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Senior Survey, 1998

A&S majors highlights

Displays accompany each of the key findings presented below. Displays 3a-8a and 10a-11a show ratings for all A&S majors combined (marked with an *). Ratings for other majors are shown only if their ratings differ from the overall A&S rating.

Recommend UCB (Display 1a): Between 69-95% of majors would recommend UCB to a friend with "some" or "no" reservations. Chemistry seniors are most likely to recommend UCB to a friend; Economics seniors are least likely.

Major characteristics (Display 2a)

• Overall, science majors rate their courses as most difficult. Sixty-five percent of MCD Biology majors say their courses are "too difficult," followed by Kinesiology (55%), and EPO Biology, International Affairs (not a science major), and Chemistry (all 50%). Environmental Studies, Sociology, and Communications seniors are least likely to say their courses are "too difficult." One-third of Sociology majors say their courses are "too easy."
• Slightly over one-third (36%) of International Affairs seniors indicate that the amount of structure in their major is "too rigid." Environmental Studies majors are least likely to say their program is "too rigid." Over one-third (35%) of Sociology seniors say their major program is "too flexible."
• Although a majority of seniors in every major say their program is "about right" rather than too theoretical or too practical, 44% of Economics, 42% of EPO Biology, and 41% of Environmental Studies seniors say their major programs are "too theoretical."
• Over half of Political Science and Environmental Studies seniors (58% and 52%, respectively) say their program’s emphasis is "too broad." Slightly under half of English seniors (48%) and 42% of Psychology seniors also indicate that their program’s emphasis is "too broad." A majority in all other majors say their program’s emphasis is "about right."

Importance after graduation and achievement now (Displays 3a-4a): Items that seniors say have greater importance and achievement are rated very similarly by seniors in all majors.

• All majors rate managing time/tasks and interpersonal relations high in both importance and achievement; Communications and Kinesiology seniors rate interpersonal relations slightly higher in importance and achievement than the other majors.
• Science majors report higher ratings than other majors for areas focused on scientific concepts and mathematics, and lower ratings for such areas as non-western culture and thought and world affairs.
• Some areas show a wide discrepancy in importance and achievement ratings across majors, with some majors rating them high in importance and achievement and some rating them low. These include world affairs, understanding scientific findings, foreign language, non-western culture and thought, american history, math/quantitative reasoning, and world history.

Satisfaction (Display 5a): On these items, ratings are very similar for all majors.

• Upper-division course instruction was rated highest overall, in particular for History, English, and Chemistry seniors.
• Chemistry seniors rated eight aspects above the college average: upper- and lower-division instruction, overall academic and overall cultural experience, availability of required and desired courses, course quality for employment or graduate school, and hands-on experiences in the class room.
• Economics seniors rated nine aspects below the college average: course quality for general education, academic experiences in the major, upper- and lower-division instruction, overall academic and overall cultural experience, availability of required and desired courses, course quality for employment or graduate school, and hands-on experiences in the class room.

Activities (Display 6a):

• In general, as compared to other A&S seniors, seniors majoring in the sciences are less likely to express their views in class, use the library to research a paper, apply course work to practical problems, and spend five or more hours writing a paper.
• Communications seniors spend more time than other majors outlining readings or course notes, working on small group projects, and giving oral presentations.
• Activities showing the widest variance in frequency among the A&S majors include reading a scientific journal (EPO Biology and Kinesiology highest; English and History lowest) and speaking a foreign language (International Affairs much higher than other majors; History and English lowest).

Starting Over (Display 7a):

• While seniors in all majors report that they would spend more time or put forth more effort toward faculty interaction, Psychology, Kinesiology, and Anthropology seniors are most likely to say so, whereas Communications seniors are least likely to say so. Communications seniors are also least likely to say they would devote more effort to participation in research or internships.
• EPO Biology and Anthropology seniors are most likely to say they would devote more time to academic advising; MCD Biology seniors are least likely to say so.
• EPO Biology, Political Science, and Sociology seniors are more likely than other seniors to say they would devote more time and effort toward academics and studying. Interestingly, in the case of Sociology, one-third of the seniors said their courses are too easy and less than 10% said their courses are too difficult (see Display 2a).
• Environmental Studies seniors are much more likely than seniors in other A&S majors to say they would go somewhere else besides UCB if they could start over.

Campus Services (Display 8a): Use of various campus services is quite similar across all majors. However,

• MCD Biology and Chemistry seniors are more likely than other A&S seniors to say they used CU listings on the World Wide Web; Communications, EPO Biology, and International Affairs are least likely to have used the web.
• Career services are more frequently used by Communications seniors as compared to other majors.
• EPO Biology seniors are least likely to have used the rec center; Chemistry seniors are least likely to have used advising services in the college.

After Graduation Activities (Display 9a): Among those who expect to graduate by summer 1998,

• Political Science seniors (71%), followed by Kinesiology and Psychology seniors (64% and 63% respectively), are most likely to say it is "highly likely" they will be full-time graduate students in the year following graduation; Economics seniors (7%) are least likely to say it is "highly likely" they will be full-time graduate students.
• International Affairs seniors (81%) are most likely to say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full time in the year following graduation. Three quarters of the Economics seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full time within a year following graduation from UCB.

One Best Thing About the Major Program (from Open-ended Comments) (Display 10a):

• Over all A&S departments, faculty performance is mentioned more often than any other comment as the one best thing about the major program.
• Though it is mentioned most over all, there is fairly wide variability across majors in the percentage that mention faculty as the best thing about the major program. Nearly 80% of History seniors mention faculty as the best aspect; high percentages of Anthropology and English seniors mention it as well. Environmental Studies, International Affairs, EPO-Biology, and Psychology seniors are less likely to mention faculty as the one best thing about their major program.

One Thing You’d Like to See Changed About Major Program (Display 11a):

• Generally, the most frequently mentioned aspect of the major program in need of improvement is courses (i.e., curriculum, core, or major requirements). Environmental Studies, Sociology, International Affairs, and EPO-Biology seniors are most likely to report this as an area in need of change. Environmental Studies seniors also mention academic advising as an area for improvement.
• Kinesiology seniors are most likely to mention the need for more hands-on experiences and real-life skills as most in need of change within their major program.
• Nearly one-third of Chemistry seniors mention faculty performance and interaction as a area for change.

Last revision 07/30/03