I'm a neuroscience & psychology double-major and the reputation of the neuroscience program here is the reason I came in the first place. The classes are challenging and you have the opportunity to learn a lot if you apply yourself. You can really tell when a teacher knows their stuff, as well as when a teacher is very passionate about what they do. A lot of professors in the science department are doing their own research, so they need students to help in the labs. The experience you can get from working with a professor on their research is very valuable, both while you're a student and in the future. The head of our neuroscience department is also very highly regarded, and works very closely with students. You don't always get that at many other schools, especially the bigger ones, where they may still have really great researchers teaching and mentoring, but who mainly focus on grad students. I know freshman who have come in already working in the neuroscience labs their first semester.
Our music conservatory is very highly regarded, and while I'm not in it myself, I know many, many people in the conservatory and they all seem to be highly skilled indeed, from my perspective. They feel that the program pushes them and drives them to do their best, and they always seem to be enjoying themselves.
I also know some education majors, and from what I've seen, the program is quite rigorous. If you want to be a teacher, they'll definitely make you work for it, but many of the education majors and minors I know also get to have a lot of field experience in schools throughout the area.
On the other hand, the math program is quite horrible. I'm not too far up in the program since it isn't much required for my major, but in my experience and that of people I know, the Precalculus and Calculus courses at least are not very well-taught. Some teachers just need to retire. You probably know what I mean. I've heard it said that some consider that math program to just...
Do you enjoy the experience at your school?
The campus has a nice comfortable feel to it. It's not the most lively, and not very sluggish either. It's relatively small compared to many out there, and nestled in a relatively small town, but it has a nice homey feel to it.
There are many types of people here, and many activities and organizations to get involved in. It's not too hard to find your niche, in my opinion, especially if you get involved with activities on campus, which is very easy to do. The campus is full of musicians and artists, as well as business and sports management majors, and of course scientists and philosophers. There are also several fraternities and sororities on campus, and Greek life constitutes about 20% of the student body, if I'm not mistaken, which is nice because if you want to go Greek, it's there for you and very much active, and if you don't then no one's going to push it on you. Furthermore, the Greeks here aren't your stereotypical frat bros (plus hazing is strictly forbidden), but oftentimes fill most of the leadership positions on campus. There are many upstanding Greeks who have leadership positions as RAs around campus, as well as leading other organizations for the whole student populace. If you don't want to go Greek, there are still clubs like the Art Club and Psychology Club where you can find people who share common interests. All in all, there will always be people out there that you can connect with, if you look for them.
Also, the Metroparks run nearby, so if you want to go for a jog, bike ride, or just a nice walk, they're there, and run for miles and miles, making it easy to stay active outdoors. Speaking of staying active, the Recreation Center is pretty nice, and if you want to stay in shape, you'll definitely have all the resources and equipment for it.
One con about the school though is that, since it's a fairly small school in a fairly small town, there's not much to do on the weekends if you don't have a car. I'd say most of the students here...
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
The school is not the cheapest out there, but for the personal atmosphere and quality education, I think it does pretty well. The school is also pretty good about giving out scholarships to incoming students, so it's very unlikely you'll have to pay the full tuition price in your time here.
Your meal plan is handled through your Jacket Express card, which usually carries about $2000, which you load it with at the beginning of the year from your tuition. You can use that on food, vending machines, the bookstore, or wherever. The nice thing is that if you don't use all of the money by the end of the semester, you get the rest back or it goes towards your next semester's tuition, which the school likes to advertise since you don't get that at a lot of other schools. I got $600 back last semester, but it all depends on how much you spend throughout the year.
Furthermore, admission to the football games is free, as is access to the Recreational Facilities and many other activities on campus. You also get three sessions with a personal trainer per semester, and there are things such as free kick boxing classes and water aerobics that you can take.
