Howard University Top Questions

The college of Engineering in particular has a very rigorous curriculum. Most Engineering students hardly find time to do anything besides school work.

Do not let any of the rumors fool you about Howard being a party school. The same people you see in the club are the same people in the library and by the end of the year are walking out with a 4.0 GPA. We WORK hard for our grades and the professors rarely cut us any slack. Majority of these professors have their Ph.D and they treat us like we are getting ours. Be prepared!

There are 7,000 undergraduate students. Most classes are relatively small. The 15:1 student teacher ratio is very accurate. Your professors will know you by name & not your student number. Although every professor teaches differently, you can expect open dialogue in a lot of your classes. I took an Education in Black America class taught by Dr. Carr (probs one of the best professors on campus). We spent every class going over the works of WEB DuBois, Booker T. Washington and the founders of HBCUs. John Legend even provided a guest lecture.

There are 7,000 undergraduate students. Most classes are relatively small. The 15:1 student teacher ratio is very accurate. Your professors will know you by name & not your student number. Although every professor teaches differently, you can expect open dialogue in a lot of your classes. I took an Education in Black America class taught by Dr. Carr (probs one of the best professors on campus). We spent every class going over the works of WEB DuBois, Booker T. Washington and the founders of HBCUs. John Legend even provided a guest lecture.

It all depends on what your major is and what particular school you are in. From what I gather, School of Communications and School of Business Advisors are a little more hands on than some of the College of Arts and Sciences advisors. The classes themselves are, once again, touch and go. Some are more challenging than others. There are some excellent teachers here at Howard across the board, and some mediocre teachers. The education you get is wholistic. You get exposed to things that simply spark your interest, as well as to necessary skill sets for your chosen career paths. I would suggest that everyone take a class with Dr. Gregory Carr, and Professor Tony Medina if they have the chance. Both of these men have left lasting impressions on me academically, and are generally percieved to be amongst the most popular classes to take at HU.

One thing that I appreciate about Howard is their emphasis on understanding where you come from and African-American history. Some of the best classes that you take may not even be in your major, and I would encourage you to explore as many as you can. As with any school you get teachers who really care about your education and you as a student. These are the teachers that make a big deal about you coming to class on time, turning in your homework, offer extra sessions for you to understand the subject, etc. You also get those who appear not to be concerned about the value of your education. It's not unique to Howard. You will find that at any school.

Academics at Howard really depend on the major. Some are more intensive and personal due to small amounts of students, such as Art, while others are more like a traditional large university due to high numbers of students, like Political Science. Overall, professors are very helpful and willing to meet with students during office hours to help them succeed and give advice. My favorite class has been digital photography, because I was able to express myself through photos and learn about digital cameras in depth and programs such as Photoshop. The African-American course requirement broadens many students' view on the world and causes for intense debates inside and outside of the classroom. It is an academic environment for challenging beliefs and expressing one's opinions in a mature, healthy setting. Through Howard's different programs, such as the CEDAR center, students can get help in securing jobs and internships. This school prepares students for so much when it comes to the real world, and Howard students have a distinct aura about them that only this school can provide.

Howard is a good size school where you have a range from your standard lecture classes to your smaller concentrated classes. Howard is big on the fundamental skills of education; even though we may wish we had smartboards in all of our classes and the latest technology, you are at least given the basic skills that allow you to gain your competitive edge in society. As in life, you take from a class what you put in; some people may see classes as boring because a lot of them are text book oriented, however, if you are the type of student that is willing to speak up and start class discussion the world is yours. We have amazing professors who show that they love us and its a family at the end of the day. When it comes to the literal education, it truly depends on the individual to take away what they want from the experience.

For its size, I think Howard, does a good job of keeping its class sizes fairly low. My largest class was Spanish, which had maybe 40 people in it, while my smallest class had 5. I never had problems getting one on one attention from professors when I needed it. My anthropology professors were passionate and knowledgeable and knew all the majors by name. Intellectual discourse among students is common in and outside of the classrooms.

One thing that a professor always tells me is, "Howard offers a great education if you pick the right department." Two of the better departments are English and Classics. The English department regularly sends graduates to top law schools i.e, Yale and Georgetown, while the Classics department produced Howard's last Rhodes Scholar. From my experience, my professors have emailed me to ask why I've missed class and ask me to come to office hours to talk about anything from how I'm adjusting to Howard to the finer points of the Iliad. The math department gets a pretty bad rep because of its many foreign teachers. Howard has a lot of preprofessional majors such as actuarial science, communications, and sports medicine. The preprofessionalism spills over to the mindset of the students. You will find classmates asking "What can you do with your degree?" rather than "What are you reading?