George Mason University Top Questions

Some professors know me but that didn't start to happen until I got into upper level classes. Even then Mason's cutting down on programs like English so classes are being made larger and turning into lecture courses which completely defeats the purpose of majoring in English. Booooo.... People here generally are pretty smart so it's not too too hard to find someone with which to have intellectual conversations with. As far as classes go, not enough people talk and I have gotten by too easily. I get decent grades without going to class and I'm a little ashamed of that, but I think it says something to the level of difficulty I am experiencing in my classes. I have yet to really 'hang out' with a professor. I only talk to them if I have to. Also! important to note is the fact that I disagree with requiring students in the arts to take a math. Especially when the math teachers that are teaching the supposedly lower level math are pretentious and think you are stupid because you don't understand their scribbling on the bored. I have yet to have a good experience with a math teacher.

The classes at GMU, after you get through gen eds, can be wonderful. Most of the professers are really intelligent and passionate about their area of expertise. They are truely devoted to the students, and aren't shy about assigning homework and papers, but most grade fairly.

Most professors are teaching cause they want to, coming from business and government. Many work(ed) in government in DC and teach on the side or in retirement, so they bring real experience.

In my opinion, once students begin to take major courses that are more specialized, professors begin to really get to know you. I had some professors more than once, which was nice. As far as lecture courses go, the professor isn't going to be able to learn 200 names, but it is also up to the student to make themselves known, by either attending office hours or participating. The most unique class at Mason was Political Journalism. The class was held, for the most part, in a television studio in Innovation Hall. Via satellite, we had conversations with students at two other universities and the C-SPAN studios. We spoke to one another and also had guests, including Helen Thomas and Walter Cronkite.

Mason is really big on making students participate either in or out of the classroom. Sometimes it getts annoying have all of these out of class projects. Mason professors can be cool, and at othet times they can forget that anyone has any other classes.

All of my classes are interesting. Could be more classes to choose from. I know lots of my friends were thinking about Mason, but didn't go because their major wasn't featured.

While the professors try to be intelligent, and while some actually are, this school simply does not foster education. A Nobel-winner or two aside (for economics), professors at Mason are usually in the process of getting a degree themselves or teaching in between jobs. If they know your name, it's only because they can't pronounce it and have a new pronunciation each class. Students here can't even spell "intellectual", much less discussing anything that could be described as such. Saying a word that has three or more syllables is usually enough get you into the honors program. Although the SDS (Students For a Democratic Society, a hippie political group originally started in the 1960s) tries to protest and "shake things up", they quickly give up when they realize almost nobody knows what they're talking about and the few that do don't care. There is no other reason to go here other than to learn how to get a job. All classes are related towards a job in some way, so there's no reason for the school to support anything intelligent or interesting that isn't useful for getting employment in the fast food industry after you graduate.

Professors know your name in the smaller classes but only if you talk. My favorite class is my capstone course to graduate; it is very challenging, and it isn't just teaching the same thing in a different way. I am tired of sitting in rooms for no reason learning the same stuff over and over and am excited about the challenge. I hate classes that are large lectures and boring. Students study... There are two kinds of students: those who always study, and those who rarely do. I am a business major (School of Management), in particular, a Management major. The management program is horrible; there is no way to specialize in a certain field (non-profit, entrepreneurship, HR, etc). We must take aspects of everything. Overall, School of Management is a very large program (1/3 of all students take SOM classes), but it is still rather booring and only challenging sometimes.

I was a part of New Century College and most of the professors I had could recognize me and knew my face. The classes were small, but very interactive. I am glad that I did not have too many of the large lecture classes. To those professors, you are just a number. I do not think that the students were really competitive. We were all education majors and took our education very seriously. I think that GMU was a great experience unlike any other to prepare me for the working world.

Favorite class was by far Intermediate Microeconomics with Walter E. Williams.