The food is overpriced in my opinion, and not the best quality, but I feel like that describes that food at most colleges. Again, you don't have a set meal plan where you pay x money in your tuition for y meals each week, so you can spend as little or as much as you want for food.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
To get the best value out of your time here, I'd highly recommend joining the Honors Program, if you qualify. It may change in the future, but right now there's a lot of funding that goes into it, and students in the Honors Program get perks like getting to choose their classes before everyone else (which is a very big deal), and being reimbursed up to $35 for any culturally related activities, such as seeing a play or visiting a museum. They also fund trips for honors students to go places. Last semester, they went white water rafting and visited Fallingwater in PA, then went to see the Niagara Falls, and in a few weeks they'll be visiting Boston. All paid for (except personal expenses like food and such). And while being competitive and having fairly high standards (you must maintain a 3.5 average), those standards aren't too unreasonable, and so getting into the program is very attainable. Plus, the people tend to be really cool. You have your really studious people (who are still pretty cool), and you also have really chill, laid-back people who will turn out to be fun to hang out with, and not as nerdy as you'd expected. At least, not nerdier than you are. :)
Unless you happen to be particularly good at math (to the point where you don't actually need to be taught), are willing to reteach yourself everything the teacher tried to teach you, and/or want to be a math major, I'd suggest taking your required math courses elsewhere.
Get involved. If there's anyone in college who is particularly unhappy with their experience, they tend to be people who didn't bother getting involved in any activities or organizations. Seriously. There will be many organizations trying to get you to go to their events, and somewhere in there, there's at least a handful that you'll enjoy. I wouldn't have known most of the people I'm friends with if I hadn't been in the organizations I joined. It'll do wonders, trust me.
Check out Greek life. Especially if you're a guy (I don...
Which types of students will excel at your college?
- Hard workers
- Students who could be hard workers but are looking for that motivations or inspiration
- Open-minded students
- Students who like to have fun
- Students looking to become leaders
- Musicians
- Writers
- Scientists
- Psychologists, especially those looking at Neuroscience
- Biologists and Chemists
- Artists
- People who like music they think no one else likes
- People who like intelligent thought
- People whose happiness doesn't rely on whether or not the football team wins most or any of their games. XD
I'm a neuroscience & psychology double-major and the reputation of the neuroscience program here is the reason I came in the first place. The classes are challenging and you have the opportunity to learn a lot if you apply yourself. You can really tell when a teacher knows their stuff, as well as when a teacher is very passionate about what they do. A lot of professors in the science department are doing their own research, so they need students to help in the labs. The experience you can get from working with a professor on their research is very valuable, both while you're a student and in the future. The head of our neuroscience department is also very highly regarded, and works very closely with students. You don't always get that at many other schools, especially the bigger ones, where they may still have really great researchers teaching and mentoring, but who mainly focus on grad students. I know freshman who have come in already working in the neuroscience labs their first semester. Our music conservatory is very highly regarded, and while I'm not in it myself, I know many, many people in the conservatory and they all seem to be highly skilled indeed, from my perspective. They feel that the program pushes them and drives them to do their best, and they always seem to be enjoying themselves. I also know some education majors, and from what I've seen, the program is quite rigorous. If you want to be a teacher, they'll definitely make you work for it, but many of the education majors and minors I know also get to have a lot of field experience in schools throughout the area. On the other hand, the math program is quite horrible. I'm not too far up in the program since it isn't much required for my major, but in my experience and that of people I know, the Precalculus and Calculus courses at least are not very well-taught. Some teachers just need to retire. You probably know what I mean. I've heard it said that some consider that math program to just...
