Florida State University Top Questions

FSU has a very good academic standing. However, I have been in some large classes and classes that I do not like but have to take any ways for liberal studies. Sometimes that can get very frustrating and alot of the times students tend to do bad in those classes becuase they do not care for them. I have meet alot of cool people from being in class together and have communicated with them about the class. The teachers can vary alot here. There are sometimes amazing teachers that will go the extra mile to make sure you understand the material and then there is also very annoying and horrible teachers that you can;t understand nor want to even listen to them. It is a very good school acdemicly though and so far I have learned alot of things from being in class. I am in the business school and that school in a very big one so i have alot of resources to help me and guide me through my business career.

Academics are very serious here at Florida State. As a liberal arts school, we have a wide range of subjects to major in. One of the best programs here is the English program which I am majoring in. There are different sections of English such as Literature, Creative Writing, and a new branch called Editing, Writing, and Media which is my distinct program. The staff of professors here is amazingly talented, accomplished, and bright as well as very caring and respectful with their students. They take great pride in being available to their students. They make the classes dynamic and creative, but challenging and practical in a way that prepares students for internships and careers--no busy work. In fact, an internship is a requirement to graduate in my program and a lot of classes have projects such as portfolios that not only embed the knowledge into your brain but can be used as examples of your hard work and experience in resumes and interviews.

Academics are very important to me, and getting to know your professors is very important overall. I always make sure to introduce myself to my professors if the class is larger, and if it is smaller, I participate more. Professors are always willing to meet during office hours, and even beyond that. My favorite class so far has been REL3112, or Religion and Fantasy. It's dubbed "The Harry Potter class!" It's definitely the most unique class I've ever taken. I cannot say that I have a least favorite class, because I have had excellent professors every semester. Students around here study every day depending on their schedule, and during exam weeks, the library is packed! My major is Visual Disabilities, which is in the College of Education. It will give me the ability to teach the visually impaired how to live their everyday lives. In my major, academic requirements are plenty, but it is never overwhelming. It is helpful to have academic maps and guides.

Professors are quick to learn your name, as long as your not in a 300 person class. Students generally want to do well, and some will set up study groups or something similar. Participation is a large part of class, at least for the classes I've taken. I'm an Editing, Writing and Media major (a major fairly new to FSU) in the English department. So, all of my work centers around reading, discussing, and writing. You get the feeling that professors want you to do well, but they aren't going to hold your hand to make sure you're doing everything you need to. I like the way academics work at this school. Professors expect you to be a responsible adult and finish the work you are given.

There are so many different ways to feel comfortable in academics that it is nearly impossible to not succeed at Florida State. The academics are amazing and right away, you are assigned an academic advisor that is associated with whatever major you decide on. There are certain classes that are formed in "groups" called "figs" where you can have the same class schedule as several other students in a smaller environment. It also depends on what major you have to know what size classes there are but even in some of my biggest classes, the professors are always available and quick to get to know you. Florida State has that southern hospitality that everyone should have. The library on campus is a hot spot; there are always study groups from your classes that go there and there are certain "smart board" rooms in the library where you can reserve a study room with people. I am an art major so my academics differ from most people. My classes are all relatively small and the teachers are on a more personal basis with you. This has led me to feel confident in my work and know with the help of Florida State's amazing academics and teachers, that I can succeed.

Academics, depend on the major. some majors are harder than others. For example, family and child science majors tend to have easier classes because they study for the tests. Biology majors have to apply what they have learned on the tests. In other words, some majors are about memorization, application, or both. All university professors expect students to try their best. Most professors want students to meet them during office hours and talk to them. Almost every major requires students to study if they want to get a great grade.

