University of Missouri-Columbia Top Questions

Rigor of classwork varies a lot depending on your major. Nursing, Journalism, and Engineering are considered really difficult, and everything else is kind of so-so. Most students study every day, but the norm is to have a pretty healthy balance between studying and partying. Although - I must admit, I've met a few people that haven't ever read for their classes...not sure how they do it. Professors know you if they know your voice. If you speak up in class, ask questions, visit them during office hours etc. You could go 4 years flying under the radar, or you can leave with a handful of great letters of recommendation (if you put in some effort). Most teachers push students to participate in class, but not everyone does. I've found that the majority of teachers are always available to the students who try in their classes - it's not unheard of to grab a drink with professors, or go to their house for dinner sometimes.

While the typical gen. ed. class wasn't the easiest environment to create personal relationships with my teachers, I have made a connection with at least one teacher every semester that I've been at Mizzou. Especially now that I'm very involved in my major I have made developed some very meaningful relationships with my major teachers, as well as other random faculty members that I have come in contact with. My classmates and I spend a lot of time at the lab and library, but we have bonded so much over classes that we enjoy it. I'm a Convergence Journalism student and I have learned so much from that department. While the students are relatively competitive, the "convergers" have become a sort of family and the Futures Lab has become my second home. In addition, I have gained so much real life experience and I feel very prepared to tell a future employer I can handle whatever they throw at me.

While the typical gen. ed. class wasn't the easiest environment to create personal relationships with my teachers, I have made a connection with at least one teacher every semester that I've been at Mizzou. Especially now that I'm very involved in my major I have made developed some very meaningful relationships with my major teachers, as well as other random faculty members that I have come in contact with. My classmates and I spend a lot of time at the lab and library, but we have bonded so much over classes that we enjoy it. I'm a Convergence Journalism student and I have learned so much from that department. While the students are relatively competitive, the "convergers" have become a sort of family and the Futures Lab has become my second home. In addition, I have gained so much real life experience and I feel very prepared to tell a future employer I can handle whatever they throw at me.

Rigor of classwork varies a lot depending on your major. Nursing, Journalism, and Engineering are considered really difficult, and everything else is kind of so-so. Most students study every day, but the norm is to have a pretty healthy balance between studying and partying. Although - I must admit, I've met a few people that haven't ever read for their classes...not sure how they do it. Professors know you if they know your voice. If you speak up in class, ask questions, visit them during office hours etc. You could go 4 years flying under the radar, or you can leave with a handful of great letters of recommendation (if you put in some effort). Most teachers push students to participate in class, but not everyone does. I've found that the majority of teachers are always available to the students who try in their classes - it's not unheard of to grab a drink with professors, or go to their house for dinner sometimes.

What I truly enjoy about my classes is that it seems like I have the best of both worlds when it comes to my classes. As a proud student in the best journalism school ever, I like that my classes are 50/50 when it comes to class size. Half of my classes are large lectures and half are under 20 students. This way all of my professors know my name. I can choose to get personalized attention when I need it from my smaller classes, or have a wide selection of who to study with from any one of the 200+ people in my larger classes. I've taken some incredibly interesting and challenging classes along with some fun, quirky and sometimes easy classes. My favorite part about the journalism school is that they are really training us for the field by having us work in the field during school, while still learning to acquire as much knowledge as possible while in school.

Class sizes vary greatly, I've been in a class of 10 and a class of 500. As you progress into your major class size generally decreases. Many lecture halls try to keep the class interactive by the use of clickers so you can virtually answer questions in class. Everyone has different preferences of studying, some people study throughout the class and some cram. It really comes down to what works best for you, but if at any time you need help the professors are always willing to sit down and meet with you.

When I first arrived at the university and told people I was from out of state, they automatically assumed I was journalism. This was correct but I was so confused on how they knew so quickly. I knew Mizzou has one of the top journalism schools but I never realized just how many students actually come here for it. But besides the journalism school, the university has so many other classes, majors, minors, and certificates to offer. I've been able to take classes in a variety of subjects and it's helped me learn what exactly I want to major in and the possible minors I can work towards achieving. One of my favorite classes I have taken is Communication in Society because I learned so much about television history and how much the media truly effects our society in many ways. I liked this class because it was about a 250 person lecture but we also had a discussion class that met once a week with about 20 students. It provided a more personal learning environment. At Mizzou, I've learned you kind of have to adjust to learning in a large lecture and then going to your next class that's a small 20 person class. It can be difficult sometimes but I like knowing some professors for some of my more difficult classes on a better level because then I'm not scared to ask for help. The main thing I've learned about academics in college is if you don't understand the material no matter the class size, go to your professor's office hours and ask for help. It will help immensely throughout the semester!

