University of Kansas Top Questions

Though you would assume that with a campus of 20,000 students there would be little or no personal relationship between professor and student, I have all of my professors' emails, and have emailed them (they always give speedy and helpful replies). I even have a couple cell phone numbers. I am not a number at KU, I am a student who is cared for by all of my professors.

Academically, KU is great, as well. Most of my professors know my name, or at least recognize my face and can guess my name. I take many large science classes in the large lecture halls with 400+ students. I make the classes feel smaller by sitting up front. (Plus the professors usually know who you are if you make the effort!) My favorite class by far has been organic chemistry. Dr. Hanson is one of the best professors for the job, does great, and keeps all of us motivated when we're having a hard time with the subject. My least favorite class would have to be any English class, but only because I don't like the topic. Most study times depend on the students' dedication and major. Most people that I am surrounded by in classes study a lot, but we are all pre-med and pre-pharm. Business students seem like their classes don't demand as much dedication and study, but that of course is from a science major's perspective. Class participation is quite common. The professors work hard to get even the quietest students to chime in in class, even in large ones. KU students across the campus do have intellectual topics within conversations. College isn't all fun and games, you have to put something into it in order to take something away. The most unique class I would have to say was microbiology (BIOL 400) with Dr. Buechner. He kept us entertained and hammered so much information into our brains at the same time. And he gave some really good comparisons and presentations to relate to topics. And his ties were entertaining too! I am pre-pharmacy...one of the most demanding because things that pre-med students can take their third and fourth years we take our sophomore year. I enjoy my classes very much, though. The only classes I complain about are those not required by my major! I have spent time out of class with professors - that's how you get them to recognize you, know your name, and to know that you are dedicated. Any little bit helps in college! KU's academic requirements are not too demanding, and we don't have to take a physical education class because of the hills, which give you enough of a workout, if you don't take the bus, of course. The classes I have taken are definitely geared toward a career, not just learning for learning's sake. Like I have said, you must make the effort to get something out of college. If you are going to college just to slide by, you won't learn much or be very prepared for the real world.

I think most professors know my name, if they don't it's my fault for not making myself known. Right now my favorite class is Sociology of the Family, it is a very thought-provoking class.

KU is fairly well-known for its strong academic programs. The classes I have taken have been very good classes; I've really learned new and useful things in them, and I actually feel that that information will be useful after I graduate. The professors are usually very friendly and helpful, inside and out, and a close relationship with professors is made easier by the class sizes, which are not often large, especially in the honors program.

Same as above. KU provides great research opportunities, and within both the English Department and the Psychology Department, I have only had good experiences with teachers. They have been not only competent but inspiring. However, I have mostly taken small survey courses and honors classes, which tend to skew the level of academic interest. In the large classes, there is very little class participation and a lot of apathy.

I really like my psyc 104 class, with Dr. Vitevitch, he is a great professor and very animated.

Until you get farther into your major you can pretty much expect large classes. At first it was overwhelming to walk into a lecture hall with 900 other students but it isn't bad and the professors work with you outside of class if you need some one on one time. Almost all of my professors thus far have been exceptional. I definitly suggest taking advantage of office hours even if you dont think you need help in a course because sooner or later you might need a recommendation letter and any way you can get the professors to remember you will help. I honestly expected the classes to be much harder than they are. As long as you show up to class and do your work it is not very hard to pass your classes.

I am a civil engineering major. My classes are small no bigger than 50 students for most classes. Everyone gets very close in my major, you will probably take the same classes with the same people. All my professors know my name within the first 2 weeks of classes starting in my department. In other departments, if you are willing to go to office hours you will get to know your professor. I love my classes and the professors here are very willing to help you anytime. The number one thing to remember is if you need help ask for it. The engineering school is very geared towards getting a job after graduation. They want you to be the best engineers you can be. While theory is important, they encourage internships and coop's to get some real world experience.

Yes. International Ethics: Most challenging class I have ever taken, learned the most. Introduction to Fiction - no comment... it was just my least favorite. - Study enough. Participation is limited. Students are pretty competitive, especially when you begin taking higher level classes. International Ethics. Political Science Department is full of a lot of intellectuals who are very inspiring to me. In the office or occasionally at a coffee shop, or bars rarely. Some of the Departments require too much. Like the Fine Arts department requires a minimum 3.0 GPA to be accepted, which seems a little backwards to me. I never thought Grades meant that much to artists. KU gears for both learning for one's own sake, and gearing you for a job.

