I am with Maya since around two years, after a short time I skipped the interactive creation and started creating "normal".
Also most of the tutorials I have watched and seen, most of the people do not work with the interactive option. But of course, this is personal preference, the software gives you the choice.
The other option beside cdbram's way; go to the menu under create and find the option box for the element you want to create. There you can adjust ahead of your creation how many devisions you want to do.

Hope it helps