The campus has a nice comfortable feel to it. It's not the most lively, and not very sluggish either. It's relatively small compared to many out there, and nestled in a relatively small town, but it has a nice homey feel to it. There are many types of people here, and many activities and organizations to get involved in. It's not too hard to find your niche, in my opinion, especially if you get involved with activities on campus, which is very easy to do. The campus is full of musicians and artists, as well as business and sports management majors, and of course scientists and philosophers. There are also several fraternities and sororities on campus, and Greek life constitutes about 20% of the student body, if I'm not mistaken, which is nice because if you want to go Greek, it's there for you and very much active, and if you don't then no one's going to push it on you. Furthermore, the Greeks here aren't your stereotypical frat bros (plus hazing is strictly forbidden), but oftentimes fill most of the leadership positions on campus. There are many upstanding Greeks who have leadership positions as RAs around campus, as well as leading other organizations for the whole student populace. If you don't want to go Greek, there are still clubs like the Art Club and Psychology Club where you can find people who share common interests. All in all, there will always be people out there that you can connect with, if you look for them. Also, the Metroparks run nearby, so if you want to go for a jog, bike ride, or just a nice walk, they're there, and run for miles and miles, making it easy to stay active outdoors. Speaking of staying active, the Recreation Center is pretty nice, and if you want to stay in shape, you'll definitely have all the resources and equipment for it. One con about the school though is that, since it's a fairly small school in a fairly small town, there's not much to do on the weekends if you don't have a car. I'd say most of the students here...
The school is not the cheapest out there, but for the personal atmosphere and quality education, I think it does pretty well. The school is also pretty good about giving out scholarships to incoming students, so it's very unlikely you'll have to pay the full tuition price in your time here. Your meal plan is handled through your Jacket Express card, which usually carries about $2000, which you load it with at the beginning of the year from your tuition. You can use that on food, vending machines, the bookstore, or wherever. The nice thing is that if you don't use all of the money by the end of the semester, you get the rest back or it goes towards your next semester's tuition, which the school likes to advertise since you don't get that at a lot of other schools. I got $600 back last semester, but it all depends on how much you spend throughout the year. Furthermore, admission to the football games is free, as is access to the Recreational Facilities and many other activities on campus. You also get three sessions with a personal trainer per semester, and there are things such as free kick boxing classes and water aerobics that you can take. The food is overpriced in my opinion, and not the best quality, but I feel like that describes that food at most colleges. Again, you don't have a set meal plan where you pay x money in your tuition for y meals each week, so you can spend as little or as much as you want for food.
To get the best value out of your time here, I'd highly recommend joining the Honors Program, if you qualify. It may change in the future, but right now there's a lot of funding that goes into it, and students in the Honors Program get perks like getting to choose their classes before everyone else (which is a very big deal), and being reimbursed up to $35 for any culturally related activities, such as seeing a play or visiting a museum. They also fund trips for honors students to go places. Last semester, they went white water rafting and visited Fallingwater in PA, then went to see the Niagara Falls, and in a few weeks they'll be visiting Boston. All paid for (except personal expenses like food and such). And while being competitive and having fairly high standards (you must maintain a 3.5 average), those standards aren't too unreasonable, and so getting into the program is very attainable. Plus, the people tend to be really cool. You have your really studious people (who are still pretty cool), and you also have really chill, laid-back people who will turn out to be fun to hang out with, and not as nerdy as you'd expected. At least, not nerdier than you are. :) Unless you happen to be particularly good at math (to the point where you don't actually need to be taught), are willing to reteach yourself everything the teacher tried to teach you, and/or want to be a math major, I'd suggest taking your required math courses elsewhere. Get involved. If there's anyone in college who is particularly unhappy with their experience, they tend to be people who didn't bother getting involved in any activities or organizations. Seriously. There will be many organizations trying to get you to go to their events, and somewhere in there, there's at least a handful that you'll enjoy. I wouldn't have known most of the people I'm friends with if I hadn't been in the organizations I joined. It'll do wonders, trust me. Check out Greek life. Especially if you're a guy (I don...
- Hard workers - Students who could be hard workers but are looking for that motivations or inspiration - Open-minded students - Students who like to have fun - Students looking to become leaders - Musicians - Writers - Scientists - Psychologists, especially those looking at Neuroscience - Biologists and Chemists - Artists - People who like music they think no one else likes - People who like intelligent thought - People whose happiness doesn't rely on whether or not the football team wins most or any of their games. XD