Have you ever created or been given a dataset that is much larger than what you need? The cookie cutter 'Clip' tool is what you need to cut your feature classes down to size. No need to process more data than you have to! But if that original feature class had some really classy symbology assigned to it that you would like to carry over, it won't happen automatically. Watch how to use the 'import symbology' option to make sure that your feature classes are all consistent.