Florida State University Top Questions

It's clear in all classes that FSU is constantly trying to push its curricula through the 21st century and not be a passive recipient of change. At this moment, the newest buildings on campus are science buildings for Psychology and Chemistry, each with modern affordances and a potential to aid students with the rapidly changing means of communication. Class sizes are generally small, allowing professors to get to know their students and be possible contacts into a student's budding career. And often classes are offered to pique students' interests and get them excited about school. A very popular class at FSU is a religion studies class that focuses on "The Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter," "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "His Dark Materials." This fostering of conversations and debates on modern topics really rallies students to compete with one another and get involved with the world around them. Along with the new buildings on campus, the Strozier Library has just been remodeled with new computer labs, smart rooms and technology hubs. Also, more and more rooms in the English department and other departments are getting Smart Boards and other modern technology to aid in the spread of mulitmodal material and increase interactivity. Finally, with great career centers and a weekly job fair, FSU's academic programs are most definitely geared toward preparing students to be part of the job market and giving them the tools they need to be competitive and effective in today's professional society.

It's clear in all classes that FSU is constantly trying to push its curricula through the 21st century and not be a passive recipient of change. At this moment, the newest buildings on campus are science buildings for Psychology and Chemistry, each with modern affordances and a potential to aid students with the rapidly changing means of communication. Class sizes are general small, allowing professors to get to know their students and be possible contacts into a student's budding career. And often classes are offered to pique students' interests and get them excited about school. A very popular class at FSU is a religion studies class that focuses on "The Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter," "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "His Dark Materials." This fostering of conversations and debates on modern topics really rallies students to compete with one another and get involved with the world around them. Along with the new buildings on campus, the Strozier Library has just been remodeled with new computer labs, smart rooms and technology hubs. Also, more and more rooms in the English department and other departments are getting Smart Board and other modern technology to aid in the spread of mulitmodal material. Finally, with great career centers and a weekly job fair, FSU's academic programs are most definitely geared toward preparing a students to be part of the job market and giving him or her the tools needed to be competitive and effective in today's professional society.

The academic side of Florida State varies from teacher to teacher. Overall, I feel that I am getting a good education. With that said, there are your rotten apples. In one or two of my classes, I felt that the professor was not helpful to the students’ needs. The lectures for those classes did not go anywhere and ended with the teacher ranting about nothing. However, in those instances, I was able to find help from tutors at the library on campus. I have been able to take some unique classes here on campus. Never in my life would I imagine that I could get college credit for working at a radio station and playing music or going to sporting events as a member of the press. Other classes I’ve taken include watching movies and talking about how they relate to social problems in the United States. Other classes which I have enjoyed were talking about the history of music and how it has changed throughout the years. On a more serious note, if you can even call it that, there have been classes where we read graphic novels and talk about how the connection between text and image has changed since manuscripts back in the 1800s. FSU offers a wide variety of classes that can cater to individual interests (there are writing classes on Harry Potter and the Beatles). Still, there is one class which I look forward to taking. Florida State offers an infield study class which lets the student make a connection between Disney music and how advertising manipulates people.

The academics at FSU are excellent. Our university strives to aid students in all areas and also help them excel to reach their career goals. I love being able to be on a first name basis with professors and be able to have them as a teacher for multiple semesters. I am an English: Editing, Writing, and Media major, which is the newest degree in the English Department. My major covers a variety of subjects including print media, publishing, web based design, electronic media, and editing.The Editing, Writing, and Media track re-conceives the English major for the 21st century. My favorite class that I've taken has been Writing, Editing, and Print Online. In this class, we created print publications and a website. Our entire class broke into teams to create an informational website for college students in the area of Tallahassee. I got to write articles and reviews, but what was really exciting was getting to work on the PR side of it all. I created flyers and chalked around campus about our website and I also created a twitter, facebook, and tumblr for it. The English department is so helpful to students. The department has just recently opened a digital studio that allows students to use software like InDesign and Dreamweaver. Students can receive help while using the software from graduate students that specialize in different programs.

When I was first applying for college my parents kept telling me I should stay close and go to community college because, "Big universities aren't as personal. Your classes will be too big and you won't learn anything." This is not the truth. Yes, some of your classes are bigger than others, but most of your big classes take place in your first couple semesters. Once you get into your major courses the classes are smaller and you really do get to know your professor. Even the bigger courses though, you have plenty of opportunities to see your professor, to gain a connection with them. All the professors I have had have been awesome and really open with their office hours and helping me whenever I needed it. I've never had a problem getting face time with my professors.

Depending on the size of the class and how often you speak to the professor, they will try to learn everyone's names. Most of the professors give pretty interesting lectures that make you want to go to class. As far as help finding a job after graduation, the career center is extremely helpful with that. They send out newsletters through email about job fairs and on campus recruiting, they will help you put your resume together, and even help you decide if graduate school or some other program would be a good fit for you.

I am constantly amazed at the variety of classes FSU has to offer. There is a class for every interest. We have diverse majors as well, from Golf Course Management to Environmental Science to Theatre. FSU prides itself on our majors for being some of the top in the nation. I am a Family and Child Sciences major which doesn't even exist in most colleges. We are pioneers in almost every field. You notice this when you realize how accomplished your professors are in their respective fields.

The academics are good in certain areas and not as good in others. A lot of students that I have classes with don't really show up and seem not to care too much about their future. The professors that I have had really love to teach and enjoy what they do but I have also had the majority of my classes taught by grad students. The school does however have a lot of their programs ranked in the top 5 {4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} and I have never taken a class that I thought was a complete waste of time.

Laughing out loud. What academic life?? FSU requires that all students attend the first class of every semester, something that will rarely happen for the rest of the semester. Professors teach large classes where student names are never thought of, and seem to evacuate the campus quickly after their teaching is done. Intellectual conversations, rarely present at this university at all, will never be found outside the classroom, for the typical student is far too drunk by 3 pm on the average weekday to remember what they learned the hour before. As if a lack of learning in the class were not enough, the FSU advising is a nightmare. Attending for more than a semester one will quickly come to learn that it is best to do the opposite of anything an adviser tells you. Another thing worth mentioning: if you are in the hard sciences or math and are beyond your freshman year, don't even think about study abroad. The office of international affairs gave a friend and me a weird look and sent us out the door.

FSU is a very challenging university, the academics are top notch and the faculty is home to many esteemed professors who have won awards in their field. I believe it says a lot about FSU's academic strength that they received contract for the Magnet Lab instead of M.I.T. Other than the basic freshman classes (when everybody is trying to fulfill their liberal arts requirements) all the courses in the business school were less than 40 students. The teachers asked engaging questions and were readily available for office hours. Students were also very involved in the classes.