[dblarons]

I thought roughly the same thing until this semester, my fourth in university. I took my first class with under 10 people, a combinatorics class, with an outstanding teacher. The class was demanding, and it is the first time I have attended office hours on a weekly bases. I learned more than I ever have in any single class in my academic career, and I can directly contribute that to the amount of interaction I had with my professor. Now, had he been less adept at explaining concepts, perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference. But having easy access to him directly impacted the amount I learned.