Texas Christian University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Political Science
Minors: Sociology and International Relations double minor
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Female
Summary
I’m in a sorority, I’m involved in a leadership organization for women called Lead Now, and I [have a leadership role] in the TCU Honors College Community Service program.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private high school in Watsonville, CA with a graduating class of about 200 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Political Science
Minors: Sociology and International Relations double minor
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a sorority, I’m involved in a leadership organization for women called Lead Now, and I [have a leadership role] in the TCU Honors College Community Service program.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The [Honors College] has. It’s built my leadership skills and made me become a better organizer. It’s improved my life and social skills.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
International Politics was an honor class so we had more work, but we had a chapter per night of reading in the textbook, which could range from 20-60 pages. We had one project and three tests that made up the final grade.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
I really like the way the classes are formatted. For most of them, you do the reading before, then they either lecture or discuss in class what you read which reiterates what you read in the textbook.
How has being part of the Honors College impacted your experience?
My honors classes have had a different but more positive learning style for me. In the class I’m taking now, we don’t have tests. We just make presentations and talk about them, which is a fun and different way to learn.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
For most of the classes I’ve been in, it’s not competitive. But you’re always going to have one person who’s comparing their grades. As for collaboration, I’ve been in a few group projects and they’ve gone well. We don’t do a lot of collaboration in the lower-division core classes, that’s more in the upper-division classes, which I haven’t been in yet.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re pretty accessible. Some of them have office hours at 8 in the morning, but for the most part, you can set up appointments with them outside of office hours if you need to.
How was transitioning academically as a freshman college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
There’s a class called Intro to University Life where they teach you how to manage your time, do your homework, and prepare for classes the next day. That really helps. I also went to a college preparatory private high school, so that helped prepare me for the college workload.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m really happy with my choice. I took AP Government in high school and then after doing that, I decided to pursue Political Science. I think I’m going to go to graduate school, and I think I’m getting set up well for graduate education.
Reasons to Attend
1) Everyone is really nice here. You’ll always the professors really care about you.
2) The class sizes are really good. There are the few classes that have 100 students or more, but most of them are 15-30 people in a class. [The average class size is 27 students.]
3) The school in general cares about you. They always ask how you’re doing and if you run into a professor in the hall, they ask how you’re doing.
Reasons Not to Attend
None
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Milton Daniel Hall with one roommate
How was transitioning from your hometown in California to Fort Worth, TX?
It’s not that different. The people here are nicer, to be honest. Some people joke that since I’m from California I’m just another Californian, but for the most part, TCU was really welcoming. The RAs helped us adjust. They held programs, and TCU always has some event going on for the student so you just distract yourself with that. [California is the most popular state for students to come from other than Texas making up about 14% of the total student population.]
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s really safe. I did have one experience where I didn’t lock my door at night, and at 5 AM some drunk guy walked in and fell asleep on my floor. Last semester I always left my door unlocked and that never happened, so it’s usually pretty safe.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
TCU always has a speaker or comedian on campus, so Friday nights I like going to those events. The weekends are for me. Sometimes I’ll go out to eat or see a movie with some friends. I don’t go clubbing or anything like that. Sometimes we’ll stay in our dorm or rent a room in the library to watch a movie in there. If there’s a rodeo or a fair in Fort Worth, we’ll do that too.
What have been some of your favorite times at TCU?
My favorite event was the Christmas tree lighting. We had bands come and play and there were fireworks. The orientation week was a lot of fun. We have something called Frog Camp where freshmen get oriented. There are lots of fun activities and you go to the professor’s houses to have dinner.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I like it a lot. I feel like sometimes the dorms are a little loud because people partying and going out.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
Through my classes. Two of my friends I met in my honors class and the rest were really from my dorm. When I got in a sorority, I met some in there too, but not as much as the other places.
How would you describe the overall social scene at TCU?
There is always something to do and people you can meet. There’s someone for everyone I’d say. People are really friendly and TCU hosts events during the week.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
There’s a lot of clustering. The White students usually tend to stay together, and it’s the same with the African-American students. People are coming from different areas, so they’re most likely going to cluster with people from their hometown. I’d say it’s inadvertent to some extent. [The undergraduate population is about 68% White, 15% Hispanic, 5% Black, and 2% Asian. See TCU360 article, “TCU’s Class of 2017 to have less than 50% of students from Texas” and article, “Student coalition works to implement change 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 it’s good. It’s about [9,500] students now and my classes are good sizes. I have some with 120 students, but that’s just for the core classes. I have two this semester with 14 people. It feels like a small school because you get to know everyone and you’ll run into someone you know everywhere you go.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
They mix a lot. People in fraternities and sororities will hang out with other people in class. It’s not really a big factor in choosing your friends. The majority of my friends aren’t in Greek life, and I say that’s the same for a lot of Greek life members. They don’t feel the need to only be friends with the members of their organizations.
How strong is the Christian affiliation at TCU? How has that impacted your experience?
It really hasn’t impacted my experience. I didn’t take a religion class, and I’m not affiliated with that. It’s not what I want, and this college does a good job of making sure you don’t feel like you have to be Christian or a certain religion. I just do my own thing.
How was transitioning socially as an out-of-state student?
Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. Most of my friends are from Texas, which I didn’t think was going to happen. It was easy because I rushed a sorority and I met so many people in orientation. Everyone is trying to find a friend freshman year, so it really wasn’t that hard.
Careers
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They have career fairs, it’s just hard for freshmen to find good jobs or internships, even on campus. They’re more geared toward juniors and seniors looking for a job when they graduate. They don’t do a good job of connecting underclassmen with companies they may want to work for in the future.