James Madison University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Political Science and an Independent Scholars double major. My Independent Scholars major is a self-designed major called Environmental Economics and Legislation.
Minors: Honors Interdisciplinary Studies and Economics double minor
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Female
Summary
I’m in a sorority, I’m on the club ski and snowboard race team, and I [have a leadership role] in Harrisonburg Helpers, which is a community service organization. I’m also in the Honors College.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public high school near Reading, PA with a graduating class of about 400 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Majors: Political Science and an Independent Scholars double major. My Independent Scholars major is a self-designed major called Environmental Economics and Legislation.
Minors: Honors Interdisciplinary Studies and Economics double minor
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a sorority, I’m on the club ski and snowboard race team, and I [have a leadership role] in Harrisonburg Helpers, which is a community service organization. I’m also in the Honors College.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
I really enjoy being part of the sorority and the ski and snowboard team. I’ve gotten to make great friends in each of those organizations that have helped make going to JMU such a better experience.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your majors?
It’s a mix. For my Political Science major, I have a lot of reading, writing, and essays. Similarly, with my Environmental Economics and Legislation major, I have a lot of reading and writing, except for that major I’ll have an environmental lab once a week usually. The readings will range from a textbook reading on political theory or studying a research paper. I don’t have as many problem sets for my science classes because they are more environmentally focused, but I do often have weekly problem sets for Economics classes. The major graded assignments depend on the class, but for Economics classes I’ll have exams and papers make up a big portion of the grade, and then for other classes it’s normally papers.
Is there anything you feel that your majors’ departments do especially well or poorly?
They do a good job of providing students opportunities and connections. They work well with the career office and alumni network to prepare us for interviews and internship opportunities. For Political Science, we have the Washington Semester where students apply, and, if they get in, they do an internship in D.C. and also take six credits. It’s a great program. For my Independent Scholars major, I really like how it is very individualized. I’m part of the Honors College which works closely with that, so I’ve gotten great advising from the Associate Dean of the Honors College and other people who are pretty high up in the university. We’ve done a lot of personal research through the Honors College that we get to present at conferences. The Honors College overall provides really great advising, networking, and help with finding the classes you should take to reach your goals in your major.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It depends on the class. If I’m in an honors seminar, which sophomores, juniors, and seniors take, there is some competition. In my honors cohort, students are really competitive. It’s competitive in the sense that everyone wants to get the best grade possible. It’s not competitive in that we have to beat others to get a certain grade. Only in one of my really small honors classes where there are four students, there was the sense that we want to beat each other, but I haven’t felt that outside of that. In my bigger lectures, I don’t find it so competitive. But, it also depends on who you talk to in the class. I’m personally pretty competitive about my grades but I know not everyone at JMU is that way. There are a lot of pretty laid-back students.
How accessible are your professors?
I find all my professors really accessible. Honestly, if you show up at their office hours, you’re going to be most likely able to meet with them. I have never had any problems with that and I meet with professors all the time. They’re also really easily reached by email. I always get timely responses.
How has being in the Honors College impacted your academic experience?
The Honors College has done so many great things for me. The honors staff cares about you and there are so many great opportunities from it. Next spring, I’m going to be studying abroad at the University of Oxford in London and that opportunity primarily came through being a part of the Honors College. They also do a great job of promoting those opportunities to students. It’s helped me get really close relationships with professors and helped me figure out what I want to do academically.
Why did you pick your majors? Are you happy with your choices?
I’m happy with my choices. I know I want to do policy work later on, so I figure that my Political Science major will help me go to law school and stuff like that. Through my Environmental Economics and Legislation, that will help me ideally do environmental law or environmental lobbying, and I’ve learned a lot about that and how to create environmental policy. I really like both of my majors. I think they’ve helped me achieve my goals and understand the information I need to know to be successful in my field.
Reasons to Attend
1) The academics are really good. I always feel like the professors have their focus on making sure the students have a high-quality learning experience.
2) Everyone is so nice and there are so many fun social opportunities you can take part in.
3) The campus is absolutely beautiful. It’s so crazy to look around and realize you go to college in a place that is this beautiful.
