Gettysburg College Top Questions

Professors are helpful and passionate about what they teach. Class participation is key to success. Unless you know other students or live with them, class discussions can be clique-y and exclusive. I greatly enjoyed the Astronomy class and would definitely recommend it. Class sizes are small and professors make sure to pay attention to individual needs.

Gettysburg is very competitive. It never appears that way at first, but when you start to talk to people, you find that they are fighting to get that 98{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} on a paper because they tied a grade with someone who got a 97{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. Everyone seems to try and out-do everyone else in the classroom.

The big debate over small or large classes - here are the pros and cons. Small Classes - Pros: Teachers know your name, get to know your strengths and weaknesses and are more willing to help boost your grade. Cons: They will know when you aren't there, they probably take attendance and it will be hard to hide from participating. Large Classes - Pros: It's easy to just go with the flow, and get the credit out of the way. Also they are less likely to care when you are there. Cons: They don't remember you unless you make a concious effort to contact them so talk to them sometime if you think you will have trouble in the class, so when they do, they know the face and name and are more likely to be able to hlep. Take something that you don't think you'll be good at - I did that with two classes - One being one that amazed me, the other making me fall flat on my face and say I told you so. Also - I thought I'd love a class and I realized I was horrible at it... don't get discouraged. Take the things you were good at and you did like in the class and build on those to tweak your interests.

The class size at Gettysburg is pretty small, the largest classes containing around 35 students. The professors make an effort to get to know every student and usually learn everyone's name. The staff of the college is, for the most part, very nice and helpful. The professors always want you to do well and are usually willing to help outside of class even if it is outside of their office hours. Some professors even invite you over their homes to eat with them or stay with them over a break if you are not able to make it home! Students spend a decent amount of time studying outside of class, and you can always tell when there is a large exam in a science class because most of the library is filled with students from those classes. Class participation is encouraged, if not a decent percentage of your grade for a course. Most classes, except some science courses and a few others have participation as a decent percentage of your grade (5-15{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} from what I have experienced). Outside of the classroom, students do engage in intellectual conversations quite frequently if it is desired. The students are competitive, but usually just against themselves, constantly striving to be the best that they can be. Outside of the professors, and within your chosen major, you are assigned an academic advisor. This person (or people, depending upon your major(s)) is here to help you when you have a question about academics, to make sure you are getting all of your requirements fulfilled, and making sure that in general you are doing well. My experience with my advisor has been very helpful; he has helped me pick courses to assure that I fit in both my Gettysburg requirements along with requirements for my major, and has made sure to tell me when I should start looking at them. At Gettysburg courses are picked on a first come, first serve basis by grade. Usually, for people who have declared a major, there is a Pre-Registration period for courses within the major for those who need the course first. This is very helpful because this way it ensures that all people who have declared the major are ensured a spot before someone who is not declared within the major.

Academics are tough but manageable. Again, it is a small school and this is reflected here. I had the same two teachers for my 10 German classes. However, I got to know these professors really well, was invited to their houses for class sometimes, and when my family came for graduation they were shocked at how much my professors already knew about them! If you need a lot of attention, you will get it. Usually if you send out an email with a question, you will get a response within minutes unless the teacher is actually teaching class then. As for the amount of work, you definitely need to learn to plan your time well if you want to have free time, and some semesters will be worse than others, but I think this is pretty much true of any college. You can't get a degree without working for it. And again, the small school atmostphere comes in handy--somebody will always know how much work the professor for your new class gives, how much thought they want put into a paper, how lenient or not they are, etc.

I love my major and I feel that, although it's very challenging at times, the class sizes are just right and I get plenty of attention from my professors if I need it. They are always available for a one on one chat if I feel lost, and they often hold review sessions just in case I need to go over something from class but don't need personal attention.

The academics are very strong at gettysburg. the class sizes are small making it easy, and comfortable to approach your teachers, and you get to know your classmates.

