Beloit College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Political Science
Minors: History and Law & Justice double minor
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male

Summary

I was a student-athlete in both the fall and spring. I was in Greek life, I joined Model United Nations and then [had a leadership position], I did Student Government until my sophomore year. I was part of a federally-funded program for first-generation students called TRIO. I got involved with the McNair Scholars program, which is another federally-funded program geared toward first-generation college students wanting to go to graduate school.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public high school in Wisconsin with a graduating class of about 400 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Political Science
Minors: History and Law & Justice double minor

Extracurricular Activities: I was a student-athlete in both the fall and spring. I was in Greek life, I joined Model United Nations and then [had a leadership position], I did Student Government until my sophomore year. I was part of a federally-funded program for first-generation students called TRIO. I got involved with the McNair Scholars program, which is another federally-funded program geared toward first-generation college students wanting to go to graduate school.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The programs I was involved in as a first-generation student helped me quite a bit. The McNair Scholars program provided a lot of great experiences. Every summer I get to go study in a certain place and they give you a pretty generous stipend for it. Both times have been field research settings and it helped me develop my skills for graduate school. I had been involved with Model United Nations in high school, but being in a leadership role gave me a new perspective which helped with my leadership skills. Student Government can be a mess, but all of the positive and negative experiences I had there were valuable in their own way. That gave me some insight into how I feel about the actual government. The sports were valuable because they let me connect with people on campus. It’s a good setting to be involved with the community, there’s a sense of camaraderie, and I like to exercise and be competitive when I can.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
We primarily use essays for what I was doing. Every semester we’d have about three essays due. There weren’t really written tests, even for finals. Finals would be a major essay. The class sizes at Beloit are pretty small and the value of that is our professors are able to dedicate a lot of time to us if we have questions. The classroom setting itself is lecture-style, but you don’t have to worry about fitting into an atrium with two hundred students. We’re all in a circle, or something resembling that. The professors will usually interact with the class which enhances everyone’s understanding. [50% of classes have between 10-19 students, and 26% of classes have between 20-29 students.]
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
Political Science is one of our strongest departments at Beloit. Our professors all have a different focus. My advisor taught courses related to ethnic conflict and mass atrocity. My minor advisor focused on environmental and comparative politics in Latin America. The diverse range of people that you can engage with and knowing you can go to whoever in the department is great. And, if they think you’re better suited for someone else, they don’t mind sending you their way.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I don’t know if I’d describe it as competitive where it’s a cutthroat game. You don’t really get that at Beloit. You can definitely be collaborative and they encourage group projects in the earlier classes when you’re first starting out. As you move up in the major, you’ll get more individualized projects. The professors take good opportunities to get people together in teams, and that encourages students to work in a different environment than they’re used to.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very easy to meet with. They’re all required to have office hours, but if those don’t always work out for your schedule they make it clear in the syllabus that you can contact them to meet with you outside of office hours. They’re very welcoming to questions.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yes, definitely. No one person every agrees on the same thing because the theory in political science is basically how you look at the world and everyone has different viewpoints. No one necessarily likes to be stuck in a box. The professors encourage conversation where they encourage you to use everything in front of you, and not under one certain category. There are people from all different walks of life, which includes political orientation and everything like that. All of the classrooms are very diverse and worth your time.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
When I came into school I had a pretty good idea I wanted to be oriented towards political science, which is why I chose International Relations at first. But, then it became Political Science because I knew I really liked looking at how countries interact with each other and the different political systems. I personally am pretty geared toward military studies, so I look at how treaties are signed, and different comparisons between militaries. The more I went into it, the more I realized I loved what I was studying.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
There were good resources, and that was one of the really great things about my experience at Beloit. The organization TRIO has another organization called Student Excellence and Leadership (SEL) geared specifically toward students in my demographic where they’re first-generation students from underrepresented minorities. I came to campus two weeks early for the Summer Bridge program, which is geared toward the transition process where they’re showing you what college is going to be like. They put you through classes that show you what to expect when going to actual lectures. You’re living in a [temporary] dorm with a roommate. That was a valuable two weeks. It was nerve-racking for me because that was a new setting I wasn’t used to and I knew there were people coming from families that do that regularly. Having that extra time to break into it made me much more confident when the other students showed up.

