Colgate University Top Questions

personal relationship with professors and they are always available for help. students study a lot, definitely the work hard play hard mentality.

The professors are really great. I have only had a couple who were not overly willing to get to know you, help you out, and provide all the extra help you needed.

Depending on the class size, most professors do know your name. They honestly make an effort to help you out. The philosophy department is especially great- the professors are not only friendly and enthusiastic but also unbelievably intelligent.

Name: They all know my name. Serious. Favorite class: Archeaoastronomy. The professor who teaches it practically invented the field. What more can I say? Least favorite: "Western Traditions" -- what a waste. Study frequency: It ranges, depending on the student's time management skills. But it's safe to say that 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of us are stuck in a state of either studying or thinking about studying. Intellectual conversations: Well, you learn that most of the pseudo-intellectual bullshit you spit out in high school to differentiate yourself as "the smart kid" was, well, bullshit. At Colgate, we don't pretentiously get caught up in intellectual discussions to justify our status as intellects since, well, everyone here is smart. We talk about normal stuff. About experiences. About life. About girls. And when the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics happens to sneak itself into a conversation, it's genuine. Competitive: No, almost not at all. That's a real distinguishing factor about Colgate. For our prestige, we're surprisingly uncompetitive. It's refreshing. It's how it should be. OK, so we're not Reed College, but still... Unique class: Again, archeaoastronomy. Major: Physics is awesome. Profs outside of class: Yeah, you see them in the lounge, talk with them at seminars, go to office hours, see them at the coop or the barge. Colgate's Academic requirements: They're fine. Education - job or learning: Here's another distinguishing factor about Colgate. Students are here to learn, not to get a job. I was stunned when I first came to Colgate, and about 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the freshman had no idea what to major in. So they explored. They learned. I like that. Students here are generally oblivious to the post-Colgate life. Fuck, I'm a senior with 2 months to go and I haven't a clue what I'm going to do. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Fuck well-worn safety paths in life.

Academics are rigorous and professors are nice and very helpful. Class participation is not common and the ones that speak out most are the ones that like to hear themselves talk. Many students self-righteous.

It is HARD. There are no easy majors.

The CORE program is essentially a waste of time, even the faculty thinks so. Once you get over that, though, there's a lot of really interesting course taught by really interesting professors. I'm a political science major, and yet this semester I'm taking a course on the history of the Atomic Bomb, an independent study in Printmaking, and I'm going on a 3-week, Colgate-Sponsored trip to Japan in May.

Professors seem to try really hard to learn our names and get to know us. Sometimes I feel like "learning for its own sake," as we do a lot in the Core curriculum, may have its downsides...but I know I'll be able to name-drop like nobody's business when I go out into the real world!

My classes have all been pretty small, like 15-40 people, and all my professors got to know my name within the first few weeks of class. I have liked most of my classes except for my freshman seminar, the teachers here are all really interesting and love to teach. Most of my teachers have also been really helpful when I went to visit them at office hours. Students study alot but it's definitely a "work hard play hard" environment. Class participation is common but I think the upperclassmen participate more than the freshmen (I'm a freshman). I have actually had some "intellectual" conversations outside of class with my friends, about current events or stuff we read in class, but most of the time we talk about regular stuff. So far the students in my classes haven't seemed that competitive but I'm taking classes with upperclassmen this semester and they seem alot more competitive than the freshmen, but I think it really depends on the class (I've heard that alot of the upper-level science classes are very competitive). I am taking a class called Challenge of Modernity right now that's one of the academic requirements. It's interesting but I'm not really a fan of some of the stuff we have read (Nietzsche, Freud). There is alot of reading and I've heard that's true for the other core classes that we have to take.

Professors definitely know my name. I'm always surprised that they know who I am when I go in for office hours. Favorite class: History of the Middle Ages. I didn't want to be in the class at first, but it was so interesting that I still look over my notes from that class to refresh my memory. It's helped put a lot of my travels into context and now I really appreciate it. But it was my favorite at the time too--the teacher was incredible. Least Favorite: Microeconomics--I'm not an econ major nor am I very economically minded and I found the course to be very difficult--that's just me though. Economics is a very popular major. Students study a lot. I remember being shocked freshmen year to see people who I had deemed as party animals studying. Everyone studies--you have to. It's definitely a work hard-play hard atmosphere, but at some point everyone has to sit down and write their papers...even if that means it's 4 in the morning for some. Intellectual conversations definitely occur outside of class--not in a snotty kind of way, but thoughful comments and conversations come up outside of class frequently. Some students are competitive, but not so much that it hinders the cordialness of the Colgate community. I am a history major and I have loved almost every class I've taken so far. As with any school, classes are hit or miss based on the teacher, but the teachers are qualified, you have the ability to try to hand pick them, and the courses are interesting. It's great to be able to go to class and enjoy being there. It's not mechanical like high school was. It took me a while to choose my major because I wanted to try everything before I decided, so I've taken classes in almost every other discipline too. I spend some time with professors outside of class--I have more on my abroad program. It's really nice to be able to see your teacher out of the professorial context. I think the requirements are too strict based on how few courses you're allowed to take per semester. The classes they have you take are very interesting, but essentially you can only choose 3 classes a semester for the first two years of school, and that doesn't give you much room to experiment since you have to declare a major by the end of your sophomore year. Colgate is conscious that you are at school to get a job after college, however in the humanities and social sciences, learning is very much geared toward the sake of learning...and it's very enjoyable to be able to go to school that way--it's still hard work though! And very challenging. But class discussions are high quality, and that makes class very intriguing.