Academics are a love affair for me, and every other English major I know. I'm not going to speak for any other major, mostly because I could gush about the English department for days. First let me warn you that advisers are not all they are cracked up to be, and I've heard that for lots of other majors as well. Your best bet is to find an older student in your major with similar career plans and keep close to them for tips and guidance. In the English Dept. at FSU, there are a plethora of those kinds of people. It's a very social and cooperative department, where you learn as much from each other as you do from your professors. Competition isn't much of a factor for English students, and I'm glad for that. Competition for other majors, like pre-med or communications, is cutthroat and causes a lot of added stress at FSU. But in the English department, everyone can really focus on themselves and their own goals. My major is amazing, and incredibly unique. I'm in the new Editing, Writing, and Media major which is focused on modern, pragmatic application of rhetoric and composition skills along with integrating new technology into the field. It's a great balance of learning for its own sake and preparation for your field. It's highly customizable for whatever field your career path is headed for, whether it be journalism, film, law, etc. Our professors our passionate and innovative and incredibly enthusiastic about the development of the major. My professors in the English department are phenomenal, engaging intellectuals that are hyper-aware of the world outside of academia. They encourage active participation and relationships inside and outside of the classroom, and I've had an amazing experience with my professors. We have a course in my major that is completely unique, not to be found at any other university called History of Text Technologies. It covers the history of communication and the implications of what text was, is, and may become. Students and professors are in constant conversation about the future of composition careers and where the world is going in terms of text technologies, which gives me comfort as an aspiring journalist. Academics in other departments are equally as exciting as the English department, and anyone can find the perfect place to follow their passion under the guidance of fantastic faculty.

Academics at Florida State are very important. I’ve learned more in my past three and a half years here than I ever thought was possible. My favorite and probably most unique class I’ve taken here was Mark Zeigler’s Rhetoric of Didactic Literature. It sounds intimidating in name, but throughout the class we learned of the rhetorical situation of society in the nineteen-sixties. We learned about everything from the Bay of Pigs to LSD’s effect on the body. It was immensely interesting, and I still retain nearly everything from that class a year later. Now that I’m a senior, most all of my classes are small enough that my professors know quite a bit about me. But, during general education requirements of my freshman year, the only time I’d have smaller classes would be if they were the honors section. I don’t experience a high level of competitiveness in the Communication of English departments, when it comes to grades, but I do know that highly selective majors, such as Nursing illicit high levels of competition in learning among the students. I feel that FSU’s educational requirements are very reasonable and certainly attainable, while also challenging students academically. I believe that FSU students, upon the successful completion of their degree, will be prepared to find a job. Not because FSU taught them how to find a job, but because FSU taught them how to think in a new way and become capable of adaption – to become the person a company would want to employ.

