A common misconception at a school with such a large population is that every class is made up of hundreds of students. Though it is inevitable that some of your 100-level lectures could be around one hundred students or more, this does not apply to the majority of your classes, especially not your major-based classes.

Upon coming to college, I didn’t want to feel like “just another number.” I was close with my teachers in high school, and I wanted to continue that with my professors in college. I thought that by coming to a school with 20,000 people, it would be hard to have the one-to-one connection that I was so comfortable with. However, it was a pleasant surprise for me to see how easy this connection is to make with the professors here. Even in classes of a larger setting, the professors at UMass make it clear how available they are to help you. Professors and TAs host office hours multiple times a week at your disposal to review course content, go over quizzes, or answer general questions you may have. I use office hours as a good resource for help because everything is at our fingertips here when we need it.

As for class sizes themselves, I have taken classes with ten people, and I have taken classes with 200 people. Though this can seem intimidating, I’ve learned to appreciate both. It all depends on the person, but I haven’t seen a difference in my learning based on the number of students in class with me. In fact, it’s nice to be in large classes because it’s a quick way to meet people, and it’s easy to ask for help from other students. As you continue with your education and begin taking primarily major-based courses, you will find that your class sizes will get significantly smaller. Once a semester, you are asked to go on Spire to select courses for the following semester. Each class says the capacity of students it holds, and the capacity varies depending on the time and location of the course. This allows you to choose which size you’re most comfortable with.

As I said, even in the classes of a hundred people, the professor makes it very clear of his or her availability and willingness to help us. I cannot stress enough how friendly and helpful the faculty are here; they understand that we pay money to be here, and they (successfully) aim to make it worth every penny.