Gonzaga University Top Questions

The Academics here are amazing. Professors actually know there students names and care about there progress. For the most part professors try to make the work easy and understandable. Fairly easy to get a B in almost every class. Religious requirement is a bummer though but thats what you have to expect out of a Jesuit school.

CORE CLASSES SUCK BALLS and are boring as hell Get involved in the Comprehensive Leadership Program Study Abroad

The thing I like most about Gonzaga's academics is how much I feel I am being challenged on a daily basis. In addition, the professors TRULY care. The professors definitely know your name and that makes academics here a much more personal thing. They hold you accountable for your attendance, and I feel as though that is important, too. Some students hate the fact that some professors here at Gonzaga take attendance, but I honestly feel like it's a huge motivator for students to go to class. I can't possibly name my favorite class here because I can find great things about virtually every class I have taken. My least favorite class, however, was Introduction to Speech Communication. I think it was a combination of the subject matter AND the teacher that made the class difficult to tolerate. I feel as though I may have a biased opinion, being a Biology major (which requires A TON of studying), but I feel as though students study A LOT. I am surrounded by students who really want to be successful here, and commit themselves to studying a lot. We obviously know how to have fun too, but during the week, we are very busy studying and doing schoolwork. Class participation is not only common, but it is often required. Most of the professors here believe that the best way to learn material is to be actively engaged in class. This requires participating on many levels. Some include participation in class as part of your grade, whereas others do not, but it is highly encouraged by all. I hear so many intellectual conversations around campus, it's kind of insane. I can tell that things that students learn in their classes carries on into our everyday lives, because I hear it all the time. The academics at Gonzaga focus on ways of tying the material learned in class to outside world experiences. This makes the material much more interesting and applicable. I find myself encountering many of the things I learn in class in my everyday life, simply through the ways the professors taught the material and encouraged us to look for applications of our learning outside the classroom. Depending on the major, but I guess I could say overall, students are fairly competitive. In high school, I was used to being one of the top students in my class, so I didn't always feel a sense of competitiveness. The stakes were definitely raised when I came to Gonzaga, as I realized that all of the students here were at the same caliber as me, if not a higher one. This made everything much more competitive for me. But this competitiveness is not a bad thing, most of the time, as it causes our students to work harder and more dedicatedly for the things they really want. The Biology department here at Gonzaga is very challenging but fun. Again, I believe myself to be biased, considering my major is Biology, but I think our program is a very good one. I have had many unique experiences in class/lab, and I find that the way the science classes at Gonzaga are facilitated maximizes our experiences so that we have a wide breadth of knowledge to use when we go out into graduate school/the working world. In terms of the Pre-Medical program (which I am a part of), Gonzaga prepares their students so well for medical school that a great majority of students from Gonzaga that apply get in even their first time. I do spend time with professors outside of class. Overall, professors at Gonzaga are great at keeping office hours, and are very approachable if you need help. But even on a personal level, the professors here really do care about your progress, and just how you are doing as a person. Many of them are professional and casual at the same time. I have babysat for one of my professors before, and I think the reason that I can have these types of unique experiences with my professors is because the classes are smaller, so the instructors really get to know you on a personal level as well as an academic one. Gonzaga's academic requirements are controversial. Some students here are not fans of our "core" requirements (i.e. 3 religion classes, 4 philosophy classes, etc.), because they would much rather take more classes within their major. I, however, feel that our "core" academic requirements are great ways of getting a well-rounded education. I know that the majority of the students at Gonzaga are very successful in being hired soon after graduating, and I would say this is mostly because Gonzaga DOES gear their education toward getting a job. Although learning is fun and important, it's important also to know that we have a future ahead of us that we need to be prepared for.

Academics are a priority at GU. Everyone is there, yes, and it's fun, yes, but the whole point is to get an A (which is frequently not impossible unless you're taking physics). All the profs absolutely know your name and frequently your major. I've had two profs hold me after class and give me career advice (ie: I'm going to be a physical therapist. One told me to be a teacher on the college level and the other told me to be a congressional lawyer). Some of the more interesting things I've learned, though, have been outside of class talking with my poli sci friends during a movie night. It is vital that you approach academics from all sides possible.

The professors are great. You can usually go and visit with any of them, and they always seem interested and invested in your academic and personal acheivement. Even professors I have never taken know my name, and I am not that involved. My favorite class has to have been my Romantic Age class. People having heated arguments about Jane Austen was highly entertaining and interesting. In most classes, participation accounts for a large percentage of the grade. Entertainment level of class discussion always depends on the professor as well as the students taking the class though. The English department is amazing, but mainly focused on scholarly Lit. Criticism and analysis (we do not have a writing Major, but I think they are trying to get a minor), and the department is not huge. My Beowulf prof got our class free tickets to the movie becuase it came out at the same time! and my English 101 professor had us watch an X Files movie and then write a summery of it for our final paper! One of the English profs also holds a yearly Christmas party at his house, and he and his wife cook all of the food and provide drinks too. It is a really fun atmosphere, especially if you talk with the professors and let them get to know you as a person and not just as a student. I think that it varies with every college, but in the Arts and Sciences, the education is definately more directed towards learning for its own sake, as opposed to getting a job. Although it is a Catholic and Jesuit college, the professors and students seem open minded and accepting of diverse student religiousity, and people discuss religion and politics pretty openly, since the atmosphere is that of scholarly questioning, and everyone is forced to take four years of philosophy, so we can think about these things abstractly.

Academics are amazing here, the school is small enought the biggest class i have had consists of approx 30 students and that is a bigger class required by all fresman to take. This makes it very personable. The professors know your names and are very willing to help.

I believe that Gonzaga's programs serve to train students both for career advancement and learning for it's own sake. The instructors are great- last semester I had some family problems that were interfering with study time, I told the instructor and he gave me some extra time to complete the assignments. My favorite class so far has been Servant Leadership, my least favorite was Ethics (because it is such a complicated issue). I did have one class that had a coffee lounge component and it was great-it gave all of us online students to "hang out" and get to know one another better.

The education here at Gonzaga heavily focuses on educating the whole person and service. Students are often required to take service learning courses as well as a social justice class. There are schools that help you to focus more on your career, but they bring in a lot of the global learning that you have gained in so many of your other classes. Professors at fairly good at knowing your name and say hi to as you see them around campus. It is really nice because the classes here are small so you are able to get that one on one time if needed. Class participation is common in seminar classes as well as most English classes, but it mostly depends on how the professor runs the course. Students study on a daily basis and most often spend a majority of their time in the library because the courses here are challenging. But students also find the time to go out and have fun as well. Students here are good at balancing study time with fun time.

All classes are small. You will have plenty of individual attention from the professors. In my experience they have all been happy to go out of their way to help me. Nobody at Gonzaga wants to see you fail.

All of my professors know me by name, and same with most other students. I've had classes ranging from 8 to 40 people. There are some interesting classes and more options are coming, I just wish that I had some fo those when I came in. Some of my most interesting and socially and academically challengin classes were Advanced Genetics: Race and Racism (Bio Majors Only!), Women in Comaprative Societies (an awesome, well-rounded look at how societies run in general), and Women in Contemporary Church (just a really good perspective on the Catholic Church). Gonzaga classes are really meant to get you to think about your place in society and think about what you really want to do and who you really want to be. Some are crappy too, but the majority really have value. They are all also as challenging as you make them...some challenging no matter what.