Student Profile
Evan
- Class: Sophomore
- Major: Business
- Gender: M
- High School: Venice High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
The best thing about FSU is that there is always something going on around campus, and there are always activities hosted by some group to participate in. If not, there is always the Student Life Center where they play movies that are picked out by the student committee, and there are other things to do at the Student Life Center. The best thing is that are many alternatives to going to the club or drinking everynight, although there is still the option if you want to drink and go clubbing. One thing that I would like to change about FSU is that there should not be so many students smoking so many times a day. There are always kids and adults smoking all around campus especially right outside of the dorms and classroom buildings. I don't think that there is such a thing as a school being too large, unless the only thing you are going to college for is trying to be ranked within the top 50 students academically. Then you are not going to college for the full experience, which is essentially networking with the leaders of future endeavors to make the world a better place. The larger the class size the better your chances of succeeding then, and enjoying your college years while they happen. Many people would argue that there are way too many students on campus, but the companionship that you can find when you take the time to meet all of these students is much more rewarding than what you would experience on a smaller campus. When I tell people that I go to FSU I am usually asked how I like it, and then they tell me that they would rather go to UF and don't have much reason as to why they would choose UF over FSU. I wish that there wouldn't be as much of a rivalry between UF and FSU students outside of football, but there is always somebody that likes to bring up the assumed inferiority of FSU students to UF students. Other than this rivalry most people like to hear what is great about FSU and why I chose to go there. Most of my time on campus is spent in the dorm. Otherwise it is spent at the Student Life Center of the Leach Center. The Student Life Center has many things to offer in terms of entertainment, and the Leach Center has much to offer if you are involved in any sport or just want to work out. FSU is definitely known as a college town, and there is always something to do for college students anywhere around town. The town definitely caters to the college ages and the clubs are constantly hosting events that are attractive for college students. There are also many bands that pass through town, mostly at the Beta Bar, that many college students like. The administration at FSU is helpful. I haven't experienced much beyond the advisors for the College of Business, but they have been beyond helpful in helping me accomplish what I want. At the University Center, the Academic Advising Center also is helpful for those involved in any of the FSU sports, and can also provide a job for junior and senior level students in terms of tutoring. The biggest recent controversy on campus involved a fight in the dorm between an intoxicated student and a non-intoxicated student. The intoxicated student confronted the non-intoxicated student and started calling him names. The non-intoxicated student will be called John and the intoxicated student will be called Harry. John asked Harry to go into his room and leave him alone because he was clearly drunk and acting stupid. Harry refused to leave John alone and eventually Harry lost his temper and started yelling at John, and at this point the RA called downstairs for more help, and the downstairs lobby called the FSUPD. When the FSUPD got there they ended up charging John with endangerment even though Harry was clearly intoxicated and could not think correctly. The moral is that if the police are coming, wear nice clothes so that you don't get falsely charged for something you didn't do. There is a lot of school pride at the football games. There are sometimes where pride turns into stupidity and a Seminole fan will fight a fan of the opposing team because of the banter between the rivals. There are always other sporting events to go to throughout the year, but they do not draw nearly as vast a crowd as the football games. There really isn't anything that unusual about FSU, but there are some rumors that some of the dorms are haunted, such as Cawthon Hall. Besides that, the building next to Suwannee Room looks kind of ominous at night when the lights are out. One experience that I'll always remember at FSU is when my friends and I all decided to go to one of their apartments, and I danced and sung multiple songs all night until we fell asleep. Besides that, the blackout due to the plane crash was pretty memorable as everybody decided it would be a good time to scream and run up and down the halls of the dorms. The most frequent student complaints are usually about the noise in the halls during the night. A lot of the kids often come back drunk and noisy in the middle of the night and wake up some of the kids in the dorms. The next most common complaint is being hungry or bored, which is frequently solved shortly after.
