MiaDust

I was wondering how large classes are at Barnard.

I know that Barnard says 77% of classes are something lik under 30 students, but the classes I sat in on there were pretty huge. I've heard that most intro classes are. Can anyone tell me about their experiences in large or extremely small classes? Is it rare to have a class of under 20 students?

Also, I don't really like lectures. Are there a lot of colloquiums to choose from as well? I tried to get a coursebook but they weren't available.

Thanks!

aube88

Class size really varies. For the most part, you can choose what classes you take and thus, the size , so it's really personal prerogative. This semester, I am in one class with six people, one with about 15, one with 60, and one with over a hundred. However, that was my personal choice and you don't have to take large classes EXCEPT possibly for an intro for your major. For other courses, you can just avoid the intro courses and take smaller courses that don't require pre-reqs. So don't worry about needing to take big classes as this will only happen once or twice during your career.

However, you might change your mind about lectures. I came into college wary of big classes and hoping to avoid them, but during shopping period I fell in love with one course that was a huge lecture and stayed in it - and it was one of the best courses I've ever taken. Also, with many big courses, you have a discussion section. So for example, my intro film course is the one with about 60 people, but once a week I meet with a group of about 15 with a TA (who is awesome) to casually discuss what we've seen in lecture.

aube88

P.S. - definately not rare to have a class under 20 students.. in the past 2 semester about half my classes have been under fifteen. Language classes and first-year english are usually under 15 and in other humanities subjects, you can choose to take seminars which are discussion based and kept very small. Dont know about labs, though.

calmom

I think my daughter's smallest class has been about 7 students and the largest more than 300. Her major requires 2 colloquium and a senior seminar, so that pretty much guarantees at least one small class junior & senior year - plus the first year writing and freshman seminars are also limited to about 15 students. Even in larger classes I know that my d has been in very small discussion sections.

I would note that my d. also did decide that she enjoyed the large lectures. When I was in college I also found I liked a mix of one or two very small classes and some large lectures -- the advantage of the large lectures, quite frankly, is that the student doesn't have to worry about being expected to participate. The idea of a seminar might seem appealing, but it can be overwhelming when you have 4 or 5 classes that you have to prepare for. So sometimes its nice to just be able to go into a classroom and sit at the back and listen & take notes.

mardad

This is a math dilemma that comes up frequently in our lab when we study particle sizes. Suppose for example that you went to a college that offered only five subjects and the students only took one subject per semester. In addition suppose that subject A has 200 students while each of the others has only 15. In this example 80% of the classes have fewer than 20 students, but 77% of the students, 200 out of 260, are in a class of 200.
The large number of classes that have a small number of students is more a measure of the variety of subjects covered rather than the experience of an entering freshman. To compare the experience of the freshmen one would compare the class size of popular classes at the different colleges: Intro to Bio, Intro to Economics etc.

calmom

That may be true mardad.... but it seemed to me that my d. would have had as many small classes available to her as she wanted -- as noted, she has chosen a combination of large & small classes. I suppose that it might be difficult for premed majors or others where it is imperative to take a lot of intro classes, but with a humanities /social science focus my d. had an incredible array of choices. What was really cool is that she could opt for upper level courses to start -- there weren't many closed doors when she perused the catalog.

I do have a comment on the "math", though: my son started at a LAC that guaranteed to cap class enrollment in almost all classes at a very low number. The result? It was very difficult to get all the classes he wanted -- if enrollment is limited to 20 and 25 kids want to take the course -- then there are 5 disappointed students. When my d. started at Barnard she arrived at one class in a room large enough for about 40 students that was packed to an overflow crowd -- the prof announced on day #1 that if all the students wanted to stay with the course, he'd arrange a larger classroom. My d. decided to pass on that class but the next semester wanted to enroll in a class that had "limited" enrollment, but missed the cut off -- she immediately emailed the prof and he emailed right back and said that she could take the course. My d. has not had any difficult getting exactly the classes she wants -- in fact she is absolutely delighted because she has been able to schedule 17 points of course work for next fall, all on Tuesdays & Thursdays. The bottom line: no matter how popular a course or prof. is at Barnard (or Columbia), it seems that student can generally get what they want.

And I have a tip: if you really want small classes, including introductory courses, major in a foreign language.

mardad

Calmom, I agree. That would be another way of comparing colleges. See how many students are cut out of "L" classes.

panda2

like everyone else said, it depends. first year english/seminar are around 15, as are languages. but usually if it says "intro to" it's a lecture (although not always...some "lectures" can be around 35-40). I can't comment on labs. And it's also about the popularity of the class. you have to Lcourse small language classes, as well as popular 200 person lectures, like Political Theory or Interpretation of Culture (some sections).

as for lectures, you shouldn't be turned off by them, for the reasons other said (it's less preparation than a seminar, more relaxing, etc). also, if you make the effort, you can get to know the professors who teach lectures. i think many students are intimidated by the notion of attending office hours with a prof. of a lecture class, but it's a very good experience (not many students go to their office hours, and they will love you if you do!)

i would recommend taking some big classes, because if you're into humanities, once you're way into your major, you'll mostly have seminars/smaller classes.

panda2

oh, ps, if you don't have a list of classes:

Barnard College, Online Course Catalogue

honied_dreams

It really depends on the types of courses you're interested in, if you need to take introductory courses, etc. The largest course I've had here was Intro to Art History, around 150 students; this semester my largest class has 67 people, and it still seems very intimate. The rest of my courses have been around 15-16 people, and my Russian class is down to ten. Next semester I have one class with six people and one with four. I think with whatever size you end up in, however, you can work to make it seem much smaller. In Art History, for instance, I sat in the front row, and suddenly it seemed like there were only 15 people. Likely, you will have to take both large and small courses, but don't worry too much about it.