University of Minnesota--Twin Cities | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Rachel

Class: Junior
Major: Communications
Gender: F

High School: Park Rapids Area High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The best part about the University of Minnesota is the availability of anonymity, accompanied with the ability to be a social butterfly. With a campus over 50 thousand strong some high schoolers think that they'll fall between the cracks and never get noticed, but this is not the case. Teachers are always willing to speak with students and small discussion groups offer the ability to make new friends and allow for personal relationships. When I came to the university I was excited at being a face in the crowd. I came from a small town of 3,000 where everyone wanted to know everything about everyone. It was nice to have some privacy and control over what other people heard about me. I spend most of my time on campus at the rec center. I am on the women's rugby team so physical fitness is very important to me. I usually lift weights or work on the elypticals, but recently a friend of mine got me into some rock climbing. There is a bouldering wall in the bottom level of the rec center and my roommate and I often go there after class and hang out on the big bean bag chairs and do some climbing to unwind. There is a lot of controversy over the new football stadium that is going up. Its no secret the U has had some problems with its football team and a lot of students feel that a loosing record and poor personal choices are being rewarded with a gift of a new stadium for the players. In reality the stadium is a gift for the students to create more of a community on campus. Even with a losing record the football team still contributes more gross funds than any other sport on campus and a football stadium is a very good investment for the college. In the future it will increase the university's income, and hopefully promote a winning season or two.

Academic Life

Professors are like students, they're all different. I had a bio lecture of about 600 and I don't think the professor even looked at me in that class. I also had a 30 person American Sign Language class where the teacher took the time to learn everyones names before the end of class the first day and still remembers me when I pass her in the hallways more than a year later. My favorite classes have been my communications classes. The professors are usually goofy but willing to give students the bottom line when it comes to informational knowledge about life. One of the most useful classes I've taken at the U was an interviewing class, it not only taught the mechanics of being a good interviewer/interviewee but it taught me how to read people and interpret messages that I often let slip through the cracks previously. I also took a great class called organization communication. In that class we had to work with a client to pick a mayoral candidate and the basis for the entire project was the Simpson television show. Our client played Mr. Burns and we had to help him choose and promote a candidate that would win over the citizens of Springfield. Any class that involves watching cartoons for homework has to be a blast. It has been my experience that the U is primarily based on the welfare of the students. Most classes are focused on knowledge and giving the students a handle on the criteria. There are also classes that are primarily focused on career goals like the interviewing class I previously mention or even an individual careers class that covers everything from how to write a cover letter to how to pick a major. This class also provides you with campus resources on where to go to find major information and what you can do with it as well as put you into contact with local employers.

Student Body

I think the U is probably the most diverse campus in the midwest. There are several different groups that call this campus home. In Dinkytown there are several different churches of all affiliations, as well as a large blend of racially diverse individuals. As part of the GLBT community I have found that the resources at the U are very impressive. There are several GLBT scholarships available as well as other support and social networks available. The weather plays a large part in what students wear to class. On colder days and most Mondays sweatpants are fairly typical but I have seen almost every brand name in on classroom. I have several friends that shop clearance racks and never think twice about heading to the back of the stores for the best deals. Minnesota isn't much a trend setting state so it would be foolish for all the students to think that spending a lot of money around here will make a lot of difference as far as social status.