University of Connecticut Top Questions

The academics at UCONN are very competitive, but at the regional campuses with the smaller number of students, it doesn't seem so intimidating. As a potential business major, the classes that I am currently taking are very challenging and the professors are more than willing to help.

Classes at UCONN are challenging. They certainly aren't easy, and I have to work for every grade I get in my class. I am still in my freshman year, so I know I need to continue this work ethic in order for me to get into a good habit of trying to do well in all of my classes.

The academics at UConn are great if you show some initiative. Professors will not know your name if you do not make it known. Every Professor I have had, though, has been willing and ready to assist if the student shows initiative. They will not chase after you for late assignments or invite you to come to office hours. The challenge and rigor of academics varies at UConn. You can choose a science, math, or engineering degree, or join the honors program and you will be very challenged. It is also possible to pursue a history or communications degree and skate by for four years. Class participation is uncommon except in discussion sections and honors classes. Students do not have intellectual conversations outside of class. There are lots of academic-based extracurriculars but on the casual level students do not discuss their intellectual curiosities. The most unique class I have ever taken was UCann cook at UConn, a freshman seminar class that taught cooking. I spend time with professors out of class if I am struggling with an assignment or want to review the answers to an assessment. Professors aren't just a fixture on campus. Many of them commute to UConn and you must come to office hours or make an appointment if you want to find them. The education at this school is geared toward getting a job, after all, the purpose of a state university is to enrich the state.

Uconn, Stamford is definitely a place where you will build relationships with your professors and see them again for more classes to come. You can count on them to be there for you and available to you for questions, concerns, and extra help. So far my favorite class that I have taken has been Psychology 1101 with Dr. Sehulster. He is a phenomenal professor and does a great job organizing and teaching his courses. Class participation is common in most of the courses I have taken, this include frequent discussion periods in more than one of my classes. At Stamford, you can find the recourses available to you to have fun, but when it comes to midterms week or finals week you have so many different resources available to you to help you study. The courses available to you at Uconn are straight forward and geared towards helping every student succeed once they have finished their time at the University.

1) Yes if you make the effort your professors with know your name 2) Favorite class= Calculus 1, 2, and 3 3) Depends on the student 4) Yes clickers are used often 5) Depends on the student 6) Some departments are more competitive than others ie) Pharmacy and Education 7) Spanish Literature 8) I am a physics/math major, math department is very strong, physics department is not nearly as strong- professors are very knowledgeable but cannot teach 9) Yes, I try to get to know my professors fairly well 10) I think the general requirements are a bit over board but it serves to develop a well rounded student 11) I would say it is geared towards research

The academics at UConn really depend on your major. Some majors like Engineering require a ton of work and it can be really difficult, while other majors can be pretty simple. For my classes (Both gen ed and classes in my major), most have been pretty easy with the exception of a few. Gen ed classes tend to be in lecture halls of between 100 and 350 students, which makes some people feel overwhelmed. You meet once a week in a smaller discussion section though too. Once you get into your major, classes tend to be a lot smaller...a little bigger than a typical high school class. Professors in large lecture halls won't get to know you at all unless you go to their office hours. Professors in smaller classes usually will learn everyone's name. Depending on the department, UConn uses a lot of graduate students to teach classes. A little less than half of my classes have been taught by grad students, sometimes even the large lectures. I've never had a problem with incompetent grad students, unlike some people. I have heard that some are awful and a lot barely speak English. My only complaint with classes is that UConn currently doesn't have enough professors for the number of students, so it's a very stressful and annoying process to register for classes each semester. Until you're a junior, you will probably not be able to get into a lot of classes you want because they will fill up.

There is a large variety of classes offered here, mostly because of the wide range of majors that are offered at UConn. Your general education classes will most likely be held in lecture halls and exam based, but as you get into more specific major classes, they can become smaller and offer other assignments including regular homework, papers, exams, and projects. Personally, I believe that students are competitive at UConn when it comes to academics. As a human development and family studies major, I feel as though students are there to better themselves not only as students, but as individuals and professionals. Participation is common, and many of the professors are invested in our education. Although there are some professors that fall through on organization and commitments, many of the professors here are open to talking to and helping students succeed and further there education. Even if you find that you do not care for a professor, there is always someone available to talk to. UConn also offers many events that target professional development such as workshops, meetings, and conventions in which they not only help you build you as a professional individual, but provide you with resources to take the next step.

