Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Top Questions

You have to try hard or you will probably fail out.

LSU thrives on its academics.

Engineering is the strongest, along with accounting. All other majors are not really nationally recognized.

I have had some REALLY BIG classes as well as really small classes. As you begin with your General Education Courses you may end up in large auditoriums with 800 kids which can work to your advantage. I have also had very small classes with around 20 students enrolled. Personally, I am a fan of the larger classes but you did get an opportunity to get to know your professors from smaller classes. It all really depends on your major and what Senior College you are enrolled in as well. My school the Manship Of Mass Communications has very small classes of 20-30 students as you get into 3000-level classes but someone in Business may still have 200-300 students in their upper level classes. School is not hard if you pay attention and study! It really is not impossible if you attend class and take notes! If you do that you are so much more prepared for tests and quizzes and it takes off so much more study time when you already know what you are learning about instead of cramming the last minute.

I am a Biology major at LSU, and it is not easy. It requires discipline and studiousness. I do feel that LSU is preparing me for Medical School though. The classes demand a lot of your time, but if you are good at prioritizing, you might do well in a science major. Engineer majors are the hardest majors LSU offers, in my opinion. If someone though a Biology major was difficult- and most people do- they haven't spoken to an engineer major. LSU also offers lots of other majors, like English, Psychology, Broadcast Journalism, Education, Foreign Language, Communication Disorders, etc. There is definitely a variety of majors to suit your liking. The professors that I have had are pretty helpful, but you need to make the effort to talk to them. Most science courses have at least 100 students in them, but if you take the time to speak to your teacher before/after class, or during his/her office hours, they are very helpful, or at least try to be. Being a science major who wants to get into Medical School, I have a lot of competition between all the other students who want to do the same as me. However, people do not act like that. The classmates I have help each other out. We form study groups with complete strangers and tutor each other sometimes. If someone misses class, there is no problem finding someone who is willing to email you the notes. Classes may be larger, but you have a better chance of finding someone who will support you and help you do well in the class. It's all about putting yourself out there and making yourself known to others. LSU is a socially academic school. I have so much support here.

LSU academic program is great. We have labs you can go into, and our teachers are always there to help. We also have online studies that will help us for our classes. These studies help prepare us for our exams. As a biology major, I know LSU has a fantastic biology program.

Judging by the behavior of the people majoring in things like business and kinesiology, I cannot see how those programs can be very difficult. I cannot speak for the art/design departments, but it seems that they are rightfully demanding. As for the science/engineering/mathematics departments, I can tell you from experience that they are very challenging and quite competitive; they are sure to establish at least some kind of critical thinking skills in all students following their curricula.

Overall, my classes at LSU have been great. During your first year or two, your general education classes will be large, impersonal, auditorium-sized classes. This can seem overwhelming, but my advice is to get to know your professor (go to office hours) and become friends/study buddies with someone in the class. This will make your experience with those large classes less intimidating and more personal. Classes within your major become much smaller and much more personal. Your professors will really want to get to know you and will get to know your name. Class participation becomes more common in these classes, through clickers or classroom discussions. LSU offers different classes to meet your needs. Service learning classes integrate outside service hours with a traditional classroom settings; communication-intensive classes focus more on seminar and discussion learning. I'm a Political Science major with a French minor and Religious Studies minor. All three of these departments are excellent. The professors are top notch and always willing to help. They're also very willing to get to know me and I know many of them by name. I'm on a first name basis with a couple of them. The coolest thing I did related to my studies was studying abroad my Freshman year! LSU has great study abroad programs for almost every major! I went to Paris to study French in the summer of 2010 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. If you can afford it, I recommend studying abroad to every student! LSU also offers financial scholarships to help with the cost and you can get 6 hours of credit! I still talk to the professors that were in charge of the LSU in Paris program. I think LSU's course requirements give students a well-rounded education that gives them skills to use in real life. Yeah, some of the general education classes seem useless at first, but the skills you learn in them are definitely tested later down the road.

Academics are great at LSU. Some teachers can be more difficult than others but again it depends on the teacher, not so much the class. It is really easy to makes friends in a class as long as you're outgoing. If you don't but yourself out there and socialize, you won't get recognized and that's okay. LSU is a great networking campus to further ones career.

Despite its reputation as a "party school" LSU takes its academics incredibly seriously. Students that expect to do well in LSU also should expect to study reasonably well.