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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My freshman kid is at a SLAC and one reason they chose it is for the small class sizes. In my opinion (and personal experience), there is a significant difference between a 40-50 person class and a class of 100-300. My kid had one class with around 40 students this year - that was their largest class, but the professor still knew them all, called on them by name, had lots of class participation, and was able to give very detailed feedback to them. No TAs ran labs or study sessions or did any grading. When grades were posted, the prof wrote each of the students an email about their performance in the class and her thoughts about other courses they might like in the department, and for some of them, that she hoped they considering majoring in the department. She also suggested research and summer opportunities to some of them. As for other classes, my kid's smallest class was 12 students - next semester they will have an even smaller class. And it's not just the relationships with the professors, your interaction with peers is also very different when there are 12 of you, or even 40 of you, versus 300 of you. It's personal preference of course but obviously there is a big difference.[/quote]

Everything you just described has been my kid's experience at a large state school.  She's on a first-name basis with most of her professors, several of whom have written deeply personal recommendation letters for her.  She's also never had a TA in the classroom at all, and certainly no classes larger than an intro of about 150.  Since then, her classes average around 30 people, more or less.  [/quote]

I don't doubt this at all, and I'm glad it has been her experience with her professors. But it is a very different learning experience to sit in a class of 12 versus a class of 150, or honestly even 12 versus 40 - again, I am not saying one is better or worse. Different students want different things. Though I am very surprised that she took classes with 150 students and there was no TA involvement in labs, study sessions or grading. That is unusual. [/quote]

Here are tips from a state school grad on how to get to know the professor.

Sit up front.

Introduce yourself before class.

Ask questions/answer questions.

Visit office hours once, early on, to have a 1:1.

Show up at departmental events they publicize.

Repeat office visits as needed to meet your academic and career objectives.

When you sit in the first few rows, the professors are looking and speaking right at you and it doesn't matter how many rows are behind you.

I personally didn't feel the need to have a relationship with professors whose subjects were of lower interest to me.  I did take small classes in my major and in areas of particular interest.

My later grad school admissions were after 7 years of work, and required work recs.  I knew this would be true while in college. So I didn't stress about needing recs from undergrad professors.

It all worked out fine.  I don't think a SLAC would have worked for me because the departments often have small numbers of core professors.  I liked a variety of classes and wide choice of professors.[/quote]

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