University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Top Questions

Illinois has some of the best resources available. Even my most boring teachers wanted to help me in the class.

Some classes the professors know your name especially in my major because the classes are smaller. In a lot of the more basic classes the professors don't know the students as well because the lectures are bigger.

My motto on being a student at Illinois is that if you want a teacher to know your name they will. I personally am a quieter student so a lot of times I don't stand out, but all it takes is going up to the professors before/after class introducing myself or actively participating in class. The best class I took at Illinois was EPS 310 Race and Cultural Diversity. The professor and TAs were so knowledgable and approached the subject matter with such a humorous attitude it made the serious stuff a little lighter. Illinois has a little bit of everything where but in order to benefit from all that is offered you need to do the work to. No body is handing over grades, knowledge, and jobs on a silver platter.

I started off at the U of I as a student in the Division of General Studies, meaning I didn't have a major. As a freshman, I didn't know what to expect. I had heard everything imaginable from people about the academic life on campus. It was pretty competitive to get into the school, so I knew classes weren't just going to be a breeze. I had heard lectures were of epic proportions and that professors didn't care about you. I was aware that the standard of work was set above most public universities in the country. While I did end up having a lecture of around 750 people, I did not feel disconnected from my professors or my T.A.s (teaching assistants). Every professor I have had since my first semester here has held office hours in which you can come to them personally with questions about classwork or anything in general. I've learned that my professors are there to help you and want you to succeed in their classes. It pays to go to office hours and stand out amongst your peers. I personally made a great relationship with my Jour 199 Professor, and he is one of the reasons I transferred to Broadcast Journalism my sophomore year. I took Jour 199 "Television Talk-Show Production" my first semester of college. It was the most inspiring and useful classes I have even had the privilege of taking. The course is offered to only 19 freshmen every semester, so I was very lucky to sign up. Not many people think you can find classes with only 19 students at a college the size of U of I, but it's very common. Almost all of my discussion classes are made up of 20-30 students. Back to my story though, my jour 199 course set off my interest in production by giving me experience in an actual television studio in which we made shows for our student TV channel. That class prompted me to do so much: pick a major, join an RSO (registered student organization) called J.A.M.S. which puts together TV shows for the student channel, act in a commercial for our Brand New recreational facility on campus, and pursue my interest in production. The education I received in my classes has helped me attain an internship at the student-run radio station, WPGU, and of course, this internship here at Unigo :)

f you're not sure what you want to major in and you're just fulfilling gen eds, you're likely to be stuck in a lot of lecture classes with hundreds of other students. Once you start taking core classes, they start getting smaller and you can really get to know your professor. I'm an advertising major so my favorite classes are my core classes because they're fun, they keep me entertained. My least favorite class was cs105. If you don't need it, avoid it!!!! It seems to me that the amount of student participation is similar to any class throughout your life, sometimes you have students really involved that really want to participate, some students always answer, some students never do. I'm really happy to be an advertising major because I think it's one of the most interesting majors on campus. I want to complete a minor in International Arts because it is also extremely interesting. It is a very cool minor because you are involved in picking the path of your minor . You work really closely with the department to decide what you are going to learn.

most of the classes especially in the math and science departments are really competitive. One particularly hard class that i took was Calc 3. The professors are generally good, and all of them know their subjects really well. even though most lectures have at least a hundred people in them, as long as you sit at least near the front, the numbers seem a lot smaller and its easier to concentrate. plus there are discussion sections with usually around only 20 people and its usually pretty easy to get in touch with your TAs.

The best classes at Illinois that I was able to partake in were the psychology classes that I needed for my advertising major. Being able to participate in experiments and learn about how the human mind functions was one of Illinois' greatest strength in classes.

