Jump to content

Menu

How many professors and students per major? Link?


lisabees
 Share

Recommended Posts

The IPEDS College Navigator (link) is the government source which lists the number of students graduating with specific majors as well as number of applicants/acceptances/test scores, etc. It does not indicate the number of professors in each field. But I found it to be a wealth of information.

 

Jane

 

Oops--Brenda got there first!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm scratcing my head about WHY you want the numbers of graduates in specific fields.

 

My older two went to the same college but had very different experiences. Dd majored in an "unusual" major for that school, one that is not highly tooted. She had an incredible experience. The profs were all highly supportive -- one still calls her occasionally to find out how she's doing! They arranged internships, research experience, etc. No set of profs could have done more or been more supportive -- but the major only graduated about 5 students per year!!!!! (This past year, one went to Harvard Med School, and two went to prestigious grad schools.....)

 

Ds, on the other hand, majored in a "common" field for the school -- lots of profs, lots of money, lots of bragging by the admissions office. Ds's experience has been that of benign neglect. No support, no camaraderie. The numbers might look great, but ds says he might have even chosen dd's major if he had realized the difference in quality earlier!

 

This is along story to say that size is not all. The numbers of profs is not all.

 

Get to know the atmosphere. Talk to students about the friendliness of the department. Talk to profs about internships and research. There is so much more to a department than cold hard numbers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm scratcing my head about WHY you want the numbers of graduates in specific fields.
It could indicate things like the number and variety of courses, availability of courses at various times of day, likelihood of a single prof and student not meshing causing huge problems for the student, chances of finding a mentor you like, whether you're going to feel like a number or an individual, etc etc.

 

If there are only 5 profs in that department, you might place more emphasis on meeting them before you make your decision than if there are 50.

 

Also interesting would be the ratios of incoming freshmen to graduating seniors (so you know to ask if they drop it because it is hard or because a particular prof is a such a jerk) and the ratio of profs to students (1 to 50 and you're not likely to find that mentor.)

 

It could also indicate a major the university is thinking about dropping (perhaps before you graduate) or a brand, new major (with less resources.)

 

Basically, it just gives you more data points to work with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...