Academic Life
When it comes down to the professors, in most classes in comes down to the effort that you put into getting to know them. There are some classes that have relatively small class sizes, below 25 students, and the teachers are usually graduate students, but that doesn't mean they can teach any less effectively than professors. The professors always have office hours that you can go in and talk to them, so if you want a professor to get to know your name the best way would be to go and talk to them during their office hours. My favorite class so far has been PHM2300, Introduction to Political Philosophy with Chris Zarpentine. It may not sound that interesting from the name, but it really doesn't go that in-depth into political issues, but really the reasons that we have government, and why we have the setup that we do have. My least favorite class so far would have to be CGS2100, which is almost exactly the same as CGS2060, but it is relatively easy. Ken Baldauf does a good job in the videos, but it's just a class that involves no thought at all, and is mostly busy work. I would definitely reccomend taking it online rather than the in-class option because it saves a lot of headaches listening to the lectures and actually having to go to class. The course book is not worth reading at all, but you need to know most of the terms that he threw in the book. It is one of the most annoying books you will ever read, so I would reccomend just going through and studying the bolded words rather than trying to understand the whole book. Students really only study either the day before or two days before a test comes up, as well as the day of. I haven't had any tough courses yet so I can't say how much anybody studies for the 3000-5000 level courses. Depending on the class, participation is more common in some because the class size allows it. In most of the large classes that are required across many majors there is little participation, and even showing up is extremely optional. In the smaller classes attendance is usually taken, and they are more fun to attend because there is participation. In three out of the 11 courses that I have taken to date at FSU there has been in class participation. Often times the conversations out of class are not that intellectual in the terms of discussing intellectual material, but disproving each other and correcting each other for grammatical errors. It is usually limited to puns, yelling, and then more yelling. The students are not really that competitive openly, but there is competition between students that make it their goal to do better than the other. Most of the time it is limited to secret competition that is not really talked about or even noticed. There really isn't anything that anybody does directly to sabotage another student's chances at getting a good grade or assignment done. Most students are actually helpful and like to study together so that they will both do better. The most unique class I have taken is HUM2210, Humanities: Homer to Gothic, with Tammy Whitehead. The class was interesting, but some of the course material was very weird. The plays that were required reading were interesting, but not necesarilly because of their literary merit. There were just some very interesting stories and morals presented, and it was a good class overall and relatively easy, but very interesting. The College of Business is very helpful and has a great abundance of scholarships to offer to students that have already been admitted to the college. The hospitality program is one of the best in the country, and there is plenty more that the college has to offer. There is also a great Golf Course Management major for anybody interested in owning or running a golf course, and there are plenty of businesses that look to FSU for interns. There is the option to spend time with most of the professors outside of class and talk about the class material and your standing, and what you can do to improve. It may be harder to find time with the professor in the larger classes, but most of them take appointments at which time you can meet them. FSU's academic requirements are adequate and definitely are geared toward preparing you for the coursework you will experience in your major. There are plenty of academic advisors that are available to help you with choosing a courseload that will prepare you for future classes. The education in the lower level courses is geared towards general knowledge, but when you get into your major courses it gets less general and more into the application of concepts as they would be implemented when working. However, they are not overly specific since many students often take courses that do not relate directly to their major.
Student Body
There is not much discrimination between different ethnicities and religion on campus, but some kids feel uncomfortable around African American kids because of the stereotype they are given from the less affluent that live close to the campus and are often seen near the bars. There really isn't any discrimination between different economic classes, and everybody generally gets along well. The kind of student that would feel out of place at FSU would be somebody that likes to have a lot of alone time. If you choose to live on campus you do not get much alone time and there is always something going on. Also if you are extremely shy there are plenty of people that will go out of their way to warm up to you and make you feel more comfortable. If you want to keep to yourself or play video games most of the day you might be bothered by everybody else around you. Most students wear a t-shirt and gym shorts to class, but in some of the higher level classes they wear suits and other business attire. Also some of the fraternities require their brothers to wear khakis a button down and a tie. Different types of students constantly interact. The attitude is very friendly between students and students usually hang out with a number of students from different ethnicities and backgrounds. Also most groups do not restrict themselves to any certain clique one might associate themselves with. In the dining hall there is typically the table that has all guys, and it can be either frat-looking guys or nerdy-looking guys, or there will be a group of mixed boys and girls. Sometimes there will be a table of all girls with the same stereotypes of the all guys table. And other times there will be some student sitting by themself, and sometimes somebody comes along and asks if they would like to sit with their group. There really isn't any area that most FSU students are from inside Florida, but generally all students are from within Florida. There are not that many students that have a very strong financial background, but many have strong to medium financial backgrounds. There are not that many that can be considered low-income, but there are still some from the lower income classes. The most common would be kids from middle-class families. Most students are politically aware and active, and many are registered to vote in this upcoming election. Political banter between students is common and is generally between what presidential hopeful they are backing and why. There isn't any predominant group of students that is classified left or right, but most of the students that I know are politically conservative. The politically left and liberal students are generally louder about their stance and more defensive about why they make their decisions, but there doesn't seem to be any more of either side of the spectrum. Often students think ahead to how much they might earn and what good they will be able to contribute back to the community because of their success. Some students are more greedy and just focus on how much they will be able to make for themselves, but the majority don't really talk about how much they expect to make unless somebody asks them about their major and what they plan to get a career in.
The Best Things
Having so much free time and so many distractions to fill it
The Worst Things
Finding time to focus on school work
