Student Profile
Jay
- Class: Junior
- Major: Communications
- Gender: M
- High School: Park View High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
The best thing about WVU is the diversity. You can have a class with two students from the middle of nowhere on your right and students that are from Long Island on your left. You gain so many first person perspectives on potential relocation spots after graduation. If I could change one thing about this school it would be to make more transportation options for off-campus students. The parking on campus is terrible and although there are options, none of them are as convenient as getting in your car and pulling into your own parking space. For me personally, I think the school size is perfect. It is big enough to have a great football/basketball programs and small enough to not feel overwhelmed by your class size. I spend most of my time on campus between classes and our "MountainLair." The MountainLair is our student building where you can go downstairs and bowl and play pool and have a few drinks. If you go upstairs, there are plenty of seats and you can choose where you'd like to eat: Quizno's, Subway, Chinese, Burger King, Sbarro, or just pick up a snack from a convenience type store. Or late at night you can go catch a movie at the Gluck Theater. I feel that the administration at WVU is getting better by the day. The previous President was just replaced a few months ago and it seems as if the new one is really trying to improve many things. That was also the biggest controversy for a while on campus. Having only visited big schools like this one I would say that WVU has an unreal amount of school spirit. You can hear the chants during time outs, television breaks, and before and after the games. "Let's Go.....Mountaineers." This will be the most utilized when you are at games, so get used to it. Every game, big or small, is filled to capacity by students, alums, and other various people. The town really embraces the school as their own. I have a feeling that I will carry this pride long after I graduate. I will always remember being at the Louisville/West Virginia Football Game a few years back where we won in triple overtime after being down by a lot at the start of the fourth quarter. The atmosphere after that win was amazing. The most frequent school complaints seem to revolve around parking. School tickets cost 10 dollars and when you are running late it is almost better to suck it up and take your chances getting a ticket instead of being late for your tests. You can never be too early to leave your house if you live off-campus.
Academic Life
The first year you are taking basic classes and you sometimes have classes with 200 or so other people. In this instance you don't really know your teachers and they don't know you, unless you make an effort to get to know them, which is some of the best advice I've gotten while I"m here, "Make sure you know your professors." As you progress into the 200-300-400 level classes the sizes continue to get smaller. I am now in classes with sizes of about 20-30 students and I find that to be perfect. My favorite class was Comm 404, persuasion, my teacher, Dr. Avtgis, taught using current events and that was a great way to learn. My least favorite class was statistics, for obvious reasons. Even though the Princeton Review ranked badly on how much students study it's not true for all. I am trying to graduate early and I study a lot. Not having a first-person perspective on other schools I can't say that we study more or less than other schools. Class participation is smaller classes is usually a part of your grade, but in the bigger classes, if they grade participation, it is done with in class handouts. It all depends on the classes you take in your major. If you are concerned with this, you can check out the syllabus before you sign up for a class. My major is Communications with a minor in Advertising. The professors seem to love their job and really do a good job of teaching. Most are very accessible outside of class with their office hours. Occasionally, you'll see some of your teachers (usually masters/phd students) out at the restaurants and bars, they are just like you, just a few years ahead of you. The academic requirements to get accepted aren't too strict, but they are getting stricter as time goes on and more people apply. Most classes are taught in order to learn for your own sake. The lower level classes (100/200) will throw in tidbits about how this subject will help you get a job. We have an amazing career center that will help you with getting a job and to find out what careers fit your personality. There are also "orientation" classes that focus around getting a job, finding out what you want to do, and learning how to survive in the real world. Having taken two of these orientation classes I can wholeheartedly suggest that all students at least look into taking one.
Student Body
First off, I see myself as a normal person and haven't had to deal with any of these issues. There are plenty of clubs and extracurriculars that cater to these specific groups and they all fit in here, I have never seen any discrimination on this campus. I think all would feel comfortable at this campus. I have taken classes where half of the class is from another country (English 102, they offer an intercultural class.) If these students from China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and everywhere else feel comfortable mostly anyone will feel at home. It gets cold here, so during the winter it's mainly jeans and a hoodie or sweatpants and a jacket. It's all about personal style and where you are from will shape this style as well. It's not out of the ordinary to see people wearing lounge pants to class on some days. There is no way to put a finger on a certain group of students here. Everyone just seems to get along, any given table in the MountainLair could be filled with people from all of the United States and other countries as well as different religious and socio-economic levels. Students seem to be politically aware. I can assure you that I have become more interested in politics here, because of the fact I can vote now and it affects me. There is no way to put a finger on the predominant group. You have students that are all left, right, and center. I will say that this is a traditional republican state, but as a whole students seem to vote more democratic. The most common conversation between students seems to be about how much money they will earn one day. The second most common conversation is where they will be moving to after graduation.
The Best Things
Sporting Events
The Worst Things
Parking
