University of Connecticut Top Questions

The academics at UCONN are very competitive, but at the regional campuses with the smaller number of students, it doesn't seem so intimidating. As a potential business major, the classes that I am currently taking are very challenging and the professors are more than willing to help.

Classes at UCONN are challenging. They certainly aren't easy, and I have to work for every grade I get in my class. I am still in my freshman year, so I know I need to continue this work ethic in order for me to get into a good habit of trying to do well in all of my classes.

The academics at UConn are great if you show some initiative. Professors will not know your name if you do not make it known. Every Professor I have had, though, has been willing and ready to assist if the student shows initiative. They will not chase after you for late assignments or invite you to come to office hours. The challenge and rigor of academics varies at UConn. You can choose a science, math, or engineering degree, or join the honors program and you will be very challenged. It is also possible to pursue a history or communications degree and skate by for four years. Class participation is uncommon except in discussion sections and honors classes. Students do not have intellectual conversations outside of class. There are lots of academic-based extracurriculars but on the casual level students do not discuss their intellectual curiosities. The most unique class I have ever taken was UCann cook at UConn, a freshman seminar class that taught cooking. I spend time with professors out of class if I am struggling with an assignment or want to review the answers to an assessment. Professors aren't just a fixture on campus. Many of them commute to UConn and you must come to office hours or make an appointment if you want to find them. The education at this school is geared toward getting a job, after all, the purpose of a state university is to enrich the state.

Uconn, Stamford is definitely a place where you will build relationships with your professors and see them again for more classes to come. You can count on them to be there for you and available to you for questions, concerns, and extra help. So far my favorite class that I have taken has been Psychology 1101 with Dr. Sehulster. He is a phenomenal professor and does a great job organizing and teaching his courses. Class participation is common in most of the courses I have taken, this include frequent discussion periods in more than one of my classes. At Stamford, you can find the recourses available to you to have fun, but when it comes to midterms week or finals week you have so many different resources available to you to help you study. The courses available to you at Uconn are straight forward and geared towards helping every student succeed once they have finished their time at the University.

1) Yes if you make the effort your professors with know your name 2) Favorite class= Calculus 1, 2, and 3 3) Depends on the student 4) Yes clickers are used often 5) Depends on the student 6) Some departments are more competitive than others ie) Pharmacy and Education 7) Spanish Literature 8) I am a physics/math major, math department is very strong, physics department is not nearly as strong- professors are very knowledgeable but cannot teach 9) Yes, I try to get to know my professors fairly well 10) I think the general requirements are a bit over board but it serves to develop a well rounded student 11) I would say it is geared towards research

The academics at UConn really depend on your major. Some majors like Engineering require a ton of work and it can be really difficult, while other majors can be pretty simple. For my classes (Both gen ed and classes in my major), most have been pretty easy with the exception of a few. Gen ed classes tend to be in lecture halls of between 100 and 350 students, which makes some people feel overwhelmed. You meet once a week in a smaller discussion section though too. Once you get into your major, classes tend to be a lot smaller...a little bigger than a typical high school class. Professors in large lecture halls won't get to know you at all unless you go to their office hours. Professors in smaller classes usually will learn everyone's name. Depending on the department, UConn uses a lot of graduate students to teach classes. A little less than half of my classes have been taught by grad students, sometimes even the large lectures. I've never had a problem with incompetent grad students, unlike some people. I have heard that some are awful and a lot barely speak English. My only complaint with classes is that UConn currently doesn't have enough professors for the number of students, so it's a very stressful and annoying process to register for classes each semester. Until you're a junior, you will probably not be able to get into a lot of classes you want because they will fill up.

There is a large variety of classes offered here, mostly because of the wide range of majors that are offered at UConn. Your general education classes will most likely be held in lecture halls and exam based, but as you get into more specific major classes, they can become smaller and offer other assignments including regular homework, papers, exams, and projects. Personally, I believe that students are competitive at UConn when it comes to academics. As a human development and family studies major, I feel as though students are there to better themselves not only as students, but as individuals and professionals. Participation is common, and many of the professors are invested in our education. Although there are some professors that fall through on organization and commitments, many of the professors here are open to talking to and helping students succeed and further there education. Even if you find that you do not care for a professor, there is always someone available to talk to. UConn also offers many events that target professional development such as workshops, meetings, and conventions in which they not only help you build you as a professional individual, but provide you with resources to take the next step.

