Washington State University Top Questions

The academics are not too hard. Just as long as you pay ttention to due dates you will survive. The professors are really helpful and give you plenty of time to finish assignments

The academics are very important.I am a freshman and our RAs make sure we are doing okay and check in to see if there are other people on our floor to help if we are struggling.

Professors at WSU enhance student's learning through a passion for the job. I remember as an incoming freshman how afraid I was to speak with or ask anything of a professor. It felt like an imposition on them and their busy lives, but after numerous professors reminding us over and over to come talk with them, I learned the professors at WSU represent one of the biggest resources you will find on the campus. In my experience with the communication, music and honors departments, I have found that professors actually get excited when you talk with them because it is an opportunity for them to discuss their passion. The professors love what they are teaching, so they put more effort and enthusiasm into their lectures. Ultimately, if students interact with the professors they will provide the extra knowledge and feedback that makes the subject sink in and have actual meaning.

Professors at WSU enhance student's learning through a passion for the job. I remember as an incoming freshman how afraid I was to speak with or ask anything of a professor. It felt like an imposition on them and their busy lives, but after numerous professors reminding us over and over to come talk with them, I learned the professors at WSU represent one of the biggest resources you will find on the campus. In my experience with the communication, music and honors departments, I have found that professors actually get excited when you talk with them because it is an opportunity for them to discuss their passion. The professors love what they are teaching, so they put more effort and enthusiasm into their lectures. Ultimately, if students interact with the professors they will provide the extra knowledge and feedback that makes the subject sink in and have actual meaning.

Here at WSU, you will more than likely go through some GER courses where the students in your class are far too numerous for your professor to know by name, but once you pick your line of study and get into your major classes, almost all of your professors will know you by name and will tailor to the class they are teaching. Its awesome having professors that come into the room, throw the textbook on the table, and without lecture notes can teach you subjects like Differential equations or dynamic systems of mechanical bodies. The most unique class I have taken so far is Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, it is taught via tele conference to TriCities WSU and is very informational taught by a professor that worked in the industry for decades. I am in the Honors college, which has class sizes consistently lower than 20 students in each class, where it is not uncommon to spend time outside of the class with your professor, or even inviting them to dinner and such.

Most professors are very good, and the rest are trying to be better, TA's always help a lot during labs.

There is not a straight answers for how academics are at WSU. It depends on the department and how much initiative each student has in pursuing their learning. Classes run large and it is vital to personally make contact with a professor if you want to have them know your name. There seems to be a divide in how often students study. There are lots of students who study actively throughout each week and there are groups of students who seem to value their social lives more than their performance in class. Being such a large university, if students want to talk with their professors they will need t visit them during office hours. Classes are restricted to the lecture and there is commonly no extra time allotted for personal talk or visiting. Overall, I am personally not satisfied with the academics offered at WSU. The professors themselves are wonderful but I often feel like a number. A student has to seek out a more connected relationship with a professor, it is not a given like with smaller universities. For many the academic environment of WSU suits their needs perfectly and many (if not most) of the students here love WSU. If you want the public, state school, "typical," college experience then WSU is definitely for you.

For the proffs, for the most part, the one's I have experienced are willing to assist in any way that they can. But careful some of the 200 level classes. You may be taking them for a requirement, but they could be weed out classes. Students treat classes like they are the frickin olympics. If they don't do well, they'll get mad at the person next to them for doing better. WSU's academic requirements can be BS. Seriously, I'm a molecular science major, what do I need humanities for? What do I need music and women's studies for? Just the same old song and dance heard everywhere. Word of caution, DO NOT SOCIALIZE WITH PROFESSORS OUTSIDE OF CAMPUS!!!!! I once had a professor in the Hort dept. come to my house dead drunk, corner me and tell me how insufficient I was and that I was lacking 2{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} in my work skill and that he would always call me 2{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} everytime he saw me getting a little discouraged. He also had these un-realistic visions of what lab life should be like (unprofessional visions), cat calling to females through windows (closed but still), sexism, always 'teasing' me because I am Native American, telling me that I am making him regret giving me an A in his class, and so forth. He also damaged my professional reputation to other proffs by excreating some artificial story and spreading it to not just my lab mates, but other proffs in the department. This is why I left school. There are lots of science proffs like this, so if you are going into a science, particularly plant sciences in the IBC and MPS programs (SBS excluded, Clark hall and Plant Biosciences buildings especially) just be a little wary of the proffs. Charmers at first I tell ya.

