Texas Christian University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Mathematics with Actuarial Concentration (Actuarial Math)
Minor: Economics
Student Self Identifies as: Southeast Asian/Vietnamese Straight Female

Summary

I’m in the Student Government Association and am involved in three committees. I [have a leadership role] in the Honors College Community Service program, and I’m a Frogs for Wellness peer educator. My freshman year I was involved in the International Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Southeast Asian/Vietnamese
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Public charter school in Irving, TX with a graduating class of about 100 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Mathematics with Actuarial Concentration (Actuarial Math)
Minor: Economics

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in the Student Government Association and am involved in three committees. I [have a leadership role] in the Honors College Community Service program, and I’m a Frogs for Wellness peer educator. My freshman year I was involved in the International Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The International Student Association had a huge influence on me because I was the event manager and had to plan for a lot of events. The prepared me for the leadership roles I have now. Also, the Vietnamese Student Association had a big impact because I did a lot of tutoring with them and performed with them as well. It’s like my second home here.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
I just changed over from a Pre-Business major so I haven’t gotten too far into the major, but I’ve liked my classes so far. For my classes, I have a weekly quiz that’s on the homework and there’s a homework assignment for pretty much every lesson we have. We have about four exams per semester for each class. I don’t have any labs now, but I think I will be taking some in the future because I’ll take some programming classes as part of my major.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
I’ve enjoyed the classes so far, but the problem is they don’t provide classes every semester, so I need to be aware when those classes are offered. Also, the variety of classes you can take as you get higher up are quite limited. From my experience, I don’t think TCU has many connections for students who are in Actuarial Math, so, especially for international students like me, I think I will have a lot of trouble finding jobs. There are several Vietnamese students I know and they mention the difficulty of finding jobs because TCU doesn’t have connections for people in my major. I also wish that it was a smaller cohort or a special program where we could learn more stuff and work closely with other students.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
In my major, it’s collaborative.
How accessible are your professors?
I have no problem contacting them or meeting them at all. I just send an email and see if I can meet tomorrow and they say yes. They are very friendly and welcoming. So far, I haven’t had a TA other than in my Astronomy class. I go to the professor first if I need help, and I prefer to go to them because they’re the one who gives me the grade.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m happy with my choice. Like I mentioned, I came in as a Pre-Business major to study accounting, and this semester I’ve been taking some accounting courses, business courses, and calculus courses for Actuarial Math. I realized that I enjoyed my Math classes much more than the Accounting courses, so I changed to Actuarial Math. I also looked at the course curriculum, and I take classes in Math, Economics, and some programming, so I think I will do well in my major.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation international student? Were there any resources available that helped you adapt?
Before I came to TCU, there were Vietnamese TCU students and during the summer they hosted one meeting in Ho Chi Minh City and another in Hanoi. During those meetings, they talked about their experience at TCU and gave several suggestions of places to look for on campus, things to bring with you, things to avoid, etc. When I came to TCU, they had Frog Camp and Frogs First and they’re all really helpful. I then found a very great group of friends who lived in the same [Honors College] dorm as me. They’ve been so helpful and a great resource to me. Also, the professors here are really nice and understanding.

