American University Top Questions

The academics are challenging, but also fair to the students. All the professors I have had really want their students to succeed, and if a student cares and puts in enough effort, they should be able to get the grades they want and deserve.

The academics are challenging, but also fair to the students. All the professors I have had really want their students to succeed, and if a student cares and puts in enough effort, they should be able to get the grades they want and deserve.

Unless you're interested in International Relations or Business, I highly suggest applying elsewhere.

Class participation is common in all classes I have taken at my school. Students are competitive but while they compete with each other they also encourage one another to learn more. I am an International Studies major. For my career path, I am really happy I chose American University. I have so many options and opportunities to take advantage of in terms of post graduate plans that I cannot wait to get started after graduation.

As a journalism student, the majority of my professors have been adjuncts who either rock or suck. It's mostly been the former. I do like the professional experience that they bring to the classroom. Professors at AU are super helpful if you reach out to them, and they really do like it for the most part when you go to their office hours. I believe our School of Communication is sorely underrated. Again, AU = internship central. There are a lot of folks who aspire to join the Foreign Service, start a nonprofit, or become a Hill staffer. Not all of them are like this, though. AU students are very ambitious, which kicks me into high gear when applying for internships or study abroad programs. Most classes are small(ish) and participation-based. This is good if you are an overly opinionated Olivia like me. Ironically though, the participation-based format of most classes has also taught me when to keep my mouth shut. The best academic experience I've had was through my study abroad program. AU gets this right, for sure. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who has the means to do it. Even if you think you don't, AU still covers your financial aid/most scholarships while you are abroad.

The academics at AU are the perfect mix of challenging and fun. Once you get past those few lecture hall intro classes (macroeconomics, biology, psychology, etc) the professors truly take the time to get to know you and usually have names down within the first couple of classes. AU has a great mix of fun classes and classes that are needed to survive in the real world. My favorite class at AU was "Personal Finance", and I believe that everyone should be required to take it before graduating. I would say that a students work really hard to achieve their grades, and their amount of studying reflects the grades they get. Personally, I work hard to get good grades; they do not come easy. Similarly, class participation is very common and makes the class more fun and go by faster. However, sometimes you get those people that just love to talk about their "unique" experiences, and therefore annoy the entire class. But there are usually only a few bad apples in each class. I truly feel that education at AU is geared toward both getting a job and learning to learn.

All my professors know my name and overall I've had a really positive experience with all my professors. Students study a fair amount; it's like high school, the kids who care study and the kids who don't care don't study much. The library is open 24 hours on weekdays and it's fun to go in and see all the kids who have fallen asleep trying to pull all nighters. Professors have office hours and encourage you to visit them. The university is always improving its academic program; next year gen eds have been updated and adapted, which is really exciting. Well, it is for me anyway because I'm a nerd about choosing classes.

Most classes at American are not too big. Most of my professors know me by first name, with the exception of my 80 student psychology class, which is also the only class where the teacher does not take attendance. Accordingly, the biggest classes in that class are on exam day because that is the only day that matters. I have found so far in freshman year I can get by with minimal studying, and the general education classes are easy. My major/department is audio technology. The class sizes are really small so the professors know us all and the equipment is really quality. Overall, the education at American is geared more towards learning for its own sake.

Academics are a major focus of American University students and professors. The class sizes are usually small, except for general education lectures. Class participation is a BIG deal. Most professors count class participation as more than just attendance. You must be willing to speak up. Students are not too competitive with others for getting the highest grade, but they are competitive within themselves. Students will push themselves to create work much more impressive than what their syllabus required. I am a Political Science major and Business Administration minor. The SPA department is one of the most popular on campus. The SPA advisors are average, but most of my professors have been excellent. The education at AU is definitely geared towards getting a job. Networking with other students, professors, and professionals is highly valued and our Career Center is one of the best in the country.

Academics are great. I love that class sizes at AU are incredibly small so you really get to know your professors. I don't think I've had any classes over 75 people and that was only one class. Most of my classes are around 20 or less. I feel like I've learned a lot in my classes and from my professors and I would recommend AU as an academic institution. It was also easy to double major across schools. I have a double major and a double minor, each in a different school at AU, but it was easier to do than it would be at most schools.