Studying is a joke, Criminal Justice was one of the top programs in the country and my minors required more work than my major

I am in the Distance Degree Program. Some instructors are not too organized which makes it hard to learn. Others let their assistants do most of the work - I am paying top dollar for the instructor not a wannabe instructor. Group activities are hard in this environment because everyone's schedule is different. "VIRTUAL MENTORS" are not helpful and often are contradictory to instructor's views. It would be nice to see a picture of the instructor we are learning from, maybe a voice feed to know what they sound like. Overall experience is good- students from all walks of life and areas of the world.

I am in a very competitive major, pre-veterinary medicine, and the students are very competitive, but yet very supportive of each other as well. I am in the honors college and in the honors classes the class size is small and you get the chance to know your professor well. In my general science classes, however, classes are huge and you get that kind of a relationship with your TA rather than professor. Professors and TA's make themselves available during office hours and will often take extr time to meet with you if needed.

Professors are very interactive. Many majors are in the top 5 or 10 in the nation (communications, architecture, veterinary medicine to name a few). The university focuses on writing, which is very important for new graduates. Critical thinking focal points in the curriculum will help people in the future.

The smaller the class size, the better the experience. In the larger classes such as lower-division chemistry and biology, there's almost no individual attention and sometimes the lecture is very fast paced and you may not have time to ask questions in lecture. Summer session has treated me wonderfully this year. The class sizes are very small, you attend class daily, and you get all the credit of a normal 16-week semester done in four to six weeks, depending on the class. I got a two semesters worth of Spanish done in eight weeks. I couldn't be happier.

Most of my professors know my name, now that I'm out of the huge freshman requirement classes. Once you get into your upper division and major classes, professors interact with you on a one on one basis. Developing relationships with professors is crucial, because it can help you with your grades, and especially internships and job searching when you graduate.

I like some of the professors here, but compared to the ones I dislike (who most people also detest) they are an extreme minority, barely making up one percent of the total. Grades are not competitive and studying is a rarity. As far as intellectual conversations, you can hope for one every blue moon or so, but the general populace is much more likely to tell you about how smashed they got the night prior as opposed to their views on politics, scientific research or ethics. Education at WSU is supposedly geared toward producing well rounded students, which is essentially a way of saying you aren't getting out until we waste a great deal of your time and money. Within science majors there are a fair share of good professors, but there are also some that should never be unleashed upon the public, much less set in front of a white board and put in charge of someone's grade.

well there is a reason why WSU lost thier athletic scholarships. because the academics suck. well they are really good, but the teachers are given inscentives to make people fail. and its hurting them. I was in a physics class with an A- and the entire class had A's because it was a new teacher and he made the class to easy, and so since everyone had A's they took the lab scores from everyone and docked them by 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} which screwd evereyone and gave me a C+ in the class because they needed to fail people. What a joke

It took me almost a year and a half before I really found what I wanted to pursue. I found that once I finally was in my element and focused on the goal of graduation, my academic life was a lot more positive. It was a challenge through those first couple of semesters when I really had no idea about what I wanted to do.

Even after graduation I have kept in contact with several of my professors, and I have made it a point to visit them when I am back in Pullman. Not only were they amazing in class, but they got to know you outside of class; what you were interested in, what you would be doing during the summer, and what they could do to help you succeed. My professors worked hard to find us the best summer internships and full time positions there were available.

the students amongst the science departments are very competitive. Especially the pre-health professions. As for the arts and humanities. they don't know how easy they have it.

Exploring various subjects ranging from film studies to the Chinese language has been very eye-opening and exciting. There is also a range of types of students at Washington State. Some study 12 hours a week or more while others may call it a week after 3 hours. Some majors and classes are more competitive than others. In my classes I have found that interaction with the teacher is emphasized more than competing with fellow students.