<p>“That, I believe, is the typical model at most state universities.
That’s not what I would want or expect from most courses (even many 1st and 2nd year courses) at an “Ivy”, public or private.”</p>
<p>tk, Chicago may be an exception among research-intensive institutions, but at most private research universities, Ivy or not, intro-level classes are large (over 150 students) and are often broken down into small discussion sections led by PhD students. I have seen classes at Harvard, Cornell and Columbia that enroll over 400 students. That is by no means a bad thing. Intro-level classes hardly require Nobel Laureates instructing students in an intimate setting. That would be a waste of resources. And in many instances, 3rd or 4th year PhD students at top 10 departments are as brilliant as professors in their field. From what I have seen, most Ivies do not offer undergrads more personal attention than elite public universities. </p>
<p>Now the question beckons, what does Chicago do with its 3,000 graduate students enrolled in traditional discipline programs such as Economics, History, Physics, Mathematics, Political Science, Psychology, English, Chemistry etc…perhaps they are all engaged in research assistant positions, but that is almost impossible to do at most other universities as there simply aren’t that many RA positions available.</p>