Ohio State University-Main Campus Top Questions

I would be lying to you if I said I loved the lectures, but what can you really expect? Being cramped into an auditorium with hundreds of other people certainly has it's ups and downs. Some of the subject matter for particular classes can be dry and at times it feels impossible to want to even go to class. I'd say this isn't very different than anywhere else.

THEY ARE THERE

The academics expectations are very high at Ohio State. My favorite classes are based upon my major. Class participation is high encouraged and students are very competitive. My major is biology and the department is highly knowledgeable.

The academics are challenging, yet the professors ensure that we are fully prepared for the difficult curriculum.

There are classes of all sizes with more popular classes and general education classes in lecture halls of seven hundred students or more specialized classes in a class of thirty students. Most of the larger classes have a recitation which is like another day of class but taught by a teacher assistant and with only thirty other student. Professors typically do not know your name unless you are very active in class and/or are in a small classroom. I am majoring in business and am specializing in accounting and I am a Fisher direct student which means that I was automatically admitted to the business school as a freshman. Fisher college has a program called Fisher Connect which helps students find jobs and internships.

lol

The academic rigor at my school is intense. However, for a law school, the sense of cut-through competition is very low. The curve and grade distribution lends itself to giving everyone relatively good grades (b+ average), which really changes the landscape of things. Essentially, what normally would be a very high gpa, may not put you nearly as close to the top of the class at my school as it would at others without such a significant curve.

The academic environment of the Ohio State University is wonderful. It's competitive when or if you want it to be. The professors I've had have been incredible--intelligent, helpful, dedicated to imparting knowledge to and making connection with every student. For such a big university, the classroom atmosphere is a close one--I never feel lost or alone.

Starting answering!Tons of fun- we learned a lot while working hard

Despite the size of Ohio State, I have never felt lost in a sea of students here. Sure, some general education courses are held in large lecture halls with a couple hundred students, but that is certainly not the norm, at least with my major. I am an English major with concentrations in creative nonfiction and women's studies and have found most of my classes to have under 20 students. Participation is a percentage of the grade for almost every class, so it's encouraged. As with anything, the more you put in, the more you will get out. I have developed lasting bonds with a couple of professors and stay in touch through email. Professors here are very flexible with their office hours, and work with you to improve your grade if it is not to your satisfaction. I find the coursework to be easy - I have gotten good grades fairly easily, and having never set foot in a library. I wish students were a little more intellectually-minded, but most just seem to want to pass, so that they can party, graduate, get a job, and start a family. Academics are not too challenging here. There are, however, lots of job posting boards and all sorts of internships continually being added. I got a great internship in NYC through my department. My favorite class here was Hollywood Women. It was a feminist film class and I recommend it to everyone. My least favorite was a poetry course that compared classic poems to indie lyrics. Sounds cool, but the professor was really intense and saw things in black and white. But these are two examples of some of the edgier classes this school offers.

Professors knowing your name: most of the time, especially in upper lever classes. In classes with 100 students or more, probably not. My favorite class: Social Dance I and Economics 200 Least favorite: Biology, had a very goofy professor! Participation common? Yes, very much. Intellectual conversations outside of class? It really depends on the students. If they cared enough then yes, intellectual conversation is almost all what I and my friends talk about. Competitive? Yes, anyone who frequently gets C's will start getting harassed by the university and possibly kicked out. Also, there are 60,000 undergrads, so there is more competitiveness. Unique class: Gun politics, Riflery, Social Dance Major: Political Science, the department is almost empty of conservatives! Spending time with professors: Yes if I like them enough. My relationship with me adviser is very strong. Academic requirements: stupid. If you're majoring in biology, you have to take history and math and a bunch of non-sense that you'll never need. If you're majoring in political science, you have to take four classes of a foreign language and history and math and a bunch of non-sense that you'll never need. Education towards getting a job? Mostly not. It depends on the subject you're studying. Studying political science will get me no job for its knowledge. Studying Biology will prepare me for med-school. Studying engineering might actually be beneficial and help me get a job in the future.

Ohio State, from my experiences, has an amazing academic reputation. Most of the classes I have taken I have thoroughly enjoyed. My teachers are always upbeat, willing to help with office hours. emails and meetings and are truly interested in what they are teaching and how they can communicate the subject to their students. My favorite classes have been my Biology and Chemistry classes. Although, sometimes very difficult and frustrating, I enjoy being challenged and feel that I can work together with my teachers, teaching assistants and fellow classmates to excel in those classes. I also really enjoyed my public speaking classes. One of those classes was an elective for my major and it was inspiring, interesting and allowed me to tackle my fear of public speaking in a positive and comfortable environment. The overall academic environment at Ohio State is very positive. Students truly care about doing well in school and there have been a many friday nights I have been at the library and it was packed with students. I have also experienced that students want to participate and engage in class with their teachers. Even outside of the classroom there are study groups, exam reviews and clubs that talk about, participate in events and even research geared towards their academic subject interests. Most importantly, Ohio State has endless resources for their students allowing them to find jobs and internships. It a comfortable and stable academic environment at Ohio State and I give this school credit for my drive, perseverance and success.

It is impossible to describe Ohio State students in one short paragraph. The students are extremely diverse, with tons of different ethnicities, sexual orientation, socio-economic status etc. For this reason, I find that most OSU students are accepting of people other than themselves and open to other cultures and practices. No student could ever feel out of place at Ohio State because there are a 1,000 groups to get involved with, and there is surely something that you would share in common with others. Most students are laid back, wearing casual clothes to class and simply being there to get the class over with. On the weekends, people hang out with their own groups of friends and do what they like to do-such as getting dressed up and going dancing, or just staying in to relax and watch a movie. There are all types of people represented at OSU!

