University of Missouri-Columbia Top Questions

I feel strongly as an out-of-state student that Mizzou is a great choice, but for only a handful of academic majors. If you are undecided and do not choose one of the prominent programs, you would be better off staying in state. As a journalism major, I feel tremendous pride to say I will be a graduate of one the most prestigious J-School's in the nation. I cannot say I would feel that way if my major was business or academics related. Missouri has excellent Agriculture, Textile and Apparel Management, Journalism and Nursing programs, but I feel it is not a worthwhile out-of-state option if your major is not one of the above.

Academics are very important at Mizzou. The Journalism program specifically requires a certain GPA to stay eligible for a diploma. Many scholarships also require high marks. Class sizes are large for general education classes, such as Psych 1000 and Math 1100. As students enter their major however, classes become very small and the student-professor dynamic comes into play. Professors know students and students speak with professors. Even with large classes, that's a possibility if students attend the teacher's office hours. Students can be found studying everywhere around campus. I know I'm always looking for an intriguing new place to study. I study about 20-30 hours a week on average, and that is the general quota for successful students at Mizzou as well. Students at Mizzou are competitive within the majors, which keeps class fresh and challenging. Class participation is important for smaller classes, but not much for larger, lecture-style classes where the professor does the majority of the speaking. Mizzou offers some very interesting classes. My friend Kaitlin, a psych major, was in a scuba diving class last semester, where she learned to dive and received her scuba certification, while gaining course credit and having fun. My other friend, Alex, a fellow journalism major took "Religion and Harry Potter," a class that decrypts religious symbolism in J.K. Rowling's famous children's series. Many prospective Mizzou students think they have to wait until they are upperclassmen to take these classes, however my friends were both freshmen, and took scuba diving and religion through Harry Potter. Mizzou is famous for several career programs that set it apart from other schools: Journalism, Nursing, Hotel Management and Veterinary Medecine. Mizzou has a large journalism institute, a private radio station, newspaper and tv station, all university owned, and affiliate-funded. There is local hospital geared to provide real work experience for nurses. A small bed-and-breakfast sits comfortably at the edge of campus for Hotel and Restaurant Management majors. And Mizzou owns so much farmland around Columbia that vet majors receive more experience at school than in the first year on the job. The resources offered at the university are vast.

Academics are very important at Mizzou. The Journalism program specifically requires a certain GPA to stay eligible for a diploma. Many scholarships also require high marks. Class sizes are large for general education classes, such as Psych 1000 and Math 1100. As students enter their major however, classes become very small and the student-professor dynamic comes into play. Professors know students and students speak with professors. Even with large classes, that's a possibility if students attend the teacher's office hours. Students can be found studying everywhere around campus. I know I'm always looking for an intriguing new place to study. I study about 20-30 hours a week on average, and that is the general quota for successful students at Mizzou as well. Students at Mizzou are competitive within the majors, which keeps class fresh and challenging. Class participation is important for smaller classes, but not much for larger, lecture-style classes where the professor does the majority of the speaking. Mizzou offers some very interesting classes. My friend Kaitlin, a psych major, was in a scuba diving class last semester, where she learned to dive and received her scuba certification, while gaining course credit and having fun. My other friend, Alex, a fellow journalism major took "Religion and Harry Potter," a class that decrypts religious symbolism in J.K. Rowling's famous children's series. Many prospective Mizzou students think they have to wait until they are upperclassmen to take these classes, however my friends were both freshmen, and took scuba diving and religion through Harry Potter. Mizzou is famous for several career programs that set it apart from other schools: Journalism, Nursing, Hotel Management and Veterinary Medecine. Mizzou has a large journalism institute, a private radio station, newspaper and tv station, all university owned, and affiliate-funded. There is local hospital geared to provide real work experience for nurses. A small bed-and-breakfast sits comfortably at the edge of campus for Hotel and Restaurant Management majors. And Mizzou owns so much farmland around Columbia that vet majors receive more experience at school than in the first year on the job. The resources offered at the university are vast.

Professors at my school do not know my name, however my adviser knows my name and schedule for the last 4 years. My favorite class was introduction to technology. We made songs on a computer using mixing technology. It was more like being a DJ than a musician. We also experimented with Photoshop, and used computer software to edit an animated commercial. My least favorite class was programming, It was very hard to maintain interest and study for. I would say students attend approximately eighty percent of class. Students infrequently discuss intellectual conversation outside of class however inside the classroom most are very competitive. The most unique class I have taken is Queer Theory. We had a transgender panel come and talk to us about their experiences as a transgendered person. My major is business. I view it as the most competitive department at the university. A 3.0 is required to be in good standing there and students are highly involved in searching for jobs and internships. Students do not spend much time with professors outside of class other than office hours for questions regarding tests and homework. My school has high academic requirement, but I do not feel that they are too high. I think they keep students competitive and working hard but are still in attainable reach through a fair amount of studying and preparation. Education at my school is geared at landing students a job upon graduation and I think it does a great job of that.

