<p>This is stolen from a tour I had (seemingly so long ago) at UW-Madison:
Very few people do actually go to office hours unless they desperately need help. If you want interaction, those and seminars are easy bets for as much interaction as you want.</p>
<p>I came from a small high school (87 in my graduating class) where everyone called teachers by their first names, and I still stay in touch with several of my teachers there. Smaller classes were definitely great for knowing your teacher during class, but really getting to know who they are came from hanging out or other events with them outside of class, when they don’t need to teach more than a few people at a time. Thus far, my GSIs all know me by my first name, and yes, they’re able to be much more personable with groups of 20 than my professors with 150-500 at a time.</p>
<p>Huge classes aren’t too bad, considering all my high school classes were 20-25 students. If you want solely small classes, consider a smaller major like Engineering Physics or Nuclear Engineering in College of Engineering, or College of Natural Resources. The most popular majors will have large classes because they have to, but keep in mind that it’s very easy to pick out and find great professors. College is what you make it, and the ability to be a part of several incredibly specific clubs (CHAOS, Cal Fishing, CALPIRG) more than makes up for big lectures.</p>