The academics at Mizzou are as good as one wants them to be, as at any big state school. You can major in just about whatever you want, and if there isn't something specific, you can design an interdisciplinary degree. For the first two years, most classes are big, and take place in large lecture halls. Some professors still manage to hold participatory classes in these settings, others really don't - it just depends on who you get stuck with. As you get further into your degree, expect for class sizes to decrease, but for some majors, understand that you might never have a tiny class where you sit around the table and talk. People are pretty friendly; even in the pre-med fields, you never get a horribly competitive vibe. If you really want to get to know your professors, pick a major in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. Each student has a faculty advisor from the beginning, and they are truly your information source and your advocate. Because I was pre-med, I was matched with a faculty member who worked in the medical school - an invaluable resource for me when I was applying. I minored in a subject that few people have actually heard of outside the university, but it was one of the best decisions I made, and one of the most career-defining choices I made. Be open and explore, take classes you wouldn't normally take, and talk to your professors. For the most part, they really want to get to know you.

Most professor don't know my name. But a handful do. Its really because I visited their office hours and developed a student-teacher relationship with them. My mentor really helped me strengthen my skills and aided in my abilities as a writer. My favorite class is history of the 1960s with professor Collins. That class really challenged all my ideas and writing abilities. Students do have intellectual conversations but you have to surround yourself them. There is a meathead culture there too. At parties and social events its squashed. But one bar I had good conversations was at the Heidelberg. You can good conversations there. Students are competitive in terms of sports and sometimes academics. My major didn't really, but the J-school was very intensive. The most unique class I'd taken was sociology of sport with Dr. Porteen. She moved on from Mizzou, but that class was a real good lens to looking at sports. My major was in history and sociology. It was great picks, but I would of strapped on economics much more now because quantitative skills are highly valued. My major really helped in exploring the human experience, the nature of change, human groups interaction, and what motivates people. The history department is not the superstar of the campus. Instead it's the J-school. But its program is very diverse in areas of history. The sociology is hit or miss. The class I took were rockstar quality, especially sociology of music, sport, and the family. But some others will not be as good. The professor is tied to quality of the class. I did spend some time with professors outside of class. They were my mentors. A good brew and topic made for a good night conversation. The academic rigor jumped once you get pass the survey classes. After freshman year, its game on. The complexity of each subject evolves as you get deeper into topics in disciplines. My program was geared towards learning for its own sake. It served its purpose for me. I wanted to learn what made people think and what to look for. The J-School is geared towards getting a job.

The piece of advice I received before going to college was to make sure you have one professor who knows your name and who you are each semester. I did not find this to be a problem at MU. Sure, freshman and sophomore year most classes are in 400+ lecture halls where the prof will not know most of the class, however, few people have the guts to actively participate in a class that big. So if you find a topic interesting or have a question, ask the professor during class or tell them afterwards. Professors at MU love to know that someone else is sharing a passion for what they dedicate their lives to. It is the ultimate compliment and can be a great relationship. I have gone out to lunch with my professors, met their families, shared rides and beers (unrelated), and worked and studied with them as an undergrad. As a nursing major, I spoke with all of my professors on a first name basis my junior and senior year. All of them were available for extra help, and most would give me their cell phone and home phone numbers. This is not uncommon in the nursing school. Nursing school is competitive. When I entered the clinical portion of nursing school, 55 were admitted out of 200 applications. The average GPA was a 3.6 or so. Nursing students at MU are lucky to have University Hospital, Boone County Hospital, the VA hospital, and other clinical sites near campus. Students spend many nights studying at the Med School library (praise it for being open later than Ellis Library) and many mornings waking up at 5am to beat the sun up for a 6am clinical the next day. While nursing school is a lot of work, it pays off. Every hospital in the United States will take an MU nursing major. I graduated this past May '08 and my roommate and I work in NYC at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (#1 cancer hospital) and New York Presbyterian (#1 hospital in NYC). Other classmates work at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, as well as everywhere in KC and STL.