One thing I've found at this school is that the academics are what you make of them. Professors are always happy (at least, in my experience) to meet with you both in and outside their office hours, and all seem to really enjoy what they teach. As an Honors student, I'm used to seeking out the professors and they can be a real resource. However on the other side of the coin you have students who do nothing but attend lectures (or not attend at all) and cram for exams, just getting by. Logically they don't learn as much as someone who tries. The same goes for intellectual conversation--those who like school and academics will discuss it, and those who don't, won't. But if you're looking to really learn something and put the work in, UConn is a great school. My major is actually Individualized, meaning there is no department for it: I have to make it myself. Since I've chosen International Relations, there is a rough guideline (as well as a few required courses) due to its popularity--but as long as you can justify it you can major in anything. I really like that freedom. However, this again requires that you put in the work: you have to get several advisors, write up a plan of study--even do an interview before you can officially declare an individualized major. But regardless of the work, it's nice to know there are options outside of the (many, many) majors already offered here at UConn.

Classes are huge, especially freshmen year. If you want to remain anonymous, it's easy to just be known as a test average to your professor. But every professor has office hours where they can get to know you and learn your name. As finals get closer, the library becomes a little more cramped but there's always a place to study, whether it's the library, dorm room, or study lounge.

Depending on the size of the classes some professors will no your names others not so much but that all depends on you. Professors have office hours and there is no reason why you should stop by introduce yourself, ask for help or just to talk about some interesting things that are gone over in class. Again depeding on the class, some classes are centered around participation in discussion others are too big that there is no time for that but usually there are discussions for that course so in that time participation is easy. My major is Human development and Family studies and my second major is Political Science.

Classes can be huge. If you make the effort though, you can definitely get to know the professors. Basically, the academics are what you make of it. If you want to just sit and take your notes and learn on your own you can; if you want to ask questions, give opinions, get to know your professors, you can do that as well. Classes can vary in difficulty but it's safe to say that everyone on campus has those weeks where they can be swamped with work.

My professors don't really know me because I'm not the kind of person to approach them unless I'm really struggling. My favorite class would probably be my child development class, while my least favorite would have to be physics of music. I would say students study rather regularly. Class participation is usually common, unless the class is held in a huge, stuffy lecture hall with a professor that posts everything online. I would say that students are fairly competitive. The most unique class that I have taken would have to be a one credit cooking class. My major is Communication Sciences, for pre-communication disorders, with a goal career of speech pathology. I am hoping to double major in psychology as well. I feel like UConn is challenging, and education is geared both towards getting a job and for learning.

Classes are pretty large during the first one or two years here, before you get into classes in your major. Despite the large class sizes, professors usually make themselves available. If not, they will hopefully have TAs. This being my second year here, I have some smaller classes and many professors know my name. You have to participate in classes to get recognized and identified though. There is a good amount of class participation and there are some people that study all of the time as well as those who never study. Professors usually make themselves available via e-mail or office hours and even hold study sessions before exams.

Some of my professors I really like and am very close with, others I really don't like and because of that I do not like the class. This is a mix I think you would get at most schools.

At UConn not a lot of the professors know your name. However, this depends on your major. UConn is divided up into several colleges: School of Engineering, Nursing, Pharmacy,Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences. Once you get into one of those colleges it is your job to develop a relationship with your Adviser and your professors. At the beginning classes will be up to 200 - 400 students. As you get deeper into your major the classes will be smaller. I am personally a Computer Science and Engineering Major. All my classes regarding my major have been relatively small. This give me time to actually go to the professors office hours and ask questions. At UConn, there is a lot of possibility to do research because we are a research based school.In the long run you wanna chose what you want and like to learn instead of learning something just because of the income.it will bring.

As a freshman I'm taking a lot of advanced courses (organic chemistry, 3000-level French, Advanced Calculus) and I'm bored to tears. I find myself so under-challenged here that I've had difficulty remaining engaged with the material to the point that my parents are concerned that I won't finish the semester. I was doing more difficult work my freshman year of high school.

