University of California-Irvine Top Questions

Fatima Rony knows everybody's name. Other professors I doubt knew students names because lecture halls have hundreds of students. Professors will know you when you go to office hours which are a good idea. TA's know students names more than professors. TA's are actually sitting down with the students discussing while teachers are behind their podiums- that's the way it works. UCI students are very intelligent and have meaningful intellectual conversations. Especially about politic activity of the time. The most unique class I've taken was Russian Cinema with Professor Mjolsness. It was fascinating to learn about another culture and understand their films. Also Professor Sextons race and masculinity class was fabulous. I spent some time outside of class if I had an independent project, or if they came to Zotfilm, or a special screening. UCI is defenately not geared towards getting a job- at least not the film department. The production classes are a joke. There is no equipment. Being a UC school it is mostly theory bases. But that is why I went there. I LOVE film theory. I majored in if for the sake of learning.

I'm not really close to many professors. My favorite class was with Miscarriages of Justice - that class really opened my eyes about the many people who were wrongly put in jail for decades for crimes they never committed. I also love Professor Jesilow. He's a great teacher. I think criminology is one of the strongest departments on campus. The professors are all very educated and the classes are appealing. I just wish they offered more classes at more times so a larger number of students could join the major. I think overall the school does a good job of educating students and instills a desire to learn more.

Being an art major, I loved all my classes towards my major. I also enjoyed being able to focus on one area of art as I progressed through the curriculum. My situation was a little different than other students, but those I knew outside of the art school were studying ALL THE TIME. Well, most were. There are always the requisite students who show up the first day and then you never see them until the final. Most students are very competitive, and I noticed that the smaller the class, the more competitive it got (500 person lectures, not so much). The arts department is unique at UCI because it is the smallest school on campus. The administrators actually remember you when you make an appointment, and I was lucky enough to do an independent study with one of my favorite professors, Steve Criqui. All of my art teachers were well informed in their genre, and were willing to work with the class if things weren't going as planned. The academic requirements for art were to take many different disciplines to begin with, and then start refining your focus as you went on the the intermediate and advanced classes. I liked this approach, giving the students a broad spectrum of experiences.

Most of the professors know my name. My favorite class is Photo. Class participation is common in half of my classes. The students are not that competitive. The most unique class I have taken is the 1A-B-C series in Studio Art. My major is studio art. I do not spend time with the professor outside of class. UCI's academic requirements are regular.

Professors know our names when the classes are small or when students are obnoxiously disruptive. My favorite class was Theories in Psychology, which most people dropped after the midterm. Not to criticize my fellow classmates, but I have noticed that certain people send their minions to class to take notes for them, and these note-taker pimps somehow think that they can just study these notes they never took and still pass the course. I'm thinking about a quote about sowing and reaping. Seeds? I'd like to imagine that students Do have intellectual conversations outside of class, but quietly, because the conversations that buzz in my ears as I walk down Ring Road (big mistake) are loud and not intellectual. I personally chose to major in Psychology and Social Behavior for purely selfish reasons like self-enrichment and human understanding. I think the courses offer a decent overview of the field of psychology, though many of them stress memorization rather than understanding the actual material. The course material fills our little heads barely to the brim, but just enough to get a BA and to join the work force.

Most of the professors know my name. I like to introduce myself at the beginning of each quarter and I meet them in office hours. My favorite class at Irvine is physiology. It is all about how the body works and that is what i am mostly interested in. Students vary in how much they study. You have some that study all day long and you have others that will wait till the day before an exam to open a book. Class participation is common depending on the class size. If its a lecture of 300 students then its not too common. But if its a class of 30 then students are actively involved in the lecture. Students do have intellectual conversations outside of class. Whether it be about politics or evolutionary biology. Depending on what major students are they have more interest in talking about their own school subjects. The biological sciences major is the most competitive major at campus. It has the largest amount of students (3100) and graduates 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of each freshman class. The counselors do a great job in helping the students in what classes to take and what careers to get into. The academic requirements at UCI are to me what every college should require. They have the standard requirement for what I think wil prepare you for the future.

