Ball State University Top Questions

Very engaging and challenging

Difficult, yet rewarding.

students are very competitive

Professors at Ball State generally know your name. Only the core classes contain a lot of students, but even then professors will learn your name if you participate. My favorite classes have been my immersive classes, but I also enjoy my literature courses. My least favorite course was MATH 125. MATH 125 is the core math course that every student has to take. The class was not too bad, but it was boring for me. I learned most of the information in high school. Most students don't study enough, but studying is relative to the individual. Some students can pass without studying, others need to study a lot. Class participation is very common. I have only had one or two courses in which no one participated, but that was mostly due to the professors' lecture style. I am an English Literature major with minors in Digital Media and Peace and Conflict Studies. I love all three of my departments. The professors in each of these departments are the best of the best. The academic requirements for Ball State are not hard to meet if you do the work. Many students think they can never turn in an assignment and still pass, but they are sadly mistaken. Education at Ball State is geared toward both getting a job and learning for its own sake; your experience depends upon the program you choose to pursue and your own personal contribution to your studies.

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My absolute favorite class is my studio class, every Monday Wednesday and Friday for four hours. This may seem like a lot of one class but my professors are amazing, they know us by name but not just that, they also know our backgrounds. The professors have become our friends that hopefully we keep in touch with forever, we are stuck with them for four years. They are amazing people that really open up and you can tell they really want to help you. In my general classes i have had some okay professors but i have yet to have a terrible professor. In my opinion, Ball State has a pretty well set of professors.

Academics are great! The professors are willing to help you out and most are even willing to work with you on making up Assignments or working things out if things come up. Classes are great and except for a few of your general studies the class sizes are relatively small and personal. I've had coffee with some of my professors or seen them outside of class and they are super friendly. I'm a Computer Technology major and all the faculty and staff seem very knowledgable about what they teach and if they don't know they will do there best to help you find out. They really stress working outside the classroom. And although I'm not usually one to be an over achiever I don't find it to be overly stressful.

At first, the core classes give off the impression of being impersonal and you don't get to know your professors, but once you get into classes for your major, that changes. I have gotten to know a few of my professors really well. Between conferences and projects, you are forced to interact with people and that can sometimes pay off.

Academics completely depends on your major. Architecture and theatre majors have a lot on their plate, as do nursing majors. They're the ones you can usually find studying or in a studio working on projects. Class size and the personability of professors also depends on the department or specific class. Most core course have large classes, and the professors may not get to know you. But track specific classes tend to be smaller, maybe as small as 15 people. Some majors are competitive, some aren't. The wide array of majors really leaves your academic experience up to you. I started out a biology or. No class was smaller than 30 students, most with 60 or so. When I changed my major in the fall of my Sophomore year to Natural Resources and Environmental Management, I was welcomed with classes closer to 20 students. The department is so small, there's only eight professors, which means they really try to get to know their students and help them with internships and interviews. It's really incredible.

I think that it depends as to whether you communicate with your professors to if they will know your name and really talk to you. I know most of my professors, because I communicate with all of them regularly to keep up with assignments and ask questions about possible assignments. Just about all of my professors know my name. I would say that class participation really depends on the size of the class. There are some classes where you might have like 25 students in the classroom, while others, you might have around 130. The smaller the classroom, the more the students participate, and the larger the classroom, the more it is like a lecture class. I don't spend much time with my professors outside of class, besides emailing, that is. I have gone out to lunch with one of my professors, because she was truly interested in getting to know me. I really feel that students in general here really focus hard during class. Not much chatting goes on-people are pretty heavy on the note taking and listening to what the teacher is saying.