Brandeis University Top Questions

Professors in most of my classes (excluding my intro classes) know my name. My favorite class was my USEM first semester, which is a seminar class that all first-years have to take. These classes have around 16 people in each and all have different areas of study. Mine was focused on American Modern Drama, taught by Scott Edminston and I loved it. The education at Brandeis is geared towards getting a job, however we are heavily encouraged to take a wide variety of classes. It is very competetive here, especially in the Science programs.

As a history major, the academics were top notch. I've taken classes as small as 4 students, and as large as 150 in the history department. Professors are almost always very flexible about meeting with students, and many of them really take the time to get to know their classes (i.e. students' names). The requirements for the history major (any 8 history classes, up to 4 either cross-listed courses from other departments/study abroad courses), meaning you have a very flexible schedule as well. Even the general education requirements at Brandeis aren't so rigid that you can't finish them within your first year or two at Brandeis if you so desire.

1) All of them do. 2) I don't have a favorite class. I like them all. Likewise, I don't have a least favorite class. 3) It depends on the student, and on the class. Some people don't ever study, and others study all the time. 4) Class participation is probably like at any other school -- common among some students and classes, uncommon among others. There are always people who always participate in class, and always some that never speak. I will say, though, that there are a lot less people that never speak than I remember from high school. 5)YES! This is one of the reasons why I love Brandeis. You can always basically walk up to a stranger and start talking about ancient Chinese philosophy, or organic chemistry, ending up with a great conversation and a new friend. Pretty much everyone has a passing knowledge of most subjects. 6)Not in grades; people seem to keep their grades to themselves. As for impressing others with their amount of knowledge by bringing up the most sophisticated or intellectual topic at hand during a class, why, sure. Any self-respecting (read:pompous) pedant like myself must prove their intellectual superiority to everyone. 7)Again: the Environmental Field Semester. It's like nothing that's ever happened elsewhere ever. 8)When I came to Brandeis, there was no Environmental Studies/Science major. Halfway through my first semester (which happened to be second semester), they formed an Environmental Studies major. I was like "thanks!" Thus, it's a new major, but the professors are awesome and I think it'll grow well. 9)Absolutely. You can always ask for help, and you can always just go to them to chat. 10)I like the requirements because you have to take a course from every school and you have to take at least one writing-intensive course. So, if you're a physics major, you still have to take a class that focuses on essay writing (though you could probably find a physics class that's writing-intensive), and if you're a medieval Europe major, you still have to take a "non-western" class. It makes you try new things -- and who knows? Maybe you'll find something else that you like to do. And then you can combine them. I have a friend who's premed with an Art minor. I'm sure he'll be great at surgery! 11) It depends on the school you're in, your major, and on you as an individual -- and there are always exceptions. For instance, most premed students aren't doing it for the sake of learning, since premed is clearly geared toward med school. Also, many classes have prerequisites that seem to suggest that you must be on a certain major/career track in order to take them, but if you talk to the professors, they'll usually let you take the course if you're just interested. Also, you're allowed to take courses for pass/fail grades if you just want to take the course for the sake of learning. I'd say all-in-all most people at brandeis think that learning is fun.

I've found nearly all of my classes to be great learning experiences. I've loved my education classes as I've found the small class size with veteran teachers and administrators to be very beneficial. Writing for the Media was a great class as it taught practical skills I needed to know to become a journalist. Class participation is always very common as Brandeis students love to have intellectual discourse. Professors are, on the whole, accessible and very eager to meet with students. (My journalism prof. gave us her work phone, cell phone and home phone so we can always be in touch about assignments.) The academic requirements are, with a few exceptions, very easy to fulfill. In other words, you will probably fulfill them all by just taking what you would take for your major and interest. Although, I did have to take Intro to theater for my creative arts requirement, which had a very time consuming practicum attached to it.