University of Arizona Top Questions

Academics are highly regarded at the University of Arizona. Professors always have office hours, so even in a class of 1,000, you have the opportunity to form a relationship with your professor and TA's.

I could write and explain all of the little nuances that occurred throughout each of my days at the University (being the only girl not in a sorority and trying to learn French for the knowledge and not just credit can be lonely!), but in reality I feel very fortunate to have graduated from the University of Arizona. The Anthropology and English Departments were my second home - many days they were the only places I wanted to be. Looking back I feel that if you stay true to you, choosing a major you truly love, then the opportunities to meet people and grow exponentially are endless. The Anthropology has employed, and still employs, some amazing professors with a passion for not just their subjects, but for life! But, this is simply MY humble experience at the UA... what will YOURS be?

I feel that with three majors and a minor I could give some insights about the academics at the University of Arizona as I have been a student in multiple departments. When it comes to professors, majority of them are top notch reputation wise, excellent teachers and very approachable. They will know your name as long as you let them know you're there if you are in a lecture hall class. As you progress in your major and class sizes get smaller you might be caught off guard when a professor knows your names as you might have never spoken with him/her. They really do make an effort to know you as the class sizes get smaller and as for the bigger classes, that is what office hours are for leaving it up to you to utilize them. I have to say that my favorite class, as well as most difficult, was Organic Chemistry. It might sound crazy as there are not many students who like it but I was fascinated by it due to the amazing teacher who taught it. He was simply brilliant and a wonderful lecturer. It was a really captivating class. This leads us to talk about to study habits. The amount of studying you do is totally dependent on your class load and personal study habits. The truth is however, a lot of students at the U of A cram the night or two before their test. This type of studying is highly inefficient and defeats the whole purpose of learning but it does get the job done sometimes. The most successful students are the ones that study for their classes ahead of time and there is a good mix of both at this university. Participation and active listening in class definitely lessen the amount of outside studying that students need to do. However, not a lot of students like to participate and that is just common not only in Arizona. There are always students which like participation and others that dread it however some professors are aware of that and require participation as part of their course. This requirement opens up students to further participation in other classes. The requirements to get into the University could be more competitive but it is a public university and accepts a wide array of students. Many know that it is not difficult to gain admission to the university of arizona but what matters most is how you perform instead of what school you go to and I find many classes very, very challenging despite of being a great student at a private high school. The university does have many resources however that are geared to help you with your studies such as Think Tank which provides free tutoring, DRC which is a disability resource center and helps students gain notes as well as other resources to succeed in their courses, and just to mention one more example, U of A has SALT which is the number one strategic alternative learning center in the nation.

Professors here, for the most part, are very helpful and want students to succeed. The Gen Eds are usually huge and filled with students who don't really care, but the higher up you go, the better it gets. Not all Gen Eds are easy though, so don't blow them off. While it depends on the class, class participation isn't too common, as well as intellectual conversations. But this is a big school, with many departments and many different types of people. There are many dedicated students who came here to learn. The science and heath colleges are fantastic, and what the UofA is really known for.

The first year and a half you will have some pretty big general education classes. As you gradually move up to classes for your major and minor the classes get smaller and you really get to know your professors. I am a political science major and we have some amazing faculty. They are extremely experienced and I have loved every class that I have taken for my major. Its a great school with so many academic fields and opportunities.

Fantastic business and law program. Also graduate psychology program is ranked high. Has one of the largest and most diverse foreign language program. Some smarties, and some dummies. Classes sometimes are too big - but the ones that matter usually are not.

if you make it through your freshman year it's all down hill. freshman year is the hardest because time management can become an issue and getting priorities straight can be tough. most classes are straight forward and fairly simple to any student who is willing to put effort into their work.

The academics at the U of A depend a great amount on what your major is and what type of classes you are taking. Considering the U of A is a very highly-regarded University, some classes are obviously difficult. Some classes are small with 30-40 students, while others are quite large with thousands of students. This may lead one to think that the professors do not pay much attention to the needs of individual students. However, they hold office hours where students may come in and talk to their professors about any issues they may be having with the class as well as with its material.

I am in Eller College of Management here at UA and its by far one of the top 2 or 3 schools here on campus. I am double majoring in MIS and OM and i know basically all my professors and they know me when it comes to my core MIS classes. The MIS department at UA has been in the top 10 rankings since it was invented, and has been the best public MIS school in the nation for the 2nd year in a row. Studying in Eller is big during the week -- but we always have that 3 day weekend, so its a work hard play hard mentality. Students in Eller are VERY competitive and are some of the best in the nation, lots of the "do the minimal to slide by" do not make it into eller because of the harder requirement classes you have to take to get accepted. The faculty and the advisers are awesome because once your accepted into Eller they take care of you and get you into the classes you need,

The academics are fairly good, challenging, i do feel like i am learning and not just trying to do the work and get by