I can't speak for other students, but I have been very impressed with the School of Engineering. I have never taken an Engineering class that was not taught by a Professor, and they make a genuine effort to learn your name and where you want to go in life. They have a strong academic standard in that they don't mind challenging the class academically be also want to help students succeed. It is very geared to getting a job, which is great because that's why we are here. The school of Engineering does everything they can to help us prepare for the job market.

half of mine know my name. Those are my small classes though. My favorite is english. Least econ. Around my building lots, but I live in the honors dorm. Class participation is common in smaller classes, but can be in large classes too. I do, and the people im with do. Oh yeah they are competative. My black history class. I am a journalism major with italian geog and psychology added to that. No I dont spend time with them out of class. I think the requirements are well thoguht out and are good. Both aspects usually.

This is the area that I believe is lacking the MOST, and also the reason that I am probably transferring next year. I have only been at KU a year, and I have never had a class that I have liked. I don't enjoy my professors, and they have been incredibly hard to work with in and out of class. I have been to six advisers, trying to come up with a 4 year plan. NONE of the have helped me. I think that the general student body is not competitive and this creates an environment that is not conducive to learning or studying. Class participation is not common at all, but professors and GTA's don't try to involve students.

The main thing to remember is that there are a lot of choices at KU. If you decide to take large, 200-300 person classes, and you don't go to see your professor, most of them won't know your name. You have to make an effort. Honors classes are smaller, allowing the profs. to get to know you better. Just like any other place, you'll find a few profs who don't care, a few TAs who don't care, but a lot of people here will do whatever they need to to help you out, you just have to ask. Students can have intellectual discussions outside of class, definitely... it depends on who you hang out with though. Recently, my roommate and a few friends went on a Jane Austen movie binge. The same group of us were having discussions on evolution, religion, politics, things like that. It all depends on what you want out of your experience. Miscellaneous academia: some students, like my impromptu library club study a lot. Some students don't care at all and never study, but most are in between. Some participate in class, some don't... you can tell how interesting a class is by how much people talk in it and about it. There's a spectrum of competitive and non-competitive students. Chemical Engineering: I've made friends in my class, of course. After the first or second semester, you realize that you'll be spend A LOT of time with these folks, especially your senior year. You won't be able to get away from them, so learn to like them. Professional schools tend to push internships and career fairs, but a lot of classes are there for learning/interest. The work load is dependent on your decisions: as a pre-med chemical engineering major, it gets pretty hairy. Friends that are music majors are constantly in rehearsal, but other choose not to participate as much. A lot of this comes down to your own decision.

Professors will get to know you if you want them to. They're really good about meeting with the students if they schedule an appointment, and will discuss the class with them and any homework issues. However, if you make no attempt to keep in touch with your professor they usually won't try to get to know you on a personal level, ESPECIALLY in the bigger classrooms. But if you want to meet with your professor they're really nice about it. My personal favorite class has been philosophy, because of my teacher but also the subject matter is interesting. If you can get out of intro to chem though go ahead and do it, because it's a 900+ class first semester and 500+ class second semester and i'm not a big fan of the professor. I'd personally say that students are competitive, but that's because I'm in the honors program and tend to hang out with intelligent people that want to do big things in life. However, there's definitely a mix of competition. Some just want to get out of here with a degree, while others are in it for the long haul. KU's specialty is their journalism school, it's really popular. We also have a REALLY good special education department. I think it's the first in the nation, but don't have a reference for that.

Several of my professors do know my name. Its harder in larger classes, but if you talk to them enough and go to their office hours, they will eventually learn your name. An organic chemistry professor, Paul Hansen, knows a lot of students names and will always ask for yours, even though it might take him a while to remember it. A lot of times, professors will at least recognize you if you run into them outside of class, so that's a plus. Being involved certainly helps as well. I haven't really had a favorite class so far, although the most interesting I have taken is the History of World War 2 (which was perhaps so interesting because after 3 semesters of science/engineering, I finally got to take an elective). My least favorite class is physics. I don't believe the physics department here is very good. They seem to have trouble teaching down to students or aren't engaging at all. The amount of time students varies depends greatly on your major. I spend the majority of my time studying, when I'm not in class or meetings. I would say, on average, engineering students study about 4-5 hours a day, including weekends. It's often more. My professors in engineering are good though, they know my name, even though there are quite a few of us, and they are very, very helpful. I've gone to professors from past classes asking for recommendation letters are they are always very enthusiastic to help. I believe KU has appropriate academic rigor/requirements. Sometimes it seems like students can skate by in classes though, and I don't think thats fair. I feel the requirements to get into KU could be a little tougher, but not to Ivy League levels. It all depends on how much you are willing to put into it.