Academics at American University (AU) are great. As a communications student, I've had a professor who won two Oscars, an amazing photojournalist and a professor who photographs fashion week in NYC. The professors at American are dedicated, experienced and passionate about teaching. With that being said, as with any university, there are teachers who are better than others. On that note, I feel that it's very important not to simply choose a course because ratemyprofessor.com says the professor is an "easy A." It's also important not to be biased towards adjunct professors. Some of my all-time favorite professors were adjuncts, so it's important to stay open and explore all your options. Even now, as a senior, I have professors from freshman year who still remember my name. There are professors who have met with the class on weekends for field trips and who make extra time after class to chat and answer all your questions. Students are intelligent and passionate. There are so many who are interning on the hill or with non-profits and who dedicate their time to activism and outreach. As the case with any busy college students, there are often times where you can tell a classmate didn't have time to do the reading. However, when it gets down to crunch time, the library is full to capacity and everyone has their noses buried in the books. AU is a great university because it provides you with hands-on-learning experiences. Not many people can sit in a politics class and relate their personal experiences on the hill with class discussions or pop into your film class after their internship with PBS. What I have always loved about AU is that it's a school that allows you to take your learning out into the real world. The university career center is amazing and is always offering workshops to help students succeed. There are constant opportunities to network, take classes, meet with career counselors and to build up your resume. As a senior, I've found that one of the most beneficial things about being at American. I'm graduating not only with a fantastic education, but also with a resume that will appeal to employers. In our fragile economy, this is an incredible asset and something I am truly thankful for.

Academics are great, as I mentioned in a previous question, the small class sizes lead to great discussions and more interaction with professors and students. One class that I took for my Sociology major was called Sociology of Birth and Death. It was so fascinating and really interactive. We took a field trip to a funeral home when we were discussing how society deals with deal and we had a panel of midwives comes to the class when talking about the birth part of the class. So unique! I learned so much! I am currently taking a class called Marketing of Social Change which looks at marketing in a different way than marketing for a big business or corporation. it's really helpful because this is the type of marketing work that I want to do one day.

The professors are skilled experts in their field and teach to student's strengths. They are very understanding and not uptight. It is easy to get A's here.

In my experience, professors have tended to know me by name, especially those teaching history courses. Over the past year, I've really gotten to know many of the names in the History Department from various events that have been held by the faculty there. The professors are generally very open and friendly, and their offices are never hard to get to - they're all in one of the buildings surrounding the quad (the offices of the History Department faculty are in the Battelle-Tompkins building). I love taking the time to talk with my professors about my grades and then move into conversations about our personal lives - it makes learning from them so much more easier. In all, one of the greatest things about about AU's academics is its very friendly, open environment towards learning.

Professors here are great at forming relationships with students to help facilitate their education. It is not difficult to get help from a professor or even start an independent study with one. The students are really into working, getting internships, and participating in classes. A lot of them are future politicians and whatnot, so they just love to get their opinions in. Classes, in that sense, can be really interesting (and entertaining from time to time). It's rarely boring.

American University is a very good quality school, and the classes offered are challenging. However, the faculty are more than willing to help students to get good grades. One of the best things about AU is the caliber of professors that are both knowledgeable in their fields and happy to spend the time necessary with their students in order to make sure everything is clear. The academics at AU, although rigorous, are there to make sure students get the best jobs available at the end of their four years.

