Michigan State University Top Questions

With a few exceptions, most professors keep their doors open for extra help and are happy to assist students. If you're determined to get a 4.0 in a class, you should be able to.

Class sizes are large, but you will find out how to make it work for you. Professors have office hours, so if you have any questions you can always get them answered outside of class if you didn't get a chance to get them answered in class. The largest class I had was 550 people, but I made sure to sit in the front of the class and take good notes. The nursing program is totally different than prenursing, as the class sizes are much smaller and you have a lot of time in clinical. I have to study all the time for nursing, but I can still go out and have fun once in a while. I feel that this program will allow me to easily get a job after I gradate.

As far as academics go, you create your own world. The more time you're willing to put in, the more you'll get out of your classes. There are students who hardly go to a class all semester, and students who talk to the professor each day that may potentially earn the same grade. In college, the learning is for you, and no one else.

I'm an English major, which means like most other majors, I have to complete a ton of requirements that aren't directly related to English. To my surprise, I ended up REALLY enjoying the required classes. Taking social science classes, history classes, and foreign language were all really great experiences. Because of my requirements, I've finally chosen a minor I'm excited to study - History. One thing I've found true about all MSU professors is the effort they put into helping their students outside the classroom. You can meet with them before or after class and during their office hours. If their office hours aren't possible for you to attend, you can ask them ahead of time for a meeting outside those hours. After completing my Freshman year, I've become close to at least two professors. I was NOT expecting this, considering I've always been the really shy girl who never participates in class. This just goes to show you how hard MSU professors try to push their students above and beyond.

I think that the requirements at MSU are pretty dumb but I know that we are required to take science classes for good reasons just so that we all can have some type of diverse knowledge. I think classes on the other hand are all pretty good. Teachers always have office hours and/or learning centers after class so that if someone is not understanding the concepts they always have access to getting help. I was an advertising major and there was a lot of group projects and class participation counted a lot in class. At the time, I honestly did not like it, but it really helps out when you get out in the world, as you learn how to voice your own opinion and work as a team.

There's a pretty good diverse academic staff here. And I think it's something they strive for. I've been lucky enough to take classes with professors who I mostly admired. And the journalism program, having its major faults, still has given me quite the exceptional education.

If you balance your time and prioritize you can get it done. The library is always open and people are always willing to do study groups.

People don't expect the classes to be that difficult, but a lot of people underestimate the class work and content. 1/8 of those kids are the party kids, who eventually flunk out, but a good chunk of students didnt expect that much work would be involved.

Reasonably tough and demanding. This is a positive, because the person with this degree is respected in the job market.

This may be true for all four year colleges but a majority of my time felt wasted. When I received a degree in Telecommunication with emphasis in web-design I had exactly 3 classes pertaining to my degree that actually taught me useful information. Given I may have had a few more I could have taken had I decided on a major sooner, it's still sad I received a degree with the amount of REAL schooling I received. My misconception number 1 was that I would leave a college with a degree and be ready to work in the industry my degree pertained.

I had a wonderful Physiology professor for PSL 250. But there were 595 people crammed into that class. Most of my MSU classes had hundreds of students and this means that tests were "bubble" computerized multiple choice tests for ease of grading. Lansing Community College classes have about 40 students per class and use more in-depth testing methods. My LCC professors all know my name and treat me with respect because they can see that I do work for their class.

Academics are really what you make it. If you put in the effort you will get a great reward, but if you just half-ass it you wont receive any benefit.

The English Department is great but once again, the College of Education is the biggest peice of shit school in the world.

It really depends on the teacher/professor in regards to the academics at MSU. I have had some horrible professors and probably received better education at high school and then there's amazing professors who really engaged the students. I really think that MSU is educated towards getting a job and learning, depending on what major you have. The communication department is really focused on preparing students for a job (on the most part). Some classes prepare you for grad school, but expect the majority of com majors to go out into the workforce. I do believe that students have intellectual conversations outside of class, unfortunately, most of the time students don't' have their facts straight so they sound idiotic.

You will definitely study more than you did in High School but you will probably do less homework. The majority of classes are reasonable if you attend class and pay attention and do your reading. I am a part of Lyman Briggs College of Natural Science and I often spend time working with my colleagues and professors. This makes for a great learning environment.

you know... you learn stuff if you want to and dont if you dont want to

Academically, at MSU, I was suprised how much more I had to study compared to High School. I had friends from other colleges telling me that they never had to study and the college was soo easy. MSU is a challenging school. It also depends a lot on the courses your taking, but, for the most part, all freshmen take the same University pre-reqs anyways. Compared to High School, yeah, you'll prob study twice or three times as much. Again, it depends on your classes though. Some classes you don't ever have to study untill exams. A lot of large lecture classes will just post power point slides online and you can just review them. This means that you don't always have to go to class... although you prob should. As far a class participation, it really depends on the class. My Japanese class meets 5 days a week and class participation is part of our grades, so yeah, we have to participate a lot. In large lectures, participation can't really be mandatory, but students still ask questions and get involved. My major is supply chain management (business), and I'm taking my pre-core business and University courses now. Business students don't take real business classes until after their sophmore year when they get accepeted into the bus school. Sometimes I think that the University requirements are kind of stupid because they make you take random courses that don't relate at all to your major. I had to take a course on Water and the Enviornment, but I'm a business major. For my major and most other bus majors, MSU trys hard to help you get a job after graduation. They also have a lot of career fairs which makes it really easy to find summer internships as well. The nice thing about MSU, is that they are big enough and have a good reputation so they draw big companies like Toyota, Dell, UPS, IBM and stuff to come to MSU and hire for full time or for internships.

difficult and challenging, but nothing impossible. a lot of asian teachers for math classes that are impossible to understand which is unfortunate for what we pay to go here.

Professors DO NOT know your name! Depending on your program/major, you may have class sizes anywhere from 100-600 students, unless your in a small program. But in my dance specialization classes there was never more than 25 students, so that was great. But belonging to the largest college at MSU (Social Science) My core classes were huge. No professor ever knew my name. You must go to office hours if you want the professor to know your name. Students' study habits vary. I, like most students tended to study at the last minute. Class participation is not common, in a lecture class, you just take notes. are competitive, depending on the program. Most unique class, DANCE! The university requrements are just a waste of time and a way to make money.

I am in the James Madison program, which is a bit of a challenge. many former students of JMC try to intimidate you and tell you things to make you not want to be apart of the program but i say... GO FOR IT!!! life is not meant to be easy a challenge is always needed to make you a stronger person and to challenge your mind. the professors are as willing to teach you as you are willing to learn. one thing about college is that you dont have anyone telling you to go to class, you have to make the choice yourself.