Overall professors are very easy going. My favorite class is sociology because I have a well educated professor who definitely knows what he is talking about, but he is not boring at all. Since most classes are big, most professors will not know your name and participation is not always required, so those of you who are shy don't have to participate if you don't want to. I definitely see students having intellectual conversations outsid of class, it is very common. Currently I am majoring in Sociology, which has different advisors which can guide you if you want to concentrate in something specific in sociology. If you need help in a class, professors can meet with you during office hours or you can meet with the teacher's aid, or you can go to the academic center where they can help you in a particular subject. I think the education at UCONN is geared towards both learning and getting a job. The first three years in general, students concentrate on learning and the fourth year on getting an internship.

I have had many more positive experiences with my classes here at UConn than negative ones. Oftentimes, you will be placed in a large class in a lecture hall. These classes can be very overwhelming for some students, but they are a common type of class a student here has. To make it much less overwhelming, and have a positive outcome with the class itself, students here are encouraged to go to the professor's office hours. When meeting with your professor from a large lecture class individually, you make a great connection and can grasp concepts much easier. You can meet with professors to get help on certain topics covered in lecture, go over your exams, or even just to discuss a topic that interested you in lecture further. It may be tough in lectures to take sufficient notes, so students here are strongly encouraged to go to our Academic Achievement Center on campus to learn better note-taking skills. I make an effort to speak to each of my professors one-on-one, so that they know who I am even in large classroom settings. Making a connection with my professors is a major component in my time here, because I feel that I benefit much more from classes where I feel comfortable with my professor. Studying habits truly depend on the student. You will see countless amounts of students working in the library each night, whether they're catching up on work, studying for an exam, or working with a study group. But, there are students who lack academic ambition sometimes. This is often seen when students just don't attend classes (which is most often seen in the big lecture halls). College is a time to become responsible for yourself as a student, and I have personally learned to truly motivate myself to put in the effort needed to succeed here. My favorite class so far has been Human Development and Family Studies 1060: Relationships across the Lifespan. This class was incredible, interesting, and fun. Although it was a 350-person lecture, it was very rare to see more than 3 seats empty pet class. Students LOVE this course! The professor is amazing, and you learn so much from the class. My least favorite class was a first-level Biology course. This was really just because I'm terrible at biology, but it was a prerequisite for the general education requirements in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The professor was fantastic, and incredibly enthusiastic. I just struggled a lot. I see a bit of competition among students here at UConn. This is mainly due to the fact that I am in the Honors Program, and lived in the Honors Freshman Community last year. Many honors students in a small place can be a bit overwhelming, but the competition definitely helped some students stay motivated. But, for me, the competitive aspect didn't phase me - I'm here to learn at my own pace, and am okay with not getting the top score! It's all about how YOU want your time to be spent here, not anyone else! Because there is so much academic support here, students are very motivated to really go after what they want, in both their majors and their future careers. I have seen many of my friends go off into the "real world" with incredible futures ahead of them. A lot of this is due to the supportive environment this school gives us as students. I started off here as an undecided major in the ACES department. My ACES advisor really helped me figure out what I was truly interested here at UConn. After two semesters of exploring my options, I realized that my interest fell in the social sciences - Psychology and HDFS (Human Development and Family Studies). My ACES advisor was a huge component in my decision, and I still keep in contact with her to this day because she was such an influential part of my freshman year. My advisors now are also incredibly supportive, and take the time to help me with my classes and future plans. Academic advisors are here to help students, but students are responsible to reach out to the advisors and seek help themselves. I am apart of the College of Arts and Liberal Sciences (commonly known as CLAS), and have both my majors' requirements and the CLAS general education requirements. This general education requirements, at times, can be a pain because they get in the way of my majors' courses. But, I've enjoyed all of my "gen-eds" so far. They're all outside my realm of study, and are very interesting. It's a great way to learn something new and out of the ordinary from your usual classes.

professors often are graduate students, PhD candidates. There are also professors of course and alot of them are really into helping students out. I just go through law school applications and several profesors and faculty gave alot of help and advise.

many classes are large, but if you introduce yourself to the professor and ask questions, even after class, or thank them for anything- they will remember you it is up to you to get to know your professors, but if you try they will be receptive

No they don't know m name. I liked my comm105 class. I didn't like my math105 class. I do think we have deep conversations. Students are very competative.