Reasons to Attend

1) The liberal arts education you’ll get will set you up for success.
2) I knew I wanted to study abroad, and Beloit makes it very easy and affordable. I did one semester in Europe and then a semester in Morocco.
3) The small class sizes and the tight-knit relationships with most faculty. You’ll need a network for a future internship or employment opportunities, and Beloit will be able to help you out with that.
4) While there is still plenty of work to be done, the fact that we have organizations like the McNair Scholars program is a huge asset for first-generation and underrepresented students. That made my college experience more affordable, and I was able to connect with students coming from a similar background as me.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The lack of a good social atmosphere, which I think is changing. More leaders are stepping up.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: 815 Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: My fraternity house with two roommates
Junior: I studied abroad for the whole year. I went to a different place in the fall and spring.
Senior: My fraternity house in a double
How was transitioning from living in your hometown in Wisconsin to Beloit, WI in terms of location?
It was actually pretty easy. Beloit is less than an hour away from my hometown so I don’t worry about getting back home if something went wrong or I needed help. I got the flu my first year and my parents were able to drive out and drop off stuff for me, which was nice.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
Campus security is really great. They’re full of people that are nice to the students and do their jobs very well. If someone is concerned, campus security has no problem walking them home or picking them up downtown.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Because I was in sports most of the time, my weekends typically started with not doing a ton on Friday because we’ll usually have a meet on Saturday morning. After that, I’d generally get together with friends or go to an apartment or dorm where there would be a party on Saturday night. Saturdays are different for everyone. During the day, the people not in sports are usually studying too, and on Saturday night typically everyone’s night to go out and party. Sundays are typically working days and every Greek society usually meets as a chapter.
Who hosts the parties?
Fraternities host parties, but because they’re an official organization they have to advertise it and then there’s no drinking allowed because there are rules about official parties. The ones I typically go to are hosted by someone who lives in a certain building. I’d go to parties organized by my team. For underclassmen who don’t know many people off-campus, they stick to campus buildings. As you become a junior or senior, people are living in apartments off-campus. The people living off-campus are still pretty close, but for the most part, I’d stay on campus. [See the article published by the school newspaper on Beloit’s updated alcohol policy.]
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
I wouldn’t say it’s big. My fraternity is pretty small, but every Greek organization throws one or two parties every semester. Some throw parties more successfully than others. When people are aware one is coming up and it’s one people have been talking about and really want to go to, people will schedule their weekends around it. It depends on how popular that Greek organization is or how well they’re known.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
A lot of the organizations on campus follow their own schedules and there are a lot more of them doing outreach to the community at large. Recently, the Buccaneer Boathouse was built and it’s exploded in popularity. The Boathouse will hold a public event where people can come and there are campfires. You can also go out and kayak or canoe on the lake and just enjoy the scenery there. The [Outdoor Environmental Club] will go on hiking trips or just get together within that group itself. For Model United Nations, we’ll be away some weekends for conferences.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
Looking back, my only regret is spending a lot of nights stressing about classwork or homework, which took away from my personal experience of being able to enjoy certain things. I would’ve tried to do more to meet more people and have a wider friend group. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it. When I got to the last semester of senior year, I stopped caring about social interactions, but until that point, I had been pretty happy with everything.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
The closest friends I made freshman year I met through a mutual friend who was living in their dorm. My other closest friends I met when I joined my fraternity and was looking at becoming a member of it. The friends I made freshman year ended up joining the same fraternity.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Beloit?
It’s kind of a mixed bag. For the past couple of years, we’ve had a problem with that. There’s a lot of activism at Beloit and it’s good to see people care about social causes and that stuff, but it seems to have created a very tense environment. Despite that activism, it seems like there’s apathy toward issues happening on campus and when it’s time to actually do something about it. For some reason, that didn’t really create a very sociable environment all the time where it seemed like people were keeping to their own groups and not branching out to become friends with people with other perspectives. But, being in Greek life helped facilitate me meeting other people.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Because of the groups I was involved with being part of the TRIO program and being a first-generation student, I interacted a lot with people of different sexual orientations and races. From my point of view, it looked like people were interacting all the time with different types of people. The teams I was on had people of different sexual orientations and races. In the classes, I was in and the people I met, we were all different. I’d say the social interaction between groups was high. [The undergraduate population is about 7% Black, 11% Hispanic, 52% White, and 4% Asian.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Socially, as opposed to not just in the classroom, they don’t mix too much. I hung out with a lot of Greek life people after being in the fraternity for a while, but I still had friends that weren’t in Greek life too. I’d say there is some exclusion because people have preconceived ideas about Greek life, which creates a barrier sometimes. My fraternity never wanted that to be an obstacle, so we always tried to reach out to people not in Greek life.
How do you like the size of Beloit in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 1,250] students]?
I liked having small class sizes because the education is so worth it and great. At the same time, that partly contributes to the lack of a social atmosphere. Sometimes I found myself wanting to be at a larger school around the atmosphere that comes with that, but I realized that I wouldn’t have nearly the same educational experience that I enjoyed while at Beloit, which will have long term dividends for me. The people I studied with in my major and the faculty I’m able to keep in contact with creating its own network which is really positive for recent graduates.
Do people generally seem happy with their college choice by senior year? Do people leave loving your school?
When I was leaving, people were ready to go. The social atmosphere, the discontent with the administration, and just being tired of studying for four years all piled up for people and they were ready to move on to the next thing. I was happy with my experience, but I’m sure there are people that would’ve done things differently.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
I was able to do practice interviews with them. I went on a fall break shadowing tour with them to Madison where I met Beloit graduates going to graduate school. We have a Beloit alum who is a state representative so we got to meet him in his office. It was geared toward people wanting to go into public office. They have a small fleet of cars that people can use to get to internships or job sites. I got an internship with the Peace Corps briefly and they helped polish my resume.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy are they to work with and how responsive are they?
I depend entirely on financial aid to go to Beloit. Their office is very attentive and will typically get back to you within one or two days if you have a question. If it’s an emergency, they’re usually by the phone and will help you sort it out pretty quickly.