I would say that about 90 percent of my professor knew my name and that 50 percent interacted with me regularly outside of the classroom, which I greatly appreciated. By the time I hit my fourth year, I was regularly invited to visit some of my professors at their own homes or even grab a drink with them – bizarre but awesome. One of my favorite classes I took was one I didn’t need to fulfill an academic requirement and that was “Holocaust Cinema,” which, interestingly enough, was considered a comparative literature class. The professor was really engaging and everyone was really into doing the readings and discussions. We watched films, of course, and met with a Holocaust survivor. I looked forward to going to it every time. I also enjoyed the school’s Humanities Core seminars which is required to take if you’re in the School of Humanities. I actually liked all my classes and never dropped one because I didn’t enjoy it or at the very least, find it academically rewarding. I usually spent less than 4 hours a day working on assignments and studying but that increased once I decided to work on a thesis. UCI students tend to have a lot of intellectual conversations outside of class because we’re so academically-minded but not competitive. The English Department is highly-ranked, and it’s well deserved. The education at UCI is for the sake of education, but it really gives you the intellectual capacity to succeed in a career. We never really talked about future salary earnings.

yes they know my name because I talk a LOT in class. students study a lot or a little depending on major. They tend to study more in their third and fourth yrs it seems.

I have met many wonderful professors at UCI who care about their students. It is so easy to ask questions in class or attend office hours. Professors really try to be open and friendly; they are interested in getting to know your name, and helping you excel in and out of the classroom. I have met with professors at Starbucks, attended group meetings at a professors house or even met with professors on the weekend. Professors also visit student housing on nights and weekends to interact with students. I have really enjoyed all of my classes here. The curriculum on the honors program is difficult, but challenges you in a good way. The political science department is fantastic and offers a variety of courses--I wish I could take them all!

In my studio art classes, the professors eventually get to know my name because the classes are luckily a lot smaller than normal lectures, which can be as big as 400 students. My favorite class right now is my digital imaging class, which is learning photoshop and how to apply skills we learn to create our own designs and images. My least favorite class is a visiting artists lecture because the professor sucks and takes teh class way too seriously. Class participation is very important in my art classes, but in normal lectures, class participation is not always required. The education at UCI is geared more towards learning for yourself. All the resources are there to help you succeed, but it depends what you do with them.

The class sizes at UCI vary, but most classes have huge lecture halls (200-300) and a discussion of about 30 people once a week, in which there are highly educated Teachers Assistants that are usually very helpful with course material.

The biggest lesson that I think I can pass on is that students need to make an effort to get to know their professors. One of the best and sometimes only ways to do this is by attending office hours. UCI is a pretty big school and is a public research university. Some of the professors here are just in it for the research, sometimes that's the way it goes. But, make an effort to get to know your professors and you will be rewarded with connections, recommendations, and research opportunities, which help out a lot with Grad School. I've heard Bio majors complain about competitiveness for Med School stuff but I think that's true anywhere you go. I would say that UCI is a very academic school, we have top programs and top professors here to further that notion as well. The academics here are challenging and it feels like we're all being prepared for some sort of post-baccalaureate work after we graduate. All in all I have been extremely satisfied with my education here and it doesn't hurt your wallet like some private schools close by...

If you try to get to know your professor they will know your name but since it is a large classroom size, people who don't have input go unnoticed. My favorite class was organic chemistry. It made sense and was very interesting to learn about. I disliked General chemistry. I think that students study the amount necessary for their majors. Certain majors do not require much studying to do well in, however, some require lots more. I think that a good degree of students have intellectual conversations. I myself have discussions about how things work, why it works biologically, outside of school. The competitiveness of our school would be on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, I would say 6-7. There are some people who are very competitive, but I have heard horror stories at different schools where people sabatoge other people's work. I go to some professor's office hours to get more help on the material and also to get to know the professor better. UCI is a pretty good school and it helps me to be more knowledgeable and smarter in thinking. So I am happy to be getting an education from UCI, especially because UCI is getting more competitive.

I have a couple of professors that know my name. They tend to make the effort to bond with the students if they are approached. Professors in the School of Social Sciences are really fun and have many experiences they like to share. Studying is directly proportional to whether you go to class AND pay attention. Class participation is common but very dependent on the professor asking for it. UCI students are very relaxed and tend to leave intellectual conversations to the classroom or for their organizations. Competition is not clearly seen, but it exists. UCI gives plenty of opportunities to get students into the job field they like.

UCI is still a small pond for a big campus. Professors definetely know the students who make an effort to impress them a bit. I've had pints at the pub with many professors and weekend lunches arent uncommon either. The faculty is pretty distinguished, but not too stuck up or busy for the students. Research is HUGE at UCI and if you want to you can get more done here as an undergrad than most grad students will in the first couple years of a P.hD program. There are some tight ass classes that everyone takes with professors who are hilarious, thought-provoking, and simply chill. Theres a modest amount of competition here, but most people are more concerned with their outside endeavors like work (since a lot of people make professional incomes while in school here). The sciences are kind of rough here since there are so many kids who dont do much other than study, but the social sciences are awesome. The academic program is what you make it. If you dont try very hard it wont be that interesting, but if you actually look for good classes you can find some of the most interesting stuff i've seen at any college.