One thing I've found at this school is that the academics are what you make of them. Professors are always happy (at least, in my experience) to meet with you both in and outside their office hours, and all seem to really enjoy what they teach. As an Honors student, I'm used to seeking out the professors and they can be a real resource. However on the other side of the coin you have students who do nothing but attend lectures (or not attend at all) and cram for exams, just getting by. Logically they don't learn as much as someone who tries. The same goes for intellectual conversation--those who like school and academics will discuss it, and those who don't, won't. But if you're looking to really learn something and put the work in, UConn is a great school. My major is actually Individualized, meaning there is no department for it: I have to make it myself. Since I've chosen International Relations, there is a rough guideline (as well as a few required courses) due to its popularity--but as long as you can justify it you can major in anything. I really like that freedom. However, this again requires that you put in the work: you have to get several advisors, write up a plan of study--even do an interview before you can officially declare an individualized major. But regardless of the work, it's nice to know there are options outside of the (many, many) majors already offered here at UConn.

Classes are huge, especially freshmen year. If you want to remain anonymous, it's easy to just be known as a test average to your professor. But every professor has office hours where they can get to know you and learn your name. As finals get closer, the library becomes a little more cramped but there's always a place to study, whether it's the library, dorm room, or study lounge.

Depending on the size of the classes some professors will no your names others not so much but that all depends on you. Professors have office hours and there is no reason why you should stop by introduce yourself, ask for help or just to talk about some interesting things that are gone over in class. Again depeding on the class, some classes are centered around participation in discussion others are too big that there is no time for that but usually there are discussions for that course so in that time participation is easy. My major is Human development and Family studies and my second major is Political Science.

Classes can be huge. If you make the effort though, you can definitely get to know the professors. Basically, the academics are what you make of it. If you want to just sit and take your notes and learn on your own you can; if you want to ask questions, give opinions, get to know your professors, you can do that as well. Classes can vary in difficulty but it's safe to say that everyone on campus has those weeks where they can be swamped with work.

My professors don't really know me because I'm not the kind of person to approach them unless I'm really struggling. My favorite class would probably be my child development class, while my least favorite would have to be physics of music. I would say students study rather regularly. Class participation is usually common, unless the class is held in a huge, stuffy lecture hall with a professor that posts everything online. I would say that students are fairly competitive. The most unique class that I have taken would have to be a one credit cooking class. My major is Communication Sciences, for pre-communication disorders, with a goal career of speech pathology. I am hoping to double major in psychology as well. I feel like UConn is challenging, and education is geared both towards getting a job and for learning.

Classes are pretty large during the first one or two years here, before you get into classes in your major. Despite the large class sizes, professors usually make themselves available. If not, they will hopefully have TAs. This being my second year here, I have some smaller classes and many professors know my name. You have to participate in classes to get recognized and identified though. There is a good amount of class participation and there are some people that study all of the time as well as those who never study. Professors usually make themselves available via e-mail or office hours and even hold study sessions before exams.

Some of my professors I really like and am very close with, others I really don't like and because of that I do not like the class. This is a mix I think you would get at most schools.

At UConn not a lot of the professors know your name. However, this depends on your major. UConn is divided up into several colleges: School of Engineering, Nursing, Pharmacy,Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences. Once you get into one of those colleges it is your job to develop a relationship with your Adviser and your professors. At the beginning classes will be up to 200 - 400 students. As you get deeper into your major the classes will be smaller. I am personally a Computer Science and Engineering Major. All my classes regarding my major have been relatively small. This give me time to actually go to the professors office hours and ask questions. At UConn, there is a lot of possibility to do research because we are a research based school.In the long run you wanna chose what you want and like to learn instead of learning something just because of the income.it will bring.

As a freshman I'm taking a lot of advanced courses (organic chemistry, 3000-level French, Advanced Calculus) and I'm bored to tears. I find myself so under-challenged here that I've had difficulty remaining engaged with the material to the point that my parents are concerned that I won't finish the semester. I was doing more difficult work my freshman year of high school.

