University of Delaware
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Finance
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Heterosexual Male
Summary
I joined a fraternity freshman year, I did some intramural sports, and Golf Club.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in New Jersey with a graduating class of about 300 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Major: Finance
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I joined a fraternity freshman year, I did some intramural sports, and Golf Club.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The fraternity I joined was basically my social life here. Fraternities and sororities mostly dominate the social scene. If you want to go out as a guy, you have to be part of one of those organizations.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
The coursework was mainly made up of exams. Depending on the course, some of them had team projects. Homework was done on your own, and it didn’t count towards the grade.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
There’s a lot of good resources at Delaware, especially if you’re a Finance major. We have a trading desk here, that gives you the opportunity to experiences those types of things. The technology they use here is good, and they have videos that walk you through everything.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it was particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s very competitive. Joining a fraternity, I had a lot of friends that were also Finance majors because you tend to go toward people who have similar interests as you. You’ll see that Greek life has higher grades than the rest of the school. This is because everyone works together and helps each other out. It makes it a lot easier.
How accessible have the professors in your department been?
Very accessible. They give you their study hours, but some of them will give you their phone number and you can text them if you want to set up another date or something like that.
What has been your favorite class in your major?
For the Finance major, you have to take courses like Management Information Systems. I feel like those mandatory courses that teach you how to use Excel and Access really helped me the most in the real world and my internships. When you go into an internship, a lot of the times you’re working with big data. As a young kid, they give you the grunt work and you have to do it all.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m very happy with my choice. My stepdad is an advisor, so I grew up around it and was interested in it. My dad was a doctor, so he wanted me to go toward the pre-med track. Even in high school I didn’t like science, so I knew that wasn’t for me.
Reasons to Attend
1) The social life.
2) We have a great business school.
3) As a freshman, the accommodations are great, like the dorms. They’re making everything a lot nicer here.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) Greek life is getting a lot stricter, and they’re taking a lot of fraternities off-campus now.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus? What was your favorite?
Freshman: Caesar Rodney with one roommate.
Sophomore: Continental Courtyards with two roommates.
Junior: Fraternity house in a single, but there were 27 other guys in the house.
Senior: Off-campus house with five other guys.
How was transitioning from your hometown in New Jersey to Newark, DE?
It was fine. You’re with your friends so it’s cool. Besides that, where I’m from is a little more upper class and there aren’t a lot of college students running around, so it’s nicer, but I wouldn’t say better.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I’ve never felt threatened, and they have a good security team here.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Now that I’m 21 we go to the bars, and on Saturdays we have big day drinks. When we were underclassmen we had house parties.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
100%. If you’re not in Greek life as an underclassman, you’re not going out. There are no 18+ bars or clubs. It’s tough for guys not in Greek life to get into parties.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things?
Tuesdays, Thursdays, maybe Friday nights, and Saturday day.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
We do a lot of events at clubs in Philadelphia. We’ll do movie nights or put up a projector for sporting events.
How happy were you with the weekend options at Delaware? Is there anything you would change if you could?
Delaware enacted a law to prohibit the day drinks, to where if there are more than four people gathered with loud music, they can issue up to two thousand dollars in fines and fifty hours of community service.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
Greek life, and people that came here from my hometown.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
We got [ranked as] the No. 1 party school last year, so that shows for itself. Compared to a school like Penn State or a bigger school, it’s not as crazy, and it’s classier. Everyone sort of dresses nicer and they kind of go to the bars more.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
For the most part, no one really cares if you’re gay or not. No one is racist or sexist against people. Each fraternity has its niche stereotype, but other than that it’s mainly White guys. [About 71% of undergraduate students are White.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Mostly girls don’t have to be in Greek life, but for guys, I don’t hang out with many that aren’t in Greek life. You’ll see them at the bars.
How would you describe the student body?
Everyone has pretty good morals and helps each other out. No one is out to get each other, and I’ve never had bad experiences with other people.
How do you like the size of Delaware in terms of undergraduate enrollment? [There are about 19,000 students.]
I love the size, but it’s not perfect. It has about [19,000] undergraduates, and it’s enough to where you can avoid seeing someone if you want to. You also know most of the people in Greek life and in your major. You find your own community that makes it smaller.
Do people generally seem happy with their choice of Delaware by senior year? Do people leave loving Delaware?
Yes, there is a lot of school pride, especially from the alumni. A lot of the older guys come back to visit. My stepdad went here and sort of convinced me to come. He’s very active, and a lot of donations go back to the school itself.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Not personally. I have personal connections that have helped get me internships, but I could see how it would help. Being in a fraternity is a whole other thing. If someone is in the same fraternity as you, it’s a great connection.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They have career fairs which I used to go to. For the most part, it’s a lot of jobs in Wilmington and Philadelphia. Coming from North Jersey, it doesn’t personally interest me that much.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
Yeah, we’ve done Excel, R, and Access. They helped me in the real world for my internships.