My major is Coastal Studies (or Marine Sciences), Bachelor of Science. It is a very small group, and it is based out of Avery Point, where many of my junior and senior year classes take place. In my current experience with this major, not many professors know your name in your freshman and sophomore year because lectures can be up to 400 people, and well, thats just a lot of names. Once you get down to the smaller classes for your own major, professors usually try to get to know everyone, also making it easier to make connections with classmates. Least favorite class is CHEMISTRY...its very very hard. So if you are majoring in a science, be prepared. I think my favorite class was Statistics, math comes very easy to me, and the teacher made everything so clear.

Some professors know me personally. Others-- those in large lectures-- don't know me at all. I make it a point to get to know some of my professors, either for extra help or future connections into my field. Do ask questions, either in class or staying after. Most appreciate it if you actually seem concerned about the class. Also, they like attendance. My favorite classes have been English classes because of the smaller size and more chances to participate. I also liked my Animal Behavior class-- my major is Animal Science, so it was a really interesting subject for me. Class participation is common in some classes, but not in large classes, or math and science classes. Yes, Uconn students have intellectual conversations, if you hang out with the right people. And a lot of students are more than willing to help each other with assignments. Animal Behavior was a unique class. I had to train an animal for this, so I trained a chicken from Uconn's Poultry farm. My Intro to Shakespeare class was also unique because most of the class was focus on interpreting and acting out a scene from one of his plays. My major is Animal Science, with a focus on Pre-Vet. This means I will be taking a lot of Chemistry and Animal Science classes. I sometimes talk to professors after class or through e-mail when needed, but I don't spend time with them besides that. However, I'm in a learning community, and I will talk to the associate professor and teachers assistant more. I'm more concerned with what Vet schools want. Uconn's academic requriements for Animal Science are mush easier than their requirements.

a lot of studying is required, the classes are pretty tough, teachers are real good about getting extra help

Students study depending on their workload, major & year. It all depends on the person. But I will have to agree that a lot more students study & succeed than the media shows. We do have many large lectures, which have discussions & lab w/ smaller amounts of students. But there are some smaller classes. I am nursing major & I love the support I get from the faculty there, it provides the feeling of a small college in a large public university.

I think the academics at UConn are challenging but needed. I am a business major and we have to take economics. These classes are aweful. They are very difficult. While your professor does not know your name, if you make a point to meet them and go to their office hours, most are very nice and willing to help.

if you are willing, you will receive an excellent education at uconn. that said, you can also just go through the motions and get by with passing grades without learning a thing. just like any institution, what you get out of uconn is what you are willing to put into it. your gen-ed classes are going to be long, boring, and pointless, but suck it up!! we all had to go through them! make sure you are interested in your declared major because that is when you get out of 500 student lecture halls and enter 20 student classrooms. you should really like what you are studying. most professors are great- they enjoy very much what they are teaching and enjoy it even more when young college students get excited about the material too. be prepared however, to be taught by a lot of teaching assistants as apposed to professors- these are masters and phd students that will teach your classes under the supervision of a professor in the discipline's department. no fear though, all my experiences with ta's were great! though the bureacracy of it all is enough to drive you insane, the actual academics of uconn are one this i am not able to bash.

I am a Biology/Pre-Med student and so far have been disappointed by the science department, particularly Chemistry. Some of my professors are very bland and don't seem to care if their students do well or not. But on the other hand, a few of my professors have gone above and beyond the call of duty to reach out to every one of their students (like David B. Miller). Although it may be really rough to get through the academic core at UConn, you will be at the cream of the crop when it comes time to apply for jobs or graduate school.

Just because UConn is a state school does not mean it is easy. We are definitely challenged. For the most part professors are very helpful. The class sizes are only big in Intro level courses and there is usually a TA that is willing to help if you are having difficulty. In the upper level courses, you become part of your school or department. You begin to know the professors and other students in your major, which is nice.

Most of the undergraduate Gen-ed classes are large, so the professors do not know our names. Because I am a spanish and comm double major, my spanish classes have been about 15 kids every semester and therefore the teachers know our names. My first spanish teacher-Jorge- was a TA (teachers assistant) and taught my class. He turned into almost a mentor in my freshman days, and i knew i could (and still can) go to him with anything. I love my spanish classes because the students in them are actually very interested in the language and intend to pursue their language skills, and because of this, classes are competitive and fun. Many classes at Uconn are geared toward individual furthering of knowledge, learning for ones own sake. Although when you get into high level classes in your major, there still seems to be leniency as to where one might like to take the knowledge he/she is learning and continue on a certain path to better himself/herself in the field.

