The lower-division classrooms are generally a lot larger than upper-division. I've been in classrooms from 5 students to 500 students. This means professors generally don't know students by name the first two years unless you attend office hours (which I strongly suggest). However, in upper-division classes, most students get to work closely with professors and they begin to put names with faces. It's an awesome feeling knowing that you're not just another butt filling a seat in class.
My favorite class at UC Riverside was a Creative Writing class with Professor Juan Herrera. This class was by-far my favorite because we were given interesting books to read including now one of my favorites, "Always Running," and got the opportunity to creative a short story of our own. Taking this class my freshman year made me want to major in Creative Writing. My least favorite class at UC Riverside would have to be History 20 because there was tons of reading material and, personally, I found most of it to be boring. But, then again, history has never been an enjoyable subject for me.
Classroom participation isn't as common in large classrooms as much as it is in smaller classrooms. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with students that don't like to speak in front of large crowds, but that seems to be the case in my experience. Students tend to be more competitive within their field of study. As for the Breadth Requirements (lower-division classes), students aren't as competitive.
My major is Creative Writing and I absolutely LOVE the Creative Writing department at UCR. UC Riverside is one out of two Universities in California that offer Creative Writing as a major. The Chair of the department is Andrew Winer, author of recently published novel, "The Marriage Artist." I have had the privilege of working closely with authors such as Susan Straight, Tom Lutz, Juan Herrera, Andrew Winer, and Goldberry Long, just to name a few. We have an incredible staff of novelists and UC Riverside. In the Creative Writing department, upper-division classes typically hold about fifteen students. Thus, students and professors work together on a first name basis and every professor I know is honored to work with students on their writing during office hours as well. There is an incredible satisfaction of walking into a Borders or Barns and Noble Bookstore and seeing your professors name plastered on the wall or copies of their recent book stacked high on the shelves.
One of the best things about the University of California, Riverside is that it's a research school, meaning there are tons of research opportunities in a variety of fields. This gives students the opportunity to work one-on-one with a professor in their specific field of interest. At the University a professor have to publish a novel once every seven years and they always need extra help doing research. This is where students, if chosen, get the chance to research a specific topic with a professor. It's a great way to gain experience in your field and build up your resume. UC Riverside is geared toward setting up students for success after graduation.