Reasons Not to Attend
I can’t think of any.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Shenandoah Hall, which is the Honors College housing, with one roommate. It was a typical dorm-style hall with communal backgrounds.
Sophomore: Grace Street Apartments with three other roommates in the apartment.
How was transitioning from your hometown in Pennsylvania to Harrisonburg, VA in terms of location?
Harrisonburg is kind of in the middle of nowhere. There are your typical restaurants, grocery stores, and a small downtown, but it’s definitely not as suburban as my hometown. There was a bit of culture shock because a lot of them are from Virginia and know each other or know the high school they went to and stuff like that. Being out-of-state, I did find that a little bit challenging freshman year. But, everyone at JMU is still so nice and it’s not difficult to get involved or make friends, so it’s not that big of a challenge. [76% of students are from Virginia.]
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I would consider the campus really safe. We have the blue light system and there are always security officers around. I’ve never had any issues on campus or off-campus. I always feel pretty safe.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
My friends and I like to go to parties occasionally or we’ll go out to dinner somewhere. It really varies depending on the week. There are always on-campus activities to do. There is the Taylor Down Under (TDU), which is a cool events space in Madison Union. There’s always a wide range of activities you can do. On the weekends, I tend to go to parties with my friends or we’ll stay in and watch a movie. If I’m going to a party, it’s usually at an off-campus house and hosted by a fraternity or club sports team. My sorority hosts a lot of events on the weekends too, so if that’s not a party maybe it’s a sisterhood event. If it’s football season, I’ll go out and tailgate for the game. I’ll also have ski and snowboard team events on the weekends.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options at JMU?
It’s big, but it’s not the biggest thing here. Club sports and clubs are also really big in hosting parties and having different activities for their members to do. So, social life can come from a lot of other places than Greek life. [About 4% of men join fraternities and 8% of women join sororities.]
How happy are you with the weekend options at JMU? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m really happy with it. I know that I can go see a movie at the movie theater on campus if I don’t want to go out or I can just hang out with my friends.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
My freshman hall, which was an honors college residence hall, was very close and I also met people through my sorority.
How would you describe the overall social scene at JMU?
It’s really good. It’s so easy to make friends and hang out. People here do all sorts of different activities. It works for me because it’s a good balance. I work really hard during the week in my classes and then on the weekends I have the chance to have fun and spend time with your friends. That’s important because you need to be able to enjoy college and create really good friendships. Those are the things you’ll remember, not studying for lots of hours.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
JMU is predominantly White, but as a school, we’re very accepting of students of other races. There are clubs on campus for students of different races and ethnic backgrounds. I’m not that familiar with those groups, but I don’t think there are any issues on campus with race. I think it’s common to see diverse groups of friends around campus. That’s so important. [The undergraduate population is 6.7% Hispanic, 5% Black, 75% White, and 5% Asian.]
How do you like the size of JMU? How has that impacted your experience? [JMU has about 20,000 undergraduates.]
I think it’s the perfect size because it’s not too big and overwhelming and it’s not too small for me. When I go somewhere, I always see one or two people I know, which is nice because it’s always good to be able to see familiar faces around campus. It’s also easy to reach professors. Your general education classes are big, but the rest of your classes are smaller in size.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
They mix socially all the time. Two of my roommates this year aren’t in sororities and not all of my friends my freshman year joined sororities, so I hang out with people that aren’t in Greek life all the time.
How would you describe the student body at JMU?
Students are primarily from Virginia and for out-of-state students, it’s more common for people to come from New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. In terms of personality, it’s such a welcoming community. I have no issues with anyone. It’s so easy to make friends and get to know people in your classes and get to know your professors. [76% of students are from Virginia. Other than Virginia, the most common states for students to come from are New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.]
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Hopefully in the fall, I’m going to be interning in D.C. and a professor is recommending me to do the internship. It’s not set in stone yet, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that. The Political Science department’s alumni network is very helpful in finding jobs and internships, so I’d say it’s pretty good overall.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
It’s really good. We have the career center where they help you work on your resume and look for internships.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
I haven’t done much of that in college.