Sometimes it is difficult attending uconn out of a highschool setting because the classes are so much larger! However you get used to it and it really teaches you how to be responsible for yourself.

I'm enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources as a Natural Resources Management and Engineering major. My friends and I do discuss classroom topics out of class because we find it to be an interesting subject (even some of us who aren't in NRME). But then again, who isn't concerned about the environment these days? This past semester was my first at UConn and as a transfer I had a later registration date that most of the university. I took five three-credit classes. They were all pretty interesting and my professors all enthusiastic about their subjects. I'll admit, though, that they were all pretty easy and that I haven't taken any challenging classes yet. I've heard that chemistry classes are pretty hard and some advice about that to students who aren't in engineering or pharmacy: if you need chemistry, take it in the spring. In the fall, they make it harder to weed out students form those programs.

Professors do not know or care about students' names. Grad student teachers do, however. Students are not very competitive.

I was very fortunate because most of my classes weren't huge, even though I did have one 100+ class and another 350+ class. Students are constantly in the library, but there are a good bit of slackers. Class participation depends on the size of the class. UConn's academic requirements are good.

A lot of classes are large lectures, so the professor won't know you unless you go to his office hours. However, a lot of professors in classes of about 30-35 people or smaller usually do make the effort to try to get to know their students. Expect a workload - especially in the school of education. I hear the school of business isn't all that difficult once you're in, though. The nice thing about UConn is that it's so highly accredited, so many jobs will take you into account, especially from the schools of education, business, and probably pharmacy. It's a research university, so expect some professors to assign their own work as well. And one cool thing that a lot of people take for granted is that many times, professors will be able to have experts in the field come to speak to the class. Skipping guest lectures is not advised - a lot of times, you may receive bonus points for attending, and skipping tends to make professors angry. Once, my entire 125 person lecture got an angry email from a professor because only about 1/3 of the class showed for a guest lecture.

Class participation varies from class to class, the students in the school of ed are sickly competitive to the point of being catty but otherwise everyone helps eachother out. No time spent with professors outside of class

At the regional campus the professors know your name, otherwise in a big class with anywhere from 300-60 some professors would obviously have the study more then the students just to know every name. people are always in the library studying and during finals week at storrs the library is open 24 hours and quiet hours are reinforced. in some classes class participation varies. when a professor asks a question openly to the class there is always that one student that answers it. Think of Hermione in Harry Potter, and it gets annoying. I'm not saying not to participate and if it is in a philosophy class your opinion is obviously wanted. if you know your major, thats great but if not, don't take ALL your Gen. Eds. at the same time, because in your junior and senior year you will be wishing to take those easy classes.

Academics at UConn are diverse. There are so many majors to choose from and different schools and departments that one can take classes in virtually anything that interests them. As a science major, I have experienced some of the most difficult "weeding out" classes for freshmen. For a science major, the requirements are difficult, but not impossible. Class sizes vary. As we go to a large school, large lectures make up a majority of classes. However, small discussions which are taken concurrently with lectures consist of intimate settings in which students may ask questions and discuss material covered during lecture.

classes are too huge, no real learning just memorizing. impossible to form relations with professors. most are rude new englanders anyway

UConn is the #1 public university in New England, and our academics are reasonably tough, for a public school. There are some huge classes in popular Intro courses, up to like 300 in a section, but complementary lab or discussion sections can make those a little more comprehensive than just taking notes in a lecture. Once you get into upper-level courses, the classes get much smaller. All the professors I know are very intelligent and pretty good at teaching, and the TA's are okay for the most part. Some of them don't speak english well. Certain niches of people discuss academics outside class, but for the most part the work ethic of UConn doesn't match that of tougher colleges.

Some classes are huge, others are not that big. If you get to know your professors, they can be able to help you in the long run. The classes are challenging, but all you need to do is to find the best way to study. The nursing program is very competitive here. If you get into the nursing school, consider yourself lucky.