Reasons to Attend

1) The size. It’s not too big and not too small. You get to meet a large and diverse group of students, but you’re still able to meet with your professors easily and know a lot of people on campus.
2) The community here is really great. People here are really kind and open-minded.
3) The school spirit is great. During football season it is wild and a lot of fun.
4) There are certain majors here that are really strong that people should look at.
5) There are always events going on that involve students.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) There are some colleges here that are not very good or average.
2) The career services are fine, but the help for international students is not that great because we have a limited time to find jobs after graduation. So, if we can’t find a job without the help of the school, we’ll have more difficulties and maybe have to go back to our home country right away.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman & Sophomore: Milton Daniel Hall with one roommate
How was transitioning from Vietnam to Fort Worth, TX?
Well, Vietnam and Fort Worth are very far away and they are different in basically every way. When I first came here, I was a bit overwhelmed but I did expect a few things because I watch a lot of American movies.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s pretty safe. The campus is very safe. I haven’t experienced anything bad yet, but I get email alerts that things happen around campus so I don’t walk around by myself late at night.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
During the weekends, I usually study because during the week I also spend time doing community service. I will volunteer at the [Sober Student] tailgate and serve soft drinks, chicken, and stuff like that because that’s part of the responsibility of being a [Frogs for Wellness] peer educator. In between my hours studying, I would watch some movies or play some games to relax. During the week, I have meetings every night and as soon as my meeting ends I have to go back to my room and study because this year the classes are much harder than compared to my freshman year and I’m trying to keep my GPA as high as possible.
What have been some of your favorite times at TCU?
Last year, I really enjoyed the Yule Ball. It’s an event held by the Milton Daniel RAs. We meet up with other Honors students and dance and socialize. I’m not a big football fan, so spending time with my close group of friends have been some of my favorite times.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a 3 because I want to spend time during the weekend to work or tutor someone, but I haven’t found a way to do that yet.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
One of my best friends I met in class and then another friend lived one door away from me during my freshman year. One day one of them invited me to have dinner with a bunch of people and I felt connected to that group. We now all spend a lot of time doing things during the weekends together. They’ve been very supportive of me and I’m grateful for having a chance to know them because I don’t think my TCU experience would be as great without them.
How would you describe the overall social scene at TCU?
It seems like a lot of people who I met here feel compelled to be part of Greek life to be connected. Many people who I meet react that way, which I don’t think is true. There are international students, who are my close friends, that complain about not fitting in very well. They have said that they are trying to promote equality between the international students and domestic students and feel that the campus is not diverse enough. In general, it should be good because I see a lot of students who are open-minded and kind to each other, but there are parts of campus where it’s tilted towards the Greeks. There are some international students who mingle well, but there are also some who struggle. [About 5% of undergraduates are international and about 68% of undergraduates are White.]
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I know a lot of students who are involved in Greek life and almost all of them are American students. I wouldn’t say they are very diverse in Greek life. But, for non-Greek life students, I think people mix more.
To what extent do international students mix with domestic students?
I have a diverse group of friends, and my Vietnamese friends sometimes only hang out with other Vietnamese. They will talk with other American students, but they are not very close with them. I don’t think that’s too much of a problem because the American students are usually very inclusive and open-minded and are supportive when they hear new things from us.
Were there any parts of TCU or American university overall that surprised you when you arrived on campus?
I was a bit surprised about fraternities and sororities. The sorority girls I’ve met are very nice, but the fraternity boys, at least from my experience, are not very welcoming to people who are outside the fraternity to come in the chapter and talk. That was surprising to me because I don’t see any reason why they would refuse to speak with us. With Student Government, we were talking about whether we should give the candidates an opportunity to go speak at fraternities to get their endorsement and we were told that they would not let us come in and talk about policy. [Editor’s Note: We could not find any articles to support this claim about Greek life at TCU.]
How do you like the size of TCU in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 9,500] students?
I think we have the perfect size in that it’s not too small and it’s not too big. Because TCU’s middle-sized, I know a lot of people and once I meet somebody I see them all the time.
How strong is the Christian affiliation at TCU? How has that impacted your experience?
I don’t feel it very much. It definitely exists and I’ve experienced it, but there is no one pushing me to follow Christianity. I’ve met friends and they’ve explained to me the ideas of Christianity, who is God, what he is like, and gave me advice. But, other than that, no one’s pushed me to join Christianity. In terms of student organizations, there are a lot of religious organizations, especially for Christianity. TCU students like going to [Robert Carr Chapel], and I’ve been there too. The speakers there are really inspirational.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
TCU has Alcon, which is the career center specifically for the business students, and for the rest of us have BNSF, but they don’t include Actuarial Math, so it’s really hard for me. I don’t think they’re very helpful because Alcon is exclusively for business students so I can’t go there, but BNSF can’t help me either. I think Actuarial Math deserves to get assistance and advice from the Alcon Center because most of us get a job somewhere in business.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’ve learned how to use Microsoft Access, Dashboard, SharePoint, and Excel.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? How easy is the office to work with?
I have financial aid but I haven’t reached out to them. I haven’t had any problems that I’ve needed to talk to them about.