to be a little too Western-art oriented for my tastes but I can see why. Sometimes spend time with professors outside of class, not often. Academic requirements are very rigorous and are a source of stress for most students. There are a lot of them, in all subject matters, making it at least a little inconvenient for everyone. But I see why they do it. Education is geared towards learning for its own sake I think. Many open-ended questions and thoughts on social change, interdisciplinary perspectives, ways of thinking, ways of viewing cultures, etc. Not entirely useful but very provocative.

When it comes down to Academics, Brandeis is also like many other schools in that it depends on what field one studies. In Brandeis as in most other colleges, science and math majors are the ones constantly complaining about how much work they have to do. Social science and other liberal arts majors have a lot more time to do whatever they please. However, this may cost them later in life. Classes vary greatly depending on the subject. All the professors are extremely knowledgeable, though certain ones don't teach quite as well as others. They also tend to get to know you and talk to you if you either have a small class or you attract their attention. Otherwise, if you schedule a meeting or go to office hours with them, they likely will know who you are soon enough. My own experience with professors has been extremely positive. The students, of course, are the other extremely important part of the learning process here. Like in other good schools, there are many hardworking students who study and participate a lot. The libraries have many students just about every day of the week, and during midterms and finals there is nearly no space there. Most classes have anywhere from one to five students who constantly ask to be called upon to talk, whether their opinions are valid or not. However, there isn't much cutthroat competition here, and students are very nice to each other. Academic requirements are very loose for liberal arts and social science majors, and getting an A isn't all that difficult. The same can't be said of the sciences and mathematics though. When it comes down to it, education at Brandeis is what you make of it. Many students are here clearly so that they can make a good career for themselves in fields such as economics, science, medicine, or law. Still there are plenty who come for the extracurriculars or the activism and take classes for fun or just to learn something new. This variety makes Brandeis a great academic center.

Professors do know my name. The professors are generally very approachable and really enjoy when students come to talk to them after class or during office hours. My favorite class is Biology and my least favorite is Organic Chemistry. Most students are very studious. The pre-med students are somewhat competitive, but definitely not cutthroat.

Non-intro classes are small, and professors get to know students really well. They're very accessible and love to talk to students outside of class. There are lots of hands-on classes, in which you can apply what you're learning outside the classroom. I took a class on teaching science to kids, and we did all sorts of physics experiments with balloons and K'nex and batteries. I learned more physics than I had in high school, and it was tons of fun. Some students study all day and all night, and some rarely study. It depends on the classes you take. Science classes require a lot more time to work than some others. Students are competitive against themselves, not each other. Most of my classes have not been curved, so it really doesn't matter what grades anyone else gets. The psychology major requires too many hard science classes. I wish I could have taken more classes like Abnormal, Social, and Developmental Psych, instead of calculus, statistics, chemistry, neuroscience, etc. The general university requirements are easy to meet, and valuable for a liberal arts education. I have finished all the university requirements and one major by the end of junior year, and I only have two classes left before I finish my other two majors. That means that after 7 semesters of college (3.5 years), I will have completed the general requirements and three majors. They make it easy to cross-list courses and get credit for different majors.

Many Professors have printouts of their student's headshots and names for the first day of class. They actually do make an effort to learn your names, and if they can't maybe they just bring the printout so that when class is silent they can look at a picture of you from three years back and call on you to answer some question. The academic environment at Brandeis definitely fosters intellectualism and it is not rare to see students visiting their professors during office hours to ask about something "intellectual" or see students engrossed in conversation with their TA about a class subject, politics, or bumming after graduation. Despite all of this, the students (it would seem most except for those in pre-med) are not competitive. People don't brag about their grades, rather it seems to be a fairly personal affair and only comes up when that frat boy that drinks five nights a week happens to get into med school at Columbia. On that note- quite a few students can be slackers yet still incredibly intelligent. Some are capable of writing 80 pages of a senior honors thesis the night before it is due and still receiving highest honors while others can work on a three page essay for a week and still need special care to explain the point of outlining. Many of the fields of study seem to be geared towards learning. In fact, as a graduating senior I've realized how many people who might want a job after graduation (unless they've got the hookup) probably won't get much related to what they've actually studied. Brandeis seems to be a better place for going on to Grad/Med/Law school or using your hookup that you could have used before coming to Brandeis.

It depends on the class, but mostly yes. The best ones I have ever taken have been the creative writing classes. I haven't really disliked many of my classes, maybe Hebrew classes because I think they're too simple/a bit boring. I don't study too often, I'm a very last minute type of person. I don't think students are competitive with one another but most have high standards for themselves. I love the English/Creative Writing Department and as they improve the program (particularly for the application process for creative writing classes) it just gets better.