I am a Marketing major in the University of Missouri's College of Business. There are a variety of different classes in terms of size, subject matter, and teaching styles. For most of the more basic education classes, large auditoriums are fairly common. In a big lecture class, the professor does not typically know too many students. Grades are based mostly on tests, so it is kind of important to study and keep up with the readings. As the classes become more specialized to fit specific areas of study, class size becomes smaller and there is more student-professor interaction. Class assignments usually involve more critical thinking, and there are plenty of group projects to build teamwork skills. Students in the business department are fairly competitive, with the job market being in the state that its in. The competition is friendly though--outside of class, we share resources and stories of how we are preparing ourselves for our future careers. My favorite class so far has been Consumer Behavior. The subject matter was interesting, and the professor was extremely friendly. I found it very easy to pay attention in his class. My least favorite class was a Russian Civilization class. The class was outside of my major and I used it to fill a requirement, so it was not something that interested me. Furthermore, the professor was very aloof and unclear of his expectations. Overall, my time in the business school has both given me the basic education I need, as well as helped me develop my professionalism. There are co-curricular programs available, such as seminars and career resources, that help prepare students for a career in business beyond what can be taught in a classroom. All of these resources together has prepared me for life after graduation.

The class size and instructor interest really depends on your major. The more "common" your major, the larger your classes are in the first two years. There are certain general education classes that everyone has to take, so those classes are really pretty big and unless you go to your professor's office hours they probably won't know your name. Studying really depends on the individual person and their style of learning. For me, if I go to class and pay attention, take notes, ask questions, etc I generally don't have to pull all nighters at the library studying! Class participation is huge here, so make sure you say something every day! Most teachers assign a certain percentage of the overall grade to class participation. Competition really depends on, once again, your major and your personality. I am a very competitive person in a fairly competitive major, so I would say competition is pretty intense. What's really cool about college is the professors, or at least some of them, like to do things outside the classroom. After big presentations or at the end of the semester I have gone to "class dinners" downtown with the professor and the rest of the class! It's nice to see teachers outside of the classroom sometimes! Mizzou has a "learn by doing" philosophy, therefore most majors provide opportunities to work and gain industry experience!

At Mizzou I realized that if you are truly interested in a class, you will talk about it while socially drinking with friends. At least in my circle of friends this happened all the time; we talked about things we learned in school often even in casual interaction, and this is a testament to the academics at Mizzou. It’s an environment that encourages good studying and applying your learning to real life. Once you get past the preliminary classes where you have 500 people in a lecture hall, most professors are interesting, driven, and have more personal relationships with the students. I spent most of my time in the Journalism, Art, and French departments. Some of the journalism teachers are a bit stressed out, but others are invested in students and are very valuable references because they work in a highly competitive industry that thrives on personal connections. The art department had the most casual relationships with teachers I’ve ever seen. One teacher in particular, the advanced Art photography professor, had a very tangible effect on students. He worked with famous photographers and inspired people to really think critically about their art. Our conversation in critiques was very advanced and conceptual, but after class we would hang out and talk more casually with Johnson and other students at local cafes and bars. In the French department, there is are some teachers notorious because they demand hard work (which really gets you speaking the language), but are friendly outside class and will know you by name. At Mizzou there is a nice balance between learning for education’s sake and for getting a job’s sake. It is more of a liberal arts school than a vocational school. All the basic theory we learn is important and I think about it in my day-to-day interactions, but we also get very practical training that employers are looking for. In the photojournalism department, for instance, there is both History of Photojournalism, and Advanced Lighting Techniques classes, and during your senior year, they send you lists of job and internship opportunities that are critical to entering the job market.

Mizzou has many high-level academic programs throughout the university. In your first 2 years or so, you will most likely have a lot of large classes where your professor will not know your name. Once you progress towards your degree, your classes get smaller and you can get to know your professor on a personal level. My favorite class has been a Human Resource Management class I took this year. I enjoyed it because the class was set up in a unique way that made it easier to learn and allowed everyone to express their opinions. My least favorite class was calculus because I have never really been one who has done well in math. Class participation is extremely common and is sometimes even required. A lot of classes have participation points as part of your grade so it is important. Students are very competitive because everyone realizes they are competing with their classmates for jobs. Everyone is always looking for ways to get an edge over their fellow classmates. Mizzou's academic requirements are fair in most programs. One program where it gets a little unfair is in the business school. They have many requirements to graduate such as getting 200 Professional Development Points, having an internship, along with GPA requirements. This is a lot to handle sometimes when you also have classwork and a job. Spending time with professors outside of class is pretty rare. You can visit them during their office hours if you need extra help but other than that they aren't available very often. The education you receive at Mizzou is definitely geared towards getting a job when you graduate. They offer many services that assist you in preparing yourself for a career and also finding a job.

Going to class at a big school like Mizzou is a different experience. The class sizes are rather large (300+ sometimes!) but as long as you put forth effort into meeting your professors, it really doesn't matter. Having large class sizes has its pluses too. For example, if you need to skip class, no one will notice! Or if you're late, you can sneak in. There are also many smaller classes once you get into upper level classes. My Freshman and Sophomore year was full of large classes but now that I am past all of the general education, my classes have at most 30 people. This is helpful because it's important to get to know your professors once you start taking courses towards your degree. It can help you in the future when you are trying to find a job, and it always helps to be on your teacher's good side! Overall, I really like the academics at Mizzou. The professors here are really involved with their students, and they offer unlimited help. It just takes effort from the student.

I am currently an Environmental Science student which is in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. My experience so far has been really personal. I know a lot of the professors and the director of our department. I've enjoyed all of my professors (except 1 or 2). There are students that are sharper than others, but overall I think the university is pretty intelligent!