College of Charleston Top Questions

The College makes a great effort for the students and faculty to have a strong mentee-mentor relationship. There are mandatory office hours in place every week for every class to help strengthen that bond and almost all professors will go out of their way to help a student with whatever they need. I have had a great experience with my classes and professors, both inside and out of my major. Even my most challenging classes are enjoyable to attend because the atmosphere is inviting and encouraging.

Like I said earlier the College of Charleston has about 10,000 students. So its not to big!! The class size is normally 20-30 students, and the only time you have a large class is if you are a biology major (class size tends to be ab 80). Your professors learn your name in less than two weeks, and you really start to have a relationship with them and your classmates because it is small. Class participation depends on the Professor and the teaching styles they like, and in most of my classes class participation is part of your grade. I think this helps you as a student understand concepts more and it helps you think critically. Students often talk outside of class about things they are learning in other classes, which only helps you in the long run. I am a psychology major, and yes the classes are tough, but if you put time into studyig you should do very well. The psych department at the College is very helpful and interesting! Overall I think the College of Charleston's academic requirements are fair. The only part I personally do not like is that we are required to take four semester of foreign language (which is my weak point), but the Center for Student Learning (CSL) has tutors that I visit regularly!

Most classes at C of C are pretty small--20-30 people. The intros or very popular majors may have 70 people lectures but I've only had one that big so far. C of C does have gen ed requirements that can be burdensome, especially if you have an intense major. The HC has a fairly heavy load, too. But AP credit does count for lots of classes and has helped me out immensely, especially for satisfying requirements for classes that are outside my major/interests. Since I'm in the HC there are extra requirements like Western Civilization (12 hour course), special topics, math requirements, science requirements, but I've finished in my sophomore year. I personally like the variety required because it shows students disciplines they might not otherwise have gone into. I'm in the anthropology department, which is pretty small but I love all the classes I've taken and my professors. It's like a family because the students all have the similar interests, we see each other all the time, and the professors are very supportive, accessible, and helpful outside-of-the-classroom. They're always willing to talk about internships, grad school, their research, etc. during their office hours. My department will offer classes catered to students' and professors' interest and I've seen other smaller departments (even bigger ones like English) do that as well. I've taken medical and ecological anthropology which were fascinating courses. The HC college and some of the "minor" departments have really interesting special topics courses. Other big majors may have some trouble connecting with their departments; I'm not sure. The biology and chemistry departments are huge but excellent. We have a top-notch chemistry program, and obviously our marine and ecological program is very good if slightly small. A large number of students are pre-med, which is a demanding major in terms of time spent on homework and effort put forth. Intro classes for pre-med and also English are weed-out courses; they require lots of work. My friends have to work in the English department but if it's your passion you will do well because there are excellent professors. Other big programs are the business and communications majors, which are considered the "joke" majors or the ones that not very serious academics end up in. But both programs are very good, especially business with all of the tourism and hospitality connections, for a passionate student. Art is another big discipline, whether studio, theater/music/dance, historical preservation and art history. The theater department likes to be edgy in terms of gender roles, but I've enjoyed all the performances I've seen so far. The smaller departments like WGS, Jewish studies and other cultural minors, the more obscure languages (Hindi, Russian, Chinese) are growing and gaining more interest from students. Spanish is the big language major. A lot of people take classes with the physical education department. Electives like sailing, yoga, and dance are very popular and fill up quickly because they utilizes the water or the beautiful scenery. As for studying it depends almost entirely on your major. I have to work a fair amount, not for anthropology so much as HC and pre-med requirements. Class participation also depends on your major. The humanities and social sciences are definitely geared towards class discussion and interaction. Not so much in science or math as far I've seen.

I feel as if the academic requirements are a little too low for instate students. However, class participation is common and I have had many intellectual converstaions outside of class with my fellow college friends. Many people feel as if some of the general education requirements are unneccessary, and I agree somewhat. Two years of foreign language is alot to ask for...

Most professors will get to know your name. It is of course harder in the larger classes such as biology. Studying plays a big part in the students lives at CofC. Whenever I go into the library, it is usually packed. There are always atudents who do not do the work, but most students want to do well and put in the effort to do so. My most unique class is the two English classes I took this year. I had the same teacher for both semesters, and I liked her because she scheduled one-on-one conferences with each students for our major papers, and always made sure that if we needed more help that she was ther.

I've only had one bad experience with a prof. She taught Historic Preservation, but turned it into a class about African American studies. She made her assignments revolve around minorities and African American issues. Our final assignment was completely devoted to a small African American community.

The best part about academics at CofC is that the classes are all small. The largest class I've ever had was an Intro Biology class with 40-45 people. The smallest class I've had was a Micro Econ class with 15 people. The average class size is 20-25. You get as much attention as you'd like in these classes, and the professors are all available if you need extra help. You can choose hard classes or joke classes at CofC. You can challenge yourself, in which case you will be in a competitive environment. Or you can take yoga, sailing, volleyball, swimming, etc. in which case you don't need to worry about being competitive.

My freshman year was pretty much like high school, small classes, the teachers know your names, projects and group participation was required and you were only allowed 3 excused or unexcused days, or you fail. Some of the teachers hold office hours and I wish I would have gone for help more often. My favorite class was Gospel Choir.

The classes are usually small and the teacher are amazing. Very helpful and readily available. The business building is outstanding and the classes are good as well.

Charleston has decent academics, which are growing in recent years. It is a typical liberal arts degree with students being required to take a diverse set of classes to graduate. The curriculum can be as challenging as you make it. Some of my friends take 12 hours a semester and don't study often, and others are pre-med and study almost every night. Taking honors classes will provide a more stimulating experience. However some honors kids are super overachievers and make trying to compete with them impossible. Honors classes (depending on the class) can completely eat up all your free time. and in hind-sight i see no benefit to graduating with honors, just something that put a C and a few B's on my transcript. The classes are smaller, and the professors know my name (im a vocal student though). Depending on the professor (and the nature of the class, religions class vs. Calculus) some really encourage discussion and like students to make their own ideas and points of view. Other more lecture based professors give strictly lecture classes. The Anthropology Major is amazing. Almost all of the teachers are SO awesome (Ratemyprofessor.com will let you know the bad ones, AVOID them). The classes are small so you get to know your professors and there is no grad school for anthropology, so the professors are willing to give time and attention to undergrad students.