I've always enjoyed my classes here. Enjoyed probably isn't a strong enough word-- I've loved everything I've learned. Although I'm a Lit major, my anthropology, sociology, theatre, and psychology classes have also been fascinating. The only class in which the professor didn't know all of our names was my psychology lecture, which I took in my very first semester. That was the only class I had in one of the few lecture halls on campus-- since then, all of my classes have had fewer than thirty students. I've always been amazed by how much my professors remember about our past work and class participation off the tops of their heads. None of them seem like they teach out of obligation-- they all seem excited to share their knowledge with us, and explain things clearly and interestingly. My favorite class that I took here... well, that would be impossible to answer. One of the best was probably the Literary Imagination, in which we read recent works of literature and wrote creative works inspired by the readings. Occasionally, the others even came by to speak with the class. Another favorite was Transformations of Shakespeare. Unlike most Shakespeare classes, we discussed his plays as performance material, not just literature. We saw five local productions of Shakespeare plays-- all very different in tone-- and discussed them, as well as how we would direct or perform them if given the chance. I would never have been so passionate about Shakespeare if it wasn't for that course. My University College seminar class on the Nature of Evil is the most fascinating course I've ever taken, though very heavy subject matter-- fittingly, the next semester, I picked a college writing course on Humor. That was an awesome class, too. Really, all of them were. I've taken two classes on sex and gender, an area I really knew nothing about, and both have changed my world view and the way I think of other people. Even my least-favorite class was still interesting-- Great Ideas in Mathematics. Math was a university requirement, and I was horrified, because I am incredibly terrible at math. This class, however, was different. It was more conceptual and creative, and many of our exercises used logical reasoning rather than actual numbers. The whole class yelled 'WHOA!' on more than five occasions as the professor blew our minds with unbelievable concepts like multiple infinities and dimensions, which our class activities helped us grasp. We ended up learning very high-level mathematical theory, without having to do high-level arithmetic. The only reason why it was my least favorite is because math has always been difficult for me, so I struggled academically with the class. If it had been Pass/Fail, I probably would have loved it. My friends always seem to discuss their classes and assignments, and most seem generally interested in their majors. I've never met anyone who really seemed apathetic about school, although many are very quiet in class. It's often the same people participating in every class, which you could say of any school, but most people here seem intellectually voracious. I've never heard anyone talk about cheating on assignments. I have seen people sleeping in class, though given how busy my friends tend to be, I don't blame them. I understand that AU's changing the way their Gen-Ed curriculum is set up. I don't know much about what it will look like in the future, but right now, you need two college writing classes, a math class, and two classes from five different categories: creative arts, Traditions that Shape the Western World, Global and Multicultural Perspectives, Social Institutions and Behavior, and Natural Sciences. I was exempt from several of the categories because of the AP classes that I took in high school, but the courses that I took all taught me a lot about areas that had previously been mysteries. Most students here have a minor or double-major. I'm only going for a major, in the hopes that I'll graduate early, but I find the requirements for a major or minor pretty fair. It is aggravating how quickly classes fill up at registration-- a commitment to small class sizes means most students don't get the classes they want, and some classes that are major requirements only have one section, which doesn't make sense to me. I think part of it is because Lit is a fairly small department, so there aren't usually a huge number of courses offered outside college writing. So far, this hasn't been a problem for me, although I know one student who worries he'll have to stay an extra semester because there was no room for him in the one class he needed to graduate.

All of my classes at American have typically ranged from 25-40 students. My professors have tended to know all of the students by name. In fact, this semester (today actually) the professor of my "Globalization: Battle of Ideas in the Political Economy" class took us all out to a local restaurant for the last day of class. The professor is very knowledgeable and has many professional connections in the field, yet he still took the time out to take us to lunch and talk to us about a variety of topics (i.e., what our long term plans are, what our job prospects look like, etc.). In addition, another renown professor that I has this past semester had personal one-on-one interviews with each of the students in his class. He has been a guest professor at universities around the world and oftentimes puts students in contact with his colleagues from other universities.

My professors are very friendly and all know my name, though I make an effort to participate in class. I don't study often and do well on tests by just attending class and doing the assignments. Class participation usually revolves around 3 or 4 kids, but professors are pretty laid back about attendance (or at least seem to be). In the School of International Service, the professors are well-known in DC (lawyers, politicians, ambassadors, etc) and are happy to recommend or introduce you to their connections. I think the most valuable part of the AU experience has been the ability to build relationships with professors.

SPA and SIS among the best in the country, SOC and Kogod not bad, CAS for the most part total crap. If you're into politics or international affairs, awesome, otherwise, steer clear.