Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which colleges are known to have the most engaged professors? Please forgive if this sounds ageist: DD is striving at a HS where most teachers are under 55, super engaged and energetic. They reward kids who speak up and never lecture at you. DD is so inspired by her teachers and it’s really lovely to watch. Hoping she can find similar experience at college.

The best professors are those who are most engaged in their academic disciplines both in the academic and in the real world practical application of their subject. This is one reason why universities located in or near major cities are so dynamic and motivating.

If you're seeking a pal or friend or drinking buddy, then look to LACs as they are small & isolated so profs often have a lot of time to associate with students.

Comes down to personal preference.

The professors at my large well known university were all much more focused on their latest book or speaking engagement than having interest in any of us. They had no interest in getting to know their students and didn’t really care how we did.

DD went to a LAC and her professors were much more engaged than mine were. It was not like high school at all. The professors were truly interested in teaching and cared about their students. There was no wanting to be pals or drinking buddies but they did provide research opportunities and were available for office hours if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lecture is still important. You don’t want to be in a seminar class filled with kids who know nothing.

LACs have lectures too. They just have 50 students in them, rather than 500.

But they also have many, discussion-based seminars where students are forced to engage actively in the learning after the professors introduce concepts or an idea. Many small, private high schools also have this system with great effect and impact.

It’s sad that some adults never grow up. If college is like high school, something is wrong.

To op, the best scholars are at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, MIT and occasionally Berkeley

But if you are a tech or STEM major you will never actually be taught by them because their job is to run a lab and generate benefits for the school. Teaching (outside of the grad students working in their lab) is not part of their job and actually a waste of their time. And top producers will not hesitate to tell you that.

The most famous/prominent scholars may also be jerks.

I was a female economics major. A government entry-level economist and an MBA. I had heard of Larry Summers of Harvard because of his running his mouth off about women nearly 20 years ago.

Today, because of Larry Summers being in the news for being an Epstein-associated sleazebag, I linked for the first time to a 4 year old blog post by a female economist that is devastating re: the abuse of power and elitism in the academic-centered economics profession. It's shocking.

https://macromomblog.com/2020/07/29/economics-is-a-disgrace/

The best teachers are the ones who enjoy teaching and are skilled at lecturing/communicating love of subject/managing meaningful discussion. They really do not need to be prominent. That is just added cool factor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lecture is still important. You don’t want to be in a seminar class filled with kids who know nothing.

LACs have lectures too. They just have 50 students in them, rather than 500.

But they also have many, discussion-based seminars where students are forced to engage actively in the learning after the professors introduce concepts or an idea. Many small, private high schools also have this system with great effect and impact.

DP. What school has 500 kids in a lecture? Honestly, the BS claims made here are so predictable.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at a lesser Ivy (one of Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia) and literally can't get a professor to answer an email. Sent one an email a month ago, resent and the professor never responded. Just had the same experience this week. It's like a black hole at this school. I know because the kid came to us "what am I doing wrong?" I had to say I have no idea. The questions were totally reasonable things that the professors could have answered with a line. And these were not world-renowned people who have 100 independent demands on their time but assistant professors.

Were the questions things that are obvious from the syllabus or would have been easy to figure out had they gone to recitation? It is not a professor's job to answer basic Qs that have already been explained. If the questions are about course content or class, then your student needs to go to office hours. Professors much prefer office hours to answer questions. Guaranteed if you copied your kid's emails and asked a professor, they would tell you why it is not being answered.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at a lesser Ivy (one of Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia) and literally can't get a professor to answer an email. Sent one an email a month ago, resent and the professor never responded. Just had the same experience this week. It's like a black hole at this school. I know because the kid came to us "what am I doing wrong?" I had to say I have no idea. The questions were totally reasonable things that the professors could have answered with a line. And these were not world-renowned people who have 100 independent demands on their time but assistant professors.

And yet my DC at one of those and bestie-neighbor kid is at another: they rave about the professors! Both students go to office hours and know the professors, so maybe that is the difference. Almost every one has been helpful. Friend and I are very glad our kids are there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which colleges are known to have the most engaged professors? Please forgive if this sounds ageist: DD is striving at a HS where most teachers are under 55, super engaged and energetic. They reward kids who speak up and never lecture at you. DD is so inspired by her teachers and it’s really lovely to watch. Hoping she can find similar experience at college.

That is ageist. There certainly are older professors who are worn out and tired of teaching the same thing, but there are also young teachers who don't have enough experience to teach well. One of my best teachers in my small LAC was a passionate, energetic, brilliant, and caring 70 year old who retired the following year.

Dc's favorite prof is 76, students bought him a birthday gift, second favorite has grandkids her age so around the same. Ivy.