The greatest benefit I've received while attending Florida State was learning to be open-minded and accepting. I was so moved by President Barron's recent email addressing equal opportunity and our non-discrimination policy, wherein he stated "The university's policies are clear: We have zero tolerance for sexual violence, sexual harassment, or discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran's or marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other protected group status." Students should know that not all universities are so outspoken about equality for all people in every capacity, and that is part of why I'm so proud to be a Seminole. Florida State is not too large or too small, from my experience as a Writing Major. The class sizes have always been between 12-30 people, with the exception of one 60+ basic philosophy class. Perhaps those not in Arts and Sciences would disagree, but almost all of my professors have known me by name, been available to meet after class, and I've even had coffee with several of them casually to discuss my work. I have great relations with all my professors, and I know that several have offered to write me letters for graduate school when I depart. I feel that's not something all universities can say, but in our department, professors truly are oriented to the success of their students. I always get wonderful reactions when I tell people I attend Florida State. Even my uncle, who is a hard-core Gator fan, is incredibly proud of me, and has admitted to being impressed by our academia. My parents and siblings are incredibly proud, and this summer when my family vacationed in Spain, we met some fellow Florida Staters (My parents age, not students) and ended up going out for a drink with them. Again, I think this only points out the wonderful diversity and strong networking opportunities that Florida State provides to all students. I spend time on Campus at several places. Our library is a fascinating wealth of resources, from computers and programs to private study rooms to beautiful hard copies of any classic piece of literature or great work you could need. I also spend time at the Pride Student Union, the LGBTQ organization on campus, which is a safe space for people of all gender identification and type, as well as all sexual orientations. The PSU is one of the most active campus unions, and hosts several events, both educational and recreational, every year. I also spend time at The Women's Center and the Center For Participant Education, both of which seek to educate students. The Women's Center speaks to issues of abuse, rape, feminism, and gender equality, and the CPE is an organization that teaches free master classes each semester on anything from Basket Weaving to bringing Dr. Norman Finkelstein to campus last semester. This organization puts education into the hands of the students, and Florida State is very fortunate to have one. There is a college atmosphere present in the city, to be sure. You can feel it slow down when winter break approaches, but that personally has never bothered me. Tallahassee is also a very political place, which offers so many opportunities for students to be involved. I have an internship with Tallahassee Magazine right now, and I've written articles about art galleries, charity organizations, even Tallahassee's Rugby team. If you're willing to branch out of the Florida State network, there is an incredible local scene in Tallahassee. Biking, hiking, art shows, political debates and rallies, coffee shops; Tallahassee is small in ways, but there's always something new going on. Our school's administration has blossomed since Eric Barron became president. I had the privilege of having dinner with him and two other students during the first month of his presidency (After seeing Rigoberta Menchu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner). He took my friends and I out to the Dinner (where Denny's on campus used to be). We had offered to pay for him, because we were so grateful that he would give us an hour of his day without knowing us. We discussed some policies we were concerned with in the University, and he seemed understanding and agreeable about them. He then paid for our meals against our insistence, and within a few months, the policies we discussed were remedied and changed. I believe this shows just how student oriented our university is. One of the biggest controversies on campus recently was between the College Republican group on campus and several more liberal organizations. College Republicans brought an organization called GAP, which is an anti abortion group that came for 3 days and brought posters of aborted fetuses and hung them all around the center of campus. Many students were outraged, either by the anti-abortion stance being marketed, or the grotesque nature of the photos. There was a protest to the display which lasted exactly as long as the actual displays, and the controversy made front page of the FSView. However, even though students became passionately engaged in discussion and debate, there was very little said that was out of line. It was encouraging to see the student body in a completely unmoderated forum, still maintaining control over themselves and respect for their opposition whiles stating their opinion. Florida State has incredible pride for it's academia, as well as it's sports. Tailgating on game day is a wonderful experience. Walking through crowds, alumni and students bond and share food, friendly shouted conversations, and a team pride. Every student has something at FSU to be proud of, whether it's their specific organization, an event they anually partake in (like Dance Marathon or Market Wednesday), or their area of study.

I've had many fantastic classes here at FSU. Because this is a research university, all of the professors (and to a certain degree the TA's) are continuously working on projects in their fields, and all of that research feeds into the classes they teach. The best teachers strike a balance between what the world already knows about their subject (i.e. what you'd learn in the same class at any university) and what they and and their contemporaries are working on at the time. As with any school, you'll sometimes get teachers that you hate, those that don't make the subject interesting or who just don't seem to want to be there. This is often true in huge lecture classes, where it's nearly impossible to interact with your TA/professor about the subject, and unfortunately at FSU many of the liberal arts credits that Freshmen take are lecture classes. However (at least in the English and Classics departments which I belong to), the further you go in your major, the more engaging the material becomes and the more enthusiastic your professors are to teach you. And the liberal arts requirements certainly aren't all bad - FSU gives you a lot of freedom to choose classes that qualify. For example, I've taken a Religion in Fantasy Literature course (aka "the Harry Potter class") and a Philosophy through Science Fiction class, both of which were incredibly interesting, and made the usual dreary religion/philosophy theories more relatable by applying them to pop culture. By far the best classes I've had, though, were during my study abroad experience in London, where FSU International Programs has a study center. I could go on and on about this, but if study abroad is something you're interested in (and it really should be!) I'd be more than happy to talk about it in an interview.