Overall professors are very easy going. My favorite class is sociology because I have a well educated professor who definitely knows what he is talking about, but he is not boring at all. Since most classes are big, most professors will not know your name and participation is not always required, so those of you who are shy don't have to participate if you don't want to. I definitely see students having intellectual conversations outsid of class, it is very common. Currently I am majoring in Sociology, which has different advisors which can guide you if you want to concentrate in something specific in sociology. If you need help in a class, professors can meet with you during office hours or you can meet with the teacher's aid, or you can go to the academic center where they can help you in a particular subject. I think the education at UCONN is geared towards both learning and getting a job. The first three years in general, students concentrate on learning and the fourth year on getting an internship.

I have had many more positive experiences with my classes here at UConn than negative ones. Oftentimes, you will be placed in a large class in a lecture hall. These classes can be very overwhelming for some students, but they are a common type of class a student here has. To make it much less overwhelming, and have a positive outcome with the class itself, students here are encouraged to go to the professor's office hours. When meeting with your professor from a large lecture class individually, you make a great connection and can grasp concepts much easier. You can meet with professors to get help on certain topics covered in lecture, go over your exams, or even just to discuss a topic that interested you in lecture further. It may be tough in lectures to take sufficient notes, so students here are strongly encouraged to go to our Academic Achievement Center on campus to learn better note-taking skills. I make an effort to speak to each of my professors one-on-one, so that they know who I am even in large classroom settings. Making a connection with my professors is a major component in my time here, because I feel that I benefit much more from classes where I feel comfortable with my professor. Studying habits truly depend on the student. You will see countless amounts of students working in the library each night, whether they're catching up on work, studying for an exam, or working with a study group. But, there are students who lack academic ambition sometimes. This is often seen when students just don't attend classes (which is most often seen in the big lecture halls). College is a time to become responsible for yourself as a student, and I have personally learned to truly motivate myself to put in the effort needed to succeed here. My favorite class so far has been Human Development and Family Studies 1060: Relationships across the Lifespan. This class was incredible, interesting, and fun. Although it was a 350-person lecture, it was very rare to see more than 3 seats empty pet class. Students LOVE this course! The professor is amazing, and you learn so much from the class. My least favorite class was a first-level Biology course. This was really just because I'm terrible at biology, but it was a prerequisite for the general education requirements in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The professor was fantastic, and incredibly enthusiastic. I just struggled a lot. I see a bit of competition among students here at UConn. This is mainly due to the fact that I am in the Honors Program, and lived in the Honors Freshman Community last year. Many honors students in a small place can be a bit overwhelming, but the competition definitely helped some students stay motivated. But, for me, the competitive aspect didn't phase me - I'm here to learn at my own pace, and am okay with not getting the top score! It's all about how YOU want your time to be spent here, not anyone else! Because there is so much academic support here, students are very motivated to really go after what they want, in both their majors and their future careers. I have seen many of my friends go off into the "real world" with incredible futures ahead of them. A lot of this is due to the supportive environment this school gives us as students. I started off here as an undecided major in the ACES department. My ACES advisor really helped me figure out what I was truly interested here at UConn. After two semesters of exploring my options, I realized that my interest fell in the social sciences - Psychology and HDFS (Human Development and Family Studies). My ACES advisor was a huge component in my decision, and I still keep in contact with her to this day because she was such an influential part of my freshman year. My advisors now are also incredibly supportive, and take the time to help me with my classes and future plans. Academic advisors are here to help students, but students are responsible to reach out to the advisors and seek help themselves. I am apart of the College of Arts and Liberal Sciences (commonly known as CLAS), and have both my majors' requirements and the CLAS general education requirements. This general education requirements, at times, can be a pain because they get in the way of my majors' courses. But, I've enjoyed all of my "gen-eds" so far. They're all outside my realm of study, and are very interesting. It's a great way to learn something new and out of the ordinary from your usual classes.

professors often are graduate students, PhD candidates. There are also professors of course and alot of them are really into helping students out. I just go through law school applications and several profesors and faculty gave alot of help and advise.

many classes are large, but if you introduce yourself to the professor and ask questions, even after class, or thank them for anything- they will remember you it is up to you to get to know your professors, but if you try they will be receptive