Almost every professor that I have had at Ohio State has been exceptional. Most are more than willing to meet with students outside of class and understand how to relate to students. I am an english major and the professors do a good job of constructing their classes to fulfill the needs of the students.

Again, I might fall into one of the more academic-minded niches of OSU as an honors student in the English department and self-proclaimed half-pretentious, half-dweeby linguaphile, but I have felt very satisfied with the academic life here. Most of the other English majors I know are equally passionate about their studies and are always up to talk about our shared interests--it seems like social niches are often spurned from shared majors. My classmates and I always turn up at the same parties and have mutual friends, which is interesting when the size of the school is considered. I am genuinely excited to attend all of my English classes, and have always felt my professors to be quite accessible. Our department community is very close-knit, and I often still visit past professors during their office hours. This past quarter, I took a class called "The Poetics of Indie Rock," which studied the evolving canon of poetry, and considered how the lyrics of modern indie music might function how poetry did in past generations. We literally spent the whole class reading and discussing lyrics, and at the end of the quarter, had the opportunity to Skype with the lead singer The National. It was cool. Overall, the prevailing academic trends seem to vary as much as the students themselves. I know plenty of kids who are mainly concerned with partying, and sort of hoping to pick up a bachelor's degree somewhere along the way. But I also know people who are super passionate about their studies, people who want to devote their lives to academia. And ultimately, as the school becomes more selective, classes are quite simply becoming more challenging. To earn A's, you better be prepared to work hard and devote plenty of time to your classes.

I personally felt that the majority of my undergrad was not particularly challenging. However, I was an education major, and Ohio State is a research institution. Therefore, majors such as math, the sciences, engineering, and the like are difficult, challenging, strenuous, and any other word you can think to describe them. However, there are opportunities to be challenged in other majors, too. The psychology department constantly carries out research that students can participate in, both as subjects and as researchers. The humanities department regularly supports "Dinner and Dialogue" events, where students can meet with a professor in a more relaxed atmosphere but still talk academics. The Honors and Scholars program pushes students to succeed and strive for their best potential. In all honesty, what you get out of Ohio State academics is what you put into them. If you do not go out of your way to experience and succeed, then your time here will be stunted.

The academics are what you make them. A professor won't know your name unless you make sure they do. The broad range of classes gives you a ton of possibilities to choose from and study from, but the class sizes can be problematic if you don't have the right approach. My favorite classes were the writing workshop classes I took because the class size was only 15 students and I could participate regularly. Some classes I took were 150 students in a lecture hall and you never said a word to the teacher. If you are good at studying on your own, or make friends with the guy/girl sitting next to you, then it's pretty easy to participate and have intellectual conversations outside of class. The most unique class I took was Food Science 411, Brewing Science. We looked at beer from a scientific standpoint, and since beer's a pretty common topic at the university level, students really got into the debates we had over which ingredient was the most important, hops, yeast, water, or grains? I'm an English major, so debates and arguments have been a large part of my education. In the English department, students have a really personal relationship with professors because the major way we communicate ideas is through the words we write in papers. Learning is more geared toward your teacher understanding your view, how you communicate it and what you learned about it as you completed that analysis. Other departments may prepare students more for getting a job, but the English department has always focused on learning for its own sake. My least favorite classes, like everyones, are the general education requirements I've had to take. Of course, you can always find classes that are interesting if you plan a few quarters ahead, but you will no doubt end up in a class that you have zero interest in. That's when you appreciate 10 week quarters and the knowledge that if you can just tough it out for one quarter, you will never have to take statistics 135 again.

Academics at Ohio State have always surprised me. For every 600 person lecture (usually lower level, general education science or math classes) there are half a dozen 20 person discussion-based seminars. Professors vary here from totally uninterested to extremely engaged. Graduate students have been some of my very best instructors. I have taken many, many classes that changed my entire world view for the better. If you can join the Honors Program, do so, if only for priority scheduling, but also for the more challenging curriculum. Although I've taken lower level classes that challenged me, the higher you go, the more likely the professor is enthusiastic about the subject he teaches. All instructors are required to have office hours to help their students one-on-one. I'm an English major, and I'm convinced we have some of the best professors on campus. I took a class on "Comic Books in Film," and it turned out to be one of the most academically fulfilling seminars I'd take, and the next quarter I took another English class with that professor on 1930s literature. I have friends that are science or engineering majors and their academic lives are certainly more strenuous, since my homework as a humanities major is usually about 300 pages a week of reading (give-or-take) and the occasional paper/project. There are classes I coast through--usually the ones required to get your degree (we call them "general education classes," or GECs), but for the most part my classes have been challenging and engaging and above all worthwhile.

Like any other place, you get out what you put in. Some majors are definitely harder than others, but it all comes down to what you want to do. My experience has been unique in that I'm an Honors student. This means that my class sizes are smaller than most and that I get a lot more one on one time with professors. This may not be the case in larger classes, but I've been in some of those as well and as long as you make an effort to familiarize yourself with your professors the class size really isn't an issue. Just go to office hours and discuss assignments and test questions; ask them questions that interest you even if it's not exactly what you're learning about in the course. The faculty here really just want to see that you're engaged in the material. Work hard and try to actually get an education instead of just a degree and you'll find all the challenge and advancement you can handle at OSU.

The academics here are great. Some of your GECs will be huge lectures (my Bio 101 lecture had 600 people in it) but, those types of lectures will also have something called recitation. Recitations have about 20-25 people in them and they're taught by graduate assistants who help you with the material that the professor went over in lecture. So far, all of my teacher have known my name and will even recognize and acknowledge me if I see them on campus - aside from the huge lecture professors, of course. Right now, I'm taking a ballroom dance class; it's only 1 credit hour and it's super easy and a lot of fun! I know that a lot of schools don't offer classes like that!