Penn and Yale, kid at each. Amazing professors, very helpful and got both connected to others for various important opportunities

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is having this experience at Smith. Small classes from the first year with professors who get to know all the students. Even her lab first year was staffed by a professor, there are no grad student TAs. I imagine many other LACs are similar.

Do low quality phds end up as professors in these schools?
Surely, ambitious and brilliant professors won’t like to be bogged down by drudgery of taking undergraduate classes and responding to similar questions year in year out.

Some ambitious and brilliant professors care about teaching, while others don’t. If they don’t care about undergrads, they’ll stay away from the LACs (or move on as soon as possible).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is having this experience at Smith. Small classes from the first year with professors who get to know all the students. Even her lab first year was staffed by a professor, there are no grad student TAs. I imagine many other LACs are similar.

Do low quality phds end up as professors in these schools?
Surely, ambitious and brilliant professors won’t like to be bogged down by drudgery of taking undergraduate classes and responding to similar questions year in year out.

+100 to PP who called out this post. Places like Smith are dream jobs for most PhDs. 'Low-quality' PhDs don't get any jobs at all. Even the worst jobs attract top-flight candidates under most circumstances.

Yes. Each opening for a history prof, for example, gets "a median of 82 and a mean of 122" applications per position. At top-ranked or even decent schools, that number could be a lot higher. And the applicants are already people who were admitted to and received a PhD, both of which are very difficult.

(Numbers from 2019, but are similar today: https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/the-2019-aha-jobs-report-a-closer-look-at-faculty-hiring-february-2019/ )

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is having this experience at Smith. Small classes from the first year with professors who get to know all the students. Even her lab first year was staffed by a professor, there are no grad student TAs. I imagine many other LACs are similar.

Do low quality phds end up as professors in these schools?
Surely, ambitious and brilliant professors won’t like to be bogged down by drudgery of taking undergraduate classes and responding to similar questions year in year out.

+100 to PP who called out this post. Places like Smith are dream jobs for most PhDs. 'Low-quality' PhDs don't get any jobs at all. Even the worst jobs attract top-flight candidates under most circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:Do low quality phds end up as professors in these schools?
Surely, ambitious and brilliant professors won’t like to be bogged down by drudgery of taking undergraduate classes and responding to similar questions year in year out.

You obviously don't have a PhD, nor have you applied for tenure track jobs anywhere. Completely clueless reply.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at a lesser Ivy (one of Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia) and literally can't get a professor to answer an email. Sent one an email a month ago, resent and the professor never responded. Just had the same experience this week. It's like a black hole at this school. I know because the kid came to us "what am I doing wrong?" I had to say I have no idea. The questions were totally reasonable things that the professors could have answered with a line. And these were not world-renowned people who have 100 independent demands on their time but assistant professors.

I’m a professor and can say that assistant professors at those schools are incredibly busy trying to get tenure based on their research output. They are maybe more busy and stressed than the senior faculty. Teaching and answering student questions is at best a low priority if not an outright distraction.

I was advised as an assistant professor to spend as little time as possible on teaching.

That's true, which makes me think OP's kid does not go to Dartmouth, which is very undergrad focused. The downside to some of these big name research universities is that an email from a freshman is literally the last thing on a professor's mind, whether they are assistant, associate, or full professor.

But regardless of the school, office hours are where it's at. You can ask questions and get to know the professor there. But a lot of 18 year olds are scared of human contact and prefer to communicate on a screen. Their loss. Email is not a useful way to engage, especially at universities where every professor has hundreds of students every semester while they still need to conduct research and prepare for each class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is having this experience at Smith. Small classes from the first year with professors who get to know all the students. Even her lab first year was staffed by a professor, there are no grad student TAs. I imagine many other LACs are similar.

Do low quality phds end up as professors in these schools?
Surely, ambitious and brilliant professors won’t like to be bogged down by drudgery of taking undergraduate classes and responding to similar questions year in year out.

You know that a lot of people actually like teaching college kids, don't you? It's their favorite part of the job.

Professor jobs without the pressure to do research and get grant funding are heaven for many but are unicorn jobs.

Anonymous wrote:Which colleges are known to have the most engaged professors? Please forgive if this sounds ageist: DD is striving at a HS where most teachers are under 55, super engaged and energetic. They reward kids who speak up and never lecture at you. DD is so inspired by her teachers and it’s really lovely to watch. Hoping she can find similar experience at college.

That is ageist. There certainly are older professors who are worn out and tired of teaching the same thing, but there are also young teachers who don't have enough experience to teach well. One of my best teachers in my small LAC was a passionate, energetic, brilliant, and caring 70 year old who retired the following year.

Nothing better than being self taught. Go to T20 for prestige but if you could learn on your own, you are in a great position