<p>Classes are generally small. Core Humanities and Social Sciences classes are capped at 22. A few sections grow larger at the discretion of the professor, but most are reluctant to exceed by more than one or two (and sometimes the cap isn’t even reached).
Calculus sections are usually ~25 students.
Intro to _____ classes can grow a bit large (for Chicago standards), though it’s only exceptional cases in which 60+ students will be in a class. If there are more than 30 students in a class, typically there will be discussion sections/labs (usually led by a TA) in addition to the lecture.
After you’ve taken the Intro to _____ class, most classes in a field of study are back to the core class size or smaller, depending on time/professor/topic.
A couple of exceptions:
General Chemistry - It’s divided into two “variants” (which don’t really mean much. Differences between them are more due to the professor than which “variant” it is). The larger variant usually starts out with 200ish students. By the end of the year it’s less.
Sciences classes - From what I gather (I haven’t taken any real science classes besides Gen Chem), science classes often consist of a larger lecture and small discussion sections/labs. I get the impression that classes get smaller as you get more advanced and specialized.
Intro to Microeconomics - (taught by Allen Sanderson) - easily the most popular class at the university. Last spring there were ~230 people in the lecture. This fall there were fewer (It’s taught Fall and Spring, usually). However, in the Spring Prof. Sanderson and his 5 TAs had office hours such that there was someone available nearly every minute between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Prof Sanderson, lamenting the large size of the class, noted that it was still considerably smaller than the equivalent classes at most Ivy League schools.</p>