<p>There’s not much benefit in the academic learning communities, at least in my opinion. The class sizes are still large; it’s just that the entire community is in the same class together. The exception, of course, is the Intro to Arts & Sciences class. IAS is a one-credit class that introduces freshman to the various resources the University has to offer (library, academic assistance centers, nearby museums and neighborhoods, etc). I took it freshman year–it was kind of a dumb class but I would recommend it anyway.</p>
<p>You can take IAS without being in a learning community, however. I think one positive to a community would be access to classes that are hard to get into as an underclassmen. For example, I know a pre-med LC offers Morality and Medicine, a high-demand philosophy class that as an incoming junior, I still haven’t been able to get into (the class fills up quickly). On the other hand, I’m pretty sure this same community offers introductory biology. There are many sections of biology, and I would personally prefer not being tied down to a particular section, timeslot, or professor. A class like that can be rough, and I would rather “shop around” for a good professor (using RateMyProfessors as a guide).</p>