The professors will know your name if you want them too. It is easy to sit in the back of the class and go unnoticed. However, that is what I value about academics at Illinois. It forces you to take the initiative in your academic career. This is college. No one is going to hold your hand and make sure you know what the homework is and when the exams are. This is life. We are adults now and need to think for ourselves and figure out what we need to do in order to get where we want to be. I like the academic responsibilities that I have gained through the University of Illinois. This is a difficult school to get into, and once you're in, you need to take responsibility for your future. Most students study very often. Whenever I would go to the library, there were always a good amount of people there. The University of Illinois has one of the largest library systems in the nation, and its students definitely take advantage of it.

as an engineer, classes took up almost my entire life. they could have take up the entire thing if i let them. professors will know your name, some of them will know it whether you want them to or not. i had a 400 level concrete design course and the professor knew my name the first time i went up to talk to him. the first couple years, the classes were pretty easy and straightforward. once class difficulty began to pick up, with the 300 level classes, it became more important to learn actively by talking to professors, going to office hours, studying with friends after class, etc. by that point the professors expect that you know how to learn and they place more of the responsibility for it on your shoulders. my favorite classes were the first two geotechnical engineering classes i took, the introductory class and the foundations design course. this was mostly because of the professors. they were always available and very helpful and friendly.

One thing that bothers me about U of I is how big the lectures are. In lower level classes, lectures can have up to 500 or 600 people in them. And the only way the professor would know your name is if you attend their office hours on a regular basis whereas if it was a smaller class, like upper level classes, the professor would recognize your face and name.

Some professors are ok and others are a bore. Personally, I prefer smaller classes and more interaction between the professor and each student instead of passing students along to the teacher assistant.

Amazing classes. Some suck. Quality of Education is great. Some problems with registering for classes even though they are required for you.

Professors know you if you take the time to know them. Most of them are very helpful if you seek them. The classes are oriented to make students learn the topics themselves rather than feeding information to them. Many intellectual conversations take place, obviously depending on who you meet. There are many intellectual opportunities all around campus.

Since it's such a big university, one usually has to make an effort to get to know professors. I did however take a course with an experienced professor that only had 22 kids in it. It was a speech communications class, but it was really more like an "adjusting to your new life" class. Illinois offers a series of these "Discovery Courses" exclusively for freshmen. I'm an Accountancy/Finance double major. Accy is ranked number one in the country and Fin is ranked 11th. I've only taken one business class thus far, but it was awesome and I learned a lot. The students tend to help each other out a lot and it really is not too competitive in a destructive way. Most kids in business are highly motivated and ambitious

Illinois is definitely a big school that has millions of opportunities to make it small. Sure, lectures are huge and your professor won't know your name if you only go to class and stay quiet; but, they all offer office hours that very few people actually take advantage of. It's a great time for them to get to know you, and for you to become familiar with their thought process and expectations. You have to get involved in student organizations too. Not only are they a great way to meet people, but they are a way to further integrate into your major and career path. Illinois students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. In a campus with over 35,000 students, there is every type of person within a ten mile radius.

One thing that many people are worried about when looking at U of I is the class size. While the lectures are very big, there are also small discussion sections which will allow for interaction and any questions one may have. Also, all profs have office hours at least twice a week so you can have your questions answered directly from them if need be.

In your first year at U of I, it is likely that you will have a few classes in large lecture halls. After that, though, most classes are small and intimate. Teachers in these classes do know names and encourage opinions and participation. There are so many classes to take too, in every subject imaginable. I've taken classes called Insects and People (my science credit!), Human Sexuality (highly recommend this one), classes that require volunteering in the community, basic classes, everything. I LOVE the Spanish classes here too. Definitely has improved my Spanish hugely.

Class sizes can be really huge or kind of small depending on the class. But even if youre in a huge lecture style class and feel like a small fish in a big sea, you can make the effort to talk with TA's or the professor to make yourself feel more comfortable. Don't hesitate to talk up in class, it really helps you as well as others in class.

The academic environment at Illinois is great. If you're an incoming freshman and don't know what you want to study then Illinois is potentially in the top 5 best schools in the nation for you to attend, it has a wide curriculum and any major you end up choosing you can rest assured its not a bad program.

the lectures can be really large depending on your major, especially if your a freshman. but most lectures include a smaller discussion session that creates a setting similar to high school and allows for more active participation.