Whether or not the professor knows your name depends on the class and the nature of the professor him- or herself. A lot of the Gen-Eds are huge and there's just no hope for the professor to know your name unless you really try hard. In smaller classes, though, your odds increase quite a bunch. Oh, and for some weird reason there aren't any lecture halls in the math part of MSB, so as far as I know, each math class is taught in a regular classroom with about 25 students or less (unless the professor over-enrolls) -- no huge lecture hall. I really liked that. Some professors try to get the students to participate, and others don't; in that respect, it's like high school. As a chemical engineering major, I'm destined for a mountain of work, and higher-level Cheg courses (junior and senior year) are only tought by one or two people, a few of whom I've already had, and one of whom is my academic advisor. I realize that it's going to be a ton of work to complete a chemical engineering degree, but the amazing thing is that even with a carefully structured plan of studies and a relatively full schedule, I still have anough "wiggle room" in that plan to acquire two minors as well: one in chemistry and one in environmental engineering. Also, it's important to note that the "ease" of majors at the school varies greatly. Business catches some heat in the Instant Daily part of the Daily Campus for being one of the easiest majors, but getting into the School of Pharmacy is supposed to be one of the hardest things on campus.

In high school, classes are pretty much self-explanitory. If you're taking English, you're going to learn about Shakespeare. If you're taking math, you're going to have to find x. But at UConn, the area that a class falls under doesn't even come close to revealing how much ground you'll cover in one brief semester. I've had some of the most intense political debates in my Spanish class and have written some of the most philisophical essays for my English class. Here, knowledge has a neat way of melding together.

Social sciences department gets no funding and is completely ignored at the University. If you're doing business, you'll do extremely well!

None of my professors know my name. I usually am always encouraged to talk to TA's when I need help or have a problem and most of the time the TA's are not knowledgeable on the material because its not their expertise. Its hard to get into classes you need for your major and they don't offer the variety you might like. The acedemic requirements are a bit aggrivating and don't really allow students to pursue what they want/are good at. Students are not competitive and I don't think professors encourage it at all. Its very easy to get by on the bare minumum amount of work.

At UConn, you experience a wide variety of interaction with students/professors. Last semester I was in an English class that was held for an hour and a half in a small classroom where the average number of students present was 15. My professor knew my name (and in fact, everyones!) and engaged with all the students as best he could (especially if you were reluctant to speak up). This semester most of my classes are huge lecture halls and then small sections for discussion. I don't get to interact with my professors directly except for in one class, but there's always the option of going to their office hours and talking to them them. The class I'm in now, The Historian's Craft, required of all history majors the semester after they declare, is a small, roughly 20 student, class where once again, the professor knows everyone's names and interacts with them. Participation in class can be common, depending on if you get a good group. If you get a bunch of nervous people or ones that don't do the readings/homeworks then the class is going to be really boring, if you get a group of people who are interested in what the class is about and do the readings, the discussion and interaction will be the sole reason that you'd want to get to class, to see what your classmates thought of the readings and if you thought the same things. The most Unique class I've taken was a class called "Modern Revolutions" Which is kind of a misnomer, because we learned about revolutions as far back as the French revolution in the 18th century. The class was roughly 70 students and the one professor. She made it her job to know all of our names (handing out masking tape and a marker the first few weeks to aid her in remembering) and to engage the class. This was a three hour, once a week class that was never truly painful to sit through, because we didn't just listen to Phoebe (or Professor Godfrey if you wanted to get formal) talk about the revolution, but the people who weren't talked about, what ways some of the things that were happening now were similar to things going on in the past. She always encouraged debate and discussion amongst the class. Nothing would have pleased her more than to sit and moderate a class debate over points of a revolution or a certain political goings on in the present, than to stand and write facts on the board about that revolution. It was a really fun really interesting class and I always looked forward to Mondays that semester.

very hard to get to know/be known by professors since classes are so large. they say the average class size is a low number but that's only because they include discussion and english classes. (it's misleading)

The classes range from small classes where everyone knows everyone, including the teacher, to 200 students and no one knowing if you went to class or not. Its nice, though, you dont always skip, but for the times you cant get out of bed, its not a big deal. At least we dont have to ask permission to go to the bathroom like some other CT colleges. Classes go smoother when you have someone you can make friends with. It pretty tough to do it alone.

The programs they off are really good and getting into them can be competitive. I only know my professors name in smaller classes of about 20 or in the discussion sections. I don't know the names of my lecture teachers (unless they are really good and I enjoy the class).

Classes are real big but thats only through your required general education courses. Once you start taking classes in your major the environment and classes get smaller. You'll get to know your professors and classmates really well.