I've been hearing that Gettysburg's goal is to be a safety school for the Ivy League, and it's definitely heading in that direction. You can't expect to come to a school like Gettysburg and NOT study on the weekends, NOT pull a few all-nighters, and NOT spend a significant amount of time in the library. It's not an easy school to get into, and although some kids let themselves go when they get here and don't work quite as hard as others, it's plain to see which students are getting the most out of what Gettysburg has to offer. The day-to-day academics at Gettysburg are not exactly what I was expecting, but it's certainly a much better situation than at a larger school. My biggest class last year was probably around 40 students, and that's only because it fulfilled 3 curriculum requirements. I'm on first-name terms with many of my professors, partly because I'm the kind of kid that sits right in the front row and rarely stops asking questions. I'm an environmental science major and a music minor, and my ES professors are all conducting fascinating research that I have a very good chance of being a part of someday. It's hard to describe ES as a department because the teachers are all so different, but science is actually fun here! One professor made an entire power point presentation and spent 2 days teaching us how to pick blue crabs and shuck mussels, and as soon as the weather became warmer, every single lab for my ES 196 took place outside doing hands-on field work. My music classes, however, are incredibly hard and very frustrating for me, but the people who are really serious about music are in great hands. Even though the actual classes are impossible, I take private voice lessons that are just as rewarding without all the high blood pressure. One of my favorite classes so far was an ancient Greek and Roman literature class that was less about reading and more about learning how to live your life better. I learned more life lessons from Aeschylus and Virgil than I have in all my 19 years, and who cares if it won't help me get a research job someday if I feel like a better human being? That's much of the attitude at Gettysburg; do what you love to do, study what you love to study, and you might not be a millionaire but you'll be happy and fulfilled. Even the Academic Advising office will tell you to have some fun!

I think that academics is a strong point at Gettysburg. My classes are usually small- the smallest being language classes (about 8 students) and the largest my psychology and science classes (maybe around 35 students). As far as I remember every professor made an effort to remember our names. My favorite classes are always my Italian classes because they are small and interactive. My least favorite are the sciences which are difficult and lectures can be tough to pay attention to when the classes are larger. Students study a lot and the library is spacious and a great place to study. During finals or midterms you're lucky if you can find a spot in the library though-that is when the students REALLY get serious. It depends on the individual-some are competitive, some aren't. But I think that students who don't study most definitely flunk out. The most unique class I've taken was probably Music 101. In class we hummed or clapped rhythms, made up titles to songs, and even danced the waltz once. For homework I got to do my favorite hobby-listening to music. I really looked forward to going to that class. My major is psychology. I think we have a great department of professors but I haven't gotten the chance to get to know them on a personal level. I am also in the honor society for psychology but never get any information on it, which is kind of unfortunate I like to attend the psychology seminars and see guest speakers when I can because they are interesting. As psych majors we also help each other out with participating in experiments. My minor is Italian and unlike Psychology I have gotten to know each one of my professors on a personal level (perhaps because of the small class sizes). For example, a professor that I had was willing to help me with scheduling and give me advice even when she wasn't my professor any more. She wrote me a recommendation for the program in Florence and when I met with her to chat about my experience (and also noticed that she hung the postcard I sent her from Italy in her office ;). For the Italian professor I had last semester, who said the most outrageous and funny things in class, I made up a list of his quotes and gave them to him at the end of the semester. I thought he was going to cry he was so appreciative. Throughout the semester we emailed each other back and forth jokes. He also gave me suggestions and advice on career options for Italian and grad schools. I could go on and on, but these are just some examples of how great these professors can really be.

Gettysburg is very strong academically, and is getting stronger every year. I absolutely love the faculty here. Because class sizes are small and the different departments aren't huge, you really get to know your professors and they get to know you. They are always willing to help you out with almost anything, and are often in their offices above and beyond their official "office hours," willing to help or just chat. They are really interesting, nice people, who care about their students. There are no grad students around to take up their time, and while they do a lot of research and writing of their own, students come first. And of course all classes are taught by professors, not grad students.