Seattle University Top Questions

Hands down, Seattle University is the best school in the Pacific Northwest. Classes are small (this quarter I'm taking classes with 14, 18, and 12 student in each class). You rarely see classes with more than 25 students. Professors quickly learn your name, and you'll get to know the professors in your department quite well. Seattle U is a competitive school, where most students excel at their students. That means we study, a lot. We talk "smart talk" with each other. While you will hear about Friday night parties in casual conversations, you'll also hear about Descartes' Giant and Einstein's theory of relativity. We're smart, and we're proud of it.

SU is a smaller sized school and class sizes are very intimate. This is very dependant onyour major. For example my communications major has 45 students in it. I know all of my teachers by their first name. They offer great one on one help and also stimulate great active learning among peer groups. The best thing abotu the professors at SU is often you can forge a good relationship with many of them that can help you out in the long run, for example using them as a refference or even networking. Many prof's have great professional experience and share it with students. Getting good grades at SU is really not all that hard, I felt at times like i did more work in High School. Nice thing about knowing all of your Prof's is that you can easily ask for extesions on work. Most gradign is pretty subjective from my experience and teachers have been rather generous as long as you put your best foot forward. While most of SU is focused around a well rounded education, many new majors are sprouting up which emphasize work experience and include mandatory internships to prepare grads for the work right out of school.

I don't think I've personally been in a class with more than 25 students, most of my classes average around 20. The teachers know your name and pay attention to how your doing in respect to the material. My favorite classes have been my Humanities classes. One thing I love about them is that instead of reading out of one textbook we work out of 5-8 different books (some fiction, some art, some historical non-fiction). I've heard that this is a common practice outside of the Humanities program as well. The majority of the students here love sharing what they've learned in class with other students, especially from other majors. Besides lunch-table discussions of this nature, Residence Halls and student organizations such as SEAC host discussions on everything from sexuality to current events throughout the year. Seattle University is definately a liberal arts university in that it encourages students to learn for its own sake and to gain some sort of knowledge or insight into a wide range of subjects, not just those which pertain to one's major. The University designed its core to ensure that students have this experience. Nevertheless, from what I've heard the school actively involves itself in aiding students in finding and obtaining apprenticeships, work-study positions, etc.

Classes are very small, so discussion is really common. Much of that discussion spills over into everyday life, but not in an obnoxious way. The most frequent complaint is lack of variety in classes due to the size of the school, particularly languages.

Seattle U is mostly about academics. The class sizes are small, so you get to know your teacher well, and they get to know you. Also, because we're so small, there is plenty of oppertunity to talk with professors about the class. In the discussion classes (theology, philosophy, english, history, etc...) there is plenty of discussion and oppertunity for discussion. The amount of homework given is usually pretty comparable to credits earned and level of class. For the 100 levels, there's about an hour for each hour of class, if not less. For 300-400 levels, it's at least 2 hours homework per one hour of class. But even if it's hard to accomplish all the homework, the teachers are usually very understanding and willing to help to get you back on track, or even a bit ahead. There are plenty of help facilities around campus, like a math center, a writing center, and tutors. I feel like at the moment I'm working to get a background in education, but also to start building a foundation for future careers.

All my professors know me by name. My favorite class was US history last quarter, my professor was awesome!!! The class was interesting and discussion was thought provoking and challenging of assumptions I had of US history. Seattle students have intellectual discussions all the time, especially political ones, with the upcoming heated election.

Class sizes are generally small and pretty intimate. Students however, do a lot of their intellectual discussion outside the classroom. As a Psychology student, I've been fairly pleased with the quality of the classes in my major and the importance placed on qualitative rather than quantitative study. It's also important to note that all learning on campus generally has a social justice tie to it. Since we are a university that prides itself on diversity, social justice and empowering leaders for a just and humane world, many of the conversations in the classrooms and even in the residence halls are infused with these notions. Students aren't too competitive, generally academic success is defined by the individual rather than a general standard. Professors genuinely take an interest in their students and their academic success and learning is both geared to practical job-seeking and learning for enrichment purposes.

Professors know your name most of the time and are very willing to help. This means you should probably come to class. This also means that a lot of classes grade based on class participation. You'll be taking a lot of core classes no matter what your major. You'll be in 3 years of philosophy, along with religion, sociology, english, etc. If you get good teachers you'll get a lot out of these classes. If you don't care, then you can find some really easy teachers and just get through them.

The class sizes are small and students get to know their professors well. It's a great educational experience as they are available to help you improve your academic skills on a personal basis. Some of the teachers are great--if you meet their challenge, they will raise you to the next level in your studies. Some are not so great--check ratemyprofessor.com to see. Great teachers are available. The courses can be either easy or rigorous depending on the instructor and the course itself. Some teachers lecture, some do seminar format, and the worst leave you hanging. Once again, the school is small enough to where you can find out what to take and who to take it from by talking to fellow students. If you find the right crowd, you can explore your intellectual interests outside of class. If you find the wrong crowd, you may be stuck reading shitty poetry in yuppie cafes with psuedo-intellectuals who rebelled from the mainstream after the mainstream gave them "B"s. The psychology department is one of the most unique in the country and I'm very happy to get to be a part of it. So far, the chemistry portion of the pre-med track has not been as good as my AP high school class. Depending on your major (practical v. artsy), getting a job won't be too difficult.

Professors know my name, but I stand out like a sore thumb. Kids are really smart, good academics.