Most of the professors I've had still remember my name. They are great at getting to know you because they realize that there is a chance that you will be coming back to them for a letter of recommendation, and they need to know you well enough to write that. I have two favorite classes. One of them is Chemistry with Dr. Cindy Berrie. She just made it that much more exciting to be in her class. She knew the answer to 99.9{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the questions you could possibly ask her and she would start getting excited about the material she was teaching so she would make all of US that excited. It was a lot of fun being in her class; you never had a chance to fall asleep. The other one would have to be Materials and Energy Balances. As much as I hated the process of learning it, I knew that I came out of the class learning the most and that mattered more. Differential Equations with Dr. Oh was awesome too; we have great professors, but its up to you to look for them. My least favorite class would have to be physics of any kind because the physics department, here at KU, isn't that great on the teaching end of things. The students that I hang out with study practically 24/7, but that's what it takes to be an engineer. The other friends that I have study while its still light outside and have time to relax at night time. Class participation is BIG. There will always be the one or two shy people in class, but otherwise, they just jump right in. I've had intellectual conversations with people when a big group of us was out to dinner to celebrate the end of something or another, like EXPO. It's basically inevitable. Students are very competitive; it's hard not to be because that's the only way you will get anywhere. The most unique class I've taken is Chemistry with Dr. Cindy Berrie, as explained above. I'm a Chemical Engineer; in the school of engineering, it's like we build our own little community within KU. That makes it so much easier to get involved and be knowledgeable about what is going on around campus. There are so many resources to help us out; its up to you to take advantage of them. I do spend time with professors outside of class and it's great. This is where a lot of the intellectual conversations take place too and its fun. KU's academic requirements as a whole is not something I can talk about, but as far as the school of engineering is concerned, it's definitely something that is obtainable, but something that you will need to push yourself for. As for the classes I've taken, yes, the classes at KU are geared towards both. Learning all of this now will make getting a job that much easier. I mean, if I didn't enjoy chemistry that much, I wouldn't have gotten the CHEM TA job.

In the smaller classes. Editing is my favorite. It's really hands-on and I learn a lot. My least favorite is Western Civ. It's a lot of work and it seems pointless. Several hours a day. Yes. Yes. Not really. They're more cooperative. I'm taking one now about the American West. I'm a journalism major. The classes are really challenging because they're very hands-on. You get a good sense of what it's really like to be a journalist. Sometimes. The requirements are okay. The Western Civ. one should go. Both.

I feel that most of the students here at KU are intellectually aware. I can remember being at the dining hall of all places and starting a conversation with a couple of my friends about the morality of politics. We discussed the question of the morality of abortion, stem cell research, the death penalty, and how much control the government should have over these issues. We sat there talking for about two and a half hours and then continued our discussion once we got back to the dorm. I love the music department here at KU. The faculty are amazing and are willing to do as much as they can to make sure we have the skills we need to succeed. The level of competition here at KU keeps things interesting and really encourages us to pursue excellence. The best thing about the department, though, is that we all support each other. No one wants the person next to them to fail. It's a truly great, positive environment in which to learn and make music.

My professors are amazing and so have all of my classes. I have a great mix of smaller classes and bigger lectures. I like the fact that I get to have one-on-one contact with my professors through discussion classes, recitation sessions, and office hours. I have found that classes are only taught by TAs when the professor wants to evaluate the TA's teaching ability. My favorite classes so far have been Journalism 101 with Barbara Barnett and Psychology 120 (Personality) with Dr. Stephen Ilardi. They are both interesting professors that understand that their students aren't too keen on just sitting and listening to a lecture for an hour. They engage in discussions, make a serious effort to learn the names of their students, and ask for input from the students.

Most of professors in my classes know my name. My favorite classes are Applied Behavioral Science classes. My least favorite is Humanities. I spend time with one professors outside of class. It is difficult to have a study group with other classmate.