Muhlenberg College
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Neuroscience – on a pre-physical therapy track
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Male
Summary
I’m on a [varsity sports] team, I’m in Greek life, I’m on the code of conduct board, I was an orientation leader, I’m a tour guide, I’m involved in the Winter Sports Club, the Hiking Club, and the Plant-based Advocates.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Public high school outside of South Jersey with a graduating class of about 550 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Neuroscience – on a pre-physical therapy track
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m on a [varsity sports] team, I’m in Greek life, I’m on the code of conduct board, I was an orientation leader, I’m a tour guide, I’m involved in the Winter Sports Club, the Hiking Club, and the Plant-based Advocates.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
Being an orientation leader was the most beneficial for me. During my freshman year, I was very involved with orientation but after I felt secluded to spending time with just the athletes. I bonded with the orientation leaders because it’s easy to talk with them and it’s who I was. As an orientation leader, I was the only athlete out of 49 others, so it opened up my view to all the amazing people at Muhlenberg.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
For Neuroscience, I have two labs this semester. I have a lab for Human Anatomy and Physiology and one for my Chemistry 103 class. Each lab is about two-and-a-half hours long. We also have a semester-long research paper. The bulk of our assignments in the general education classes are exams. In my psychopharmacology class, I have two exams, a research project, and a class presentation. Once you get out of your general requirements, it varies between research projects and papers and exams.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
We just brought in a new neuroscientist professor and she’s amazing. A lot of the neuroscience professors at our school vary in interest. They’re not all in one focus, which I find really nice. There’s the biology-side of neuroscience, but we also have a professor that focuses on receptors and neurotransmitters. It’s a good variety. Doing research is a big thing here also and not just in neuroscience.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I’m not the brightest bulb in the box and I feel the competitiveness, but it’s very collective. You have your people who’re geniuses, but there’s a good amount of people at the same level as you, so you work together and succeed in that way.
How accessible are your professors?
They are very beyond accessible. We have learning assistants, who are students that help professors. If you [can’t make the] office hours, you can just email them to figure out another time.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
As a college student, stress becomes a thing. For some reason, I deal with stress really well. If I have lots of assignments to do, I know how to break it down and create a step by step program. Some people just don’t know how to do that. Neurologically, I found that stress and cortisol are very interesting. I’m pre-physical therapy, so Instead of going the biology route, I thought I’d try Neuroscience out and actually take classes I’m more interested in.
How was managing both your sport and coursework?
I become more regimented during my season. I go to the gym almost every day, and I allot a specific amount of time for the things I don’t necessarily need to do. I know I have to be at practice and I know I have a certain amount of work I need to do. If I can go to the gym, I will but it’s way more regimented. It’s more work and less fun, but you’re in school to learn. On the weekends you can do less work and hang out with friends and enjoy yourself a little bit.
Reasons to Attend
1) If you like a smaller school and if you like knowing people.
2) If you like actually being known by your professor. You’re not just a number.
3) Good dining hall food.
4) You see your friends every day.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you want to be known as a number.
2) If you want to party every day of the week.
3) If you want the traditional big football “college experience” and not the “college education.”
4) If you don’t like people knowing about you all the time.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Walz Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: East Hall with one roommate
How was transitioning from your hometown to Allentown, Pennsylvania in terms of location?
It wasn’t that difficult. I’m a third child and saw my brother and sister go through tough transition periods and I learned from that. Also, the Muhlenberg atmosphere and being on a team has helped because if I needed to talk to someone they were there. We have really good food at Muhlenberg, so not having to worry about eating bad food helped a lot.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
As a male, it’s different than being a female. I always feel safe, and we have about [62] blue lights on campus. You can call campus police and they will pick you up and drop you off.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I’m in a fraternity and we mix with other sororities and Greek life organizations on the weekends. Some of the athletic teams will host events. We also have this organization called Muhlenberg Activities Council (MAC) which hosts events almost every weekend. If you want to venture off into Greek life or athletic parties, you’re welcome to. There’s a good mix. There are lots of student-run performances every weekend. Like, there was an improv performance last night. People sometimes go to the bars on Thursday nights, but nothing too crazy happens. There will be house parties on Fridays and Saturdays. I don’t go out Thursdays because I like waking up to go to the gym on Friday mornings.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options?
It’s not very high. I know I said they host parties, but it’s only about [16%] involvement on campus, so it’s not nearly the majority. We’re about 2,300 students, and the majority of the time if you’re not on a sports team or in Greek life and you know a couple of people at the party, you’ll be able to get in. [About 4% of men join fraternities and 11% join sororities.]
How happy are you with the weekend options at Muhlenberg? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I’m very content. I like focusing on my work so I’m not going hardcore on the weekends. I prefer quality over quantity, and I think Muhlenberg has that. If you want to hang out with 10 or 15 people in a room and talk, I think that’s sometimes more fun than listening to super loud music [at a party.]
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
Some of them were in my dorm freshman year. A couple of them were in my orientation group, and I met some through other friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Muhlenberg?
I think it’s generally very solid for our size. It’s a good mix because you can go out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, but if you don’t want to you can just go out Saturday night and it’s there for you. You find a good mix of going to class, doing your work, then going out and hanging out with your friends.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
On campus, we’re a predominately White institution. We’re about [72%] White. We do have the [Office of Multicultural Life], which holds all of our diverse student groups. There’s a [historically] Black fraternity coming onto campus this fall. I definitely think the campus is trying to diversify a little bit. There are efforts to mix, but it could be done better. [The undergraduate population is about 72% White, 8% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 3% Asian.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Greek life and student-athletes mix really well. You don’t necessarily have to be in Greek life to go to parties, but there’s a little bit of a separation. Some of them are closed, and it depends on who’s hosting. If you’re a girl, it’s not too difficult to get in, even if you’re not in a sorority.
How do you like the size of Muhlenberg in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 2,300 students at Muhlenberg.]
I actually love it. I like walking down academic row after class and knowing seven out of ten of the people I see. I like being able to sit down with anyone in the dining hall and be comfortable talking speaking to professors outside of class. I know people get annoyed when if you do something stupid people will know. It kind of taught me not to do anything stupid and is a maturing factor of being in college.
How would you describe the student body?
I’m a tour guide and one of the things I try explaining is that people are generally really nice. It’s weird how nice everyone is. You’ll usually see a friend on academic row and give them a smile and a fist bump. Even for someone you don’t know, you could give a smile to. It’s a very happy campus. We have a top DIII football program, and some of the nicest guys I’ve met are football players. Some of the people who you’d think are the most disruptive, annoying, and cocky are some of the nicest people.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I just went to the career center today and talked to someone who said there were about 29 alumni they could contact to get me a shadowing or internship opportunity this year, so I will be getting on that ball today or tomorrow.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
You can set up an appointment and it’s super accommodating. Usually, there are two to three people available to meet. They’ll help with resumes, internships, externships, mock interviews, and almost everything to make sure you have some type of out-of-school opportunity to improve yourself.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
We have to use Excel in chemistry to plot some data points.