Colby College Top Questions

All of my professors know my name. favorite class- vector calc, and multivariable calc, the main reason for this is because of the professor, otto bretcher. he is the best math teacher i have ever had. office hours are always a good time with him, and when you put in the effort to see him and understand the material, he puts the effort back in to making sure you get it. i also like math, i know im a nerd. there are a lot of professors like otto though. they are all open to seeing you in office hours, and you always get the most out of classes you put a lot into so thats one of the really great things about the professors here. least favorite class- research methods and statistics- a requirement as a psych major. why should i have to memorize all these things when i will never do them by hand in real life, and i will always have something to reference. not to mention lecturing about anova tables is an incredible boring thing to sit through for an hour and fifteen minutes. students study a lot. there is a big range (from never to all the time) but for the most part students fill the libraries on sunday afternoons to get stuff done for the upcoming week, but come friday and saturday, its break time and there will be very few kids hanging around the lib. class participation is common in conversation based classes, not so much in lectures, but kids always ask questions. there have been some great discusions in some of my spanish, psych, and english courses and its really fun to leave a class feeling you have adequately discussed an issue. also colby brings in a lot of cool lecturers so sometimes those are fun to go to. there are definately the intellectual conversations outside of class... you can only talk about yourself and the weekend so much. a lot of times my friends and i will bring up cool things we were talking about in class, for example the other day in my cognitive psych class we were asked to write scripts and schemas for a typical blind date, road trip, and the perfect wedding proposal, and the responses that we talked about in class were so interesting that i was really excited to share what we had done in class with my friends. unique class-drugs, brain, and behavior- it was a psych class and it was soo cool to see how drugs actally affected you pysically which caused the side-effects that are visible in behavior and actions. it was a great class. the academic requirements make me take courses i otherwise wouldnt have thought to take, which is nice because you are exposed to lots of different areas of academics and that is kind of the point of a liberal arts education.

Because I am one of the only minorities in all of my classes it is hard for any of my Professors to forget or not know my name. My favorite classes thus far have been economics courses, one such class comes into mind and that is Professor Findlay's (Chair of the Economics Department)principles of macroeconomics course. He is the toughest professor in the economics department, but his class provided me with such amazing knowledge that I will apply today. He as well after class always met with me to go over the material which assisted immensely when exam time came around. As an International Studies major and a double minor in Economics and Chinese I find my self studying everyday for at least 6-7 hours. On the weekends, I usually give myself 2 hours to relax but other than that I am constantly studying which I love because the classes that I am taking are interesting and the material that I am assigned force me to think in various ways.

My favorite class was Fiction 1 with Adrian Blevins - I never wanted the class period to end. Adrian was an absolute riot, and my fellow amateur writers were also extremely hilarious. I laughed until it hurt almost every class, but I still learned an incredible amount about writing. Students study ALL THE TIME. I should be studying right now. Thanks, survey. Most classes are very discussion-based, so participation is essential. Students have intellectual conversations outside of class, but they usually sneak up on us. One minute we're talking about Britney Spears, the next we're talking about the connections between sex and death in German literature. We're students, so of course we're prone to discuss intellectual things, but we don't purposely have "intellectual discussions" to show off to one another. Students are competitive with themselves, not each other. It's a cliche, but in this case, it's true. Both of my departments are on the small side, so I know all of the professors really well - even the ones with whom I haven't taken many (or any) classes. In many respects, we're like happy little families who have the fortune of not having to live together. The purpose of Colby's education is what you make of it. I chose to make my Colby education about learning for its own sake, which means that I am really only suited for grad school after graduation. However, I am VERY well-suited for grad school and have already been accepted by several top schools. Other students take more practical approaches to their Colby education (*cough* Econ majors *cough*).

The academics are better than I expected- I went to a private high school where a lot of kids went to ivy league or similar institutions and had friends who used Colby as a "safety school," so before I came here I felt like Colby might just be an average college. I found, though, that the academics were challenging and kids are really intelligent and curious about what they are learning. Professors here generally really like it when students come in to meet with them, which is nice and definitely one of the best things about going to such a small school.

great professors who are here to teach not do research. they are available and more than willing to help. intelligent students, although there are some who like to hear themselves talk.

Professors know my name. The math teachers are particularly fun. Students study as often as they need to, which can very from not much at all to hours on end. The students are competitive, but only with themselves. Class participation is common, and students have intellectual conversations outside of class. The most unique class I have taken would probably SP127, because while the course is common, we were able to study in Ecuador for the month that I took it. The physics department is small, but defiantly serious. The academic requirements are good, although there are many more "joke classes" that can fulfill the natural science or quantitative reasoning requirements. The Colby education is geared towards learning for learning sakes, but I believe that a well educated person has a better chance of getting a job.

My professors absolutely know my name. And email address. And who I'm dating. Class sizes here are easily under 20 for the most part, and professors make a point of getting to learn students' names within the first few weeks and setting up appointments throughout the semester to see how you're doing. Every professor has office hours, and in my experience they're more than willing to come in outside of those hours if you need to see them sooner. If you're not in class, you get an email. Class participation is very common, and encouraged, since the class sizes are so small. I'd say that there's a fair amount of intellectual conversation that takes place outside of class. There certainly aren't kids out on the quad pontificating about political issues, but I think that I've witnessed a good amount of lunch table discussion about things not MTV related. Like most things, it honestly depends upon whose conversation you're overhearing. Overall I'd say that intellectual conversation outside of class certainly isn't discouraged or looked down upon. Outside of class, I see my professors mostly in their offices when I have questions about an assignment. However, taking professors out to lunch is a common practice at Colby, and you'll often see a student or group of students chilling with their professor in the dining hall or student center. I think that Colby's academic requirements are reasonable. They aim to give you a balanced experience of what the school has to offer, but not burden you with a ton of classes that make finishing your major impossible.

My largest class was a Chemistry lecture of 42 students. The teacher not only knew my name, but after the first exam, and after grading 85 exams, knew off the top of his head what I had to practice and work on in preparation for the next exam. Every professor here is required to hold office hours for help and questions every week. Students study for several hours every day, some days more than others, some students more than others. But I wouldnt say that some majors here are easier than others, because most students try to involve an extra major or minor, sometimes two. The academic requirements are reasonable, but could be a little more flexible.

Depending on the subject, you'll get a different perspective at Colby. For sciences, you often have to demonstrate an obvious, sincere interest in the material for the teacher to know you more than your face. Students study pretty often. The library is always packed, and you will almost always be able to find someone in the Street. (The bottom level of the library that students often walk through to get across campus.) Students can be competitive, but never in a harming way. Everyone just want to do the best they can possibly do. People often have intellectual conversations out side of class. It is not uncommon to walk by a table in one of the dining halls and hear people discussing politics, religion, or something from class. I have had lunch with professors several times, and call all of my professors by their first names.