University of Minnesota -- Twin Cities
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Management Information Systems
Minors: Business Analytics and International Business double minor
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Male
Summary
I’m in a professional business fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Public high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a graduating class of about 300 students. There was a culture of going to college with about half of the students and with the other half there was not. There were varying socioeconomic statuses in the high school.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Management Information Systems
Minors: Business Analytics and International Business double minor
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a professional business fraternity.
What impact has the professional business fraternity had on your experience?
It’s had a really great impact. It’s helped me surround myself with motivated individuals, which is probably the biggest thing. There are a lot of resources through it too. Like, oftentimes when I take a class, someone in the fraternity is already in the class or has taken it before. They’ve also helped with guidance for career stuff. We hold events with people already in the professional world, so there are a lot of resources at my fingertips.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
My major is a combination of technical and soft-skill classes. There are some programming assignments and a lot of stuff with Excel, but then also case studies are a big thing where we have to respond to cases of real world events. Usually, about 40% of the final grade is the programming assignments and the rest is exams. The exams are similar to the programming assignments in the programming courses, so we are programming in class during the exam time.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
When it comes to the soft skill knowledge classes, it’s quite well done. Classes such as the management of technology where they teach the best practices of that. But, for the hard skill classes where we learn programming and use certain types of software, it can be a little outdated. That is understandable because technology moves at a very fast pace and it’s hard to keep up with the times.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It can be both. It is quite competitive and that’s become kind of a hot topic in the business school since it’s very competitive. I think they’re changing it up a bit, but there is a curve in almost all of my classes. It has become a stressor in my four years of trying to do better than everyone else because of the curve. [See Minnesota Daily article, “Course grading policies get an F.”]
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. I can always contact them and every professor has office hours and almost every class has a teaching assistant who has office hours as well. If you have a problem in a class, my experience is were encouraged to go to the T.A. first, and then if I can’t figure it out or if it’s some other issue, then you can go to the professor.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
It was kind of a process of elimination. I’ve been in the business school all four years and there are not that many majors. There is a semester called the Immersion Core and you take lots of different courses that address all the majors in the business school. There are a few other required courses that are also for other majors in the business school, so you almost take a course for each major in the business school curriculum. I got to have a taste for each subject and then I found that a Management Information Systems course was more appealing to me than others.
In what ways do you feel the academics in the business school at the University of Minnesota have prepared you for life after college?
It’s different depending on what your major is because you will have learned different concepts. I feel I’ve been quite prepared. I haven’t gone into the working world full-time yet, but my classes have taught me Excel and SQL, which are two skills that I’ve heard employers emphasize that they want new college graduates to have. Learning those things has made me more confident. Also, conceptually, some of the things I’ve learned in my classes has helped me connect the dots between all of my courses and get a better view of how you can apply that, for example, how IT management works.
Reasons to Attend
1) There are certain programs here, such as the engineering programs, that are highly regarded.
2) If you want to be located in a city, it’s in Minneapolis. There’s a lot to do and it’s quite easy to get around the city if you don’t have a car.
3) There are a lot of student organizations, so you will be able to find things that you are interested in.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) I’ve never personally felt threatened, but, every once in a while, we do get an incident report of something that happens on campus or near it. [See Minnesota Daily article, “Campus crime update: Property crimes continue slight climb.”]
2) The large student population might be overwhelming for some people.
3) Winter might be an issue for people if you haven’t grown up with it. Minnesota winters are some of the harshest in the country.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Centennial Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Off-campus apartment with two roommates
Junior/Senior: Off-campus apartment with three roommates
How do you like going to college in your hometown?
I like it a lot. It’s convenient to see my parents and the campus is very close to the city itself, so there’s a lot to do. I had a vision of going to school out-of-state somewhere else, but I’m happy with my time here.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I would say I’ve never had any real issues with it. However, it has become a stereotype in recent years that we get a lot of notifications from the campus police because there have been incidents around campus. I’ve never felt super unsafe, but I think other students have. [See Minnesota Daily article, “Campus crime update: Property crimes continue slight climb.”]
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
We go to a bar either one or two nights of the weekend. That will include going to one of the bars near campus or going somewhere else in Minneapolis. If I were to go to a bar near campus, we would be getting the college bar crowd. Before I turned 21, I would go to a lot more parties. Freshman year and a little bit of sophomore year those would be fraternity parties and house parties as well. Since then, I still enjoy house parties and that would be the kind of party I would go to now.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options at the University of Minnesota?
I would say it’s not a school where Greek life is essential for nightlife on the weekends. It would definitely help if you had connections with people in Greek life your first couple of years if you would like to go to parties because you can get invited by friends, but otherwise, I would still go to house parties hosted by people who aren’t in Greek life that first couple of years and ever since then.
What is an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a weekend option or a night out?
I would say those are really the only two things if I were to leave my place for a night out. Otherwise, I would just hang out with friends in my apartments or their apartments.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at UMN? Is there anything you would change if you could?
The campus could definitely use some more bars. Compared to a lot of other colleges, we don’t have a lot. We’re one of the largest universities in the country by student population but there are only about two bars that people go to. Having more options would be nice just because you get tired of the ones that you have been going to.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I either met them in high school or through my business fraternity.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UMN?
I’d say it’s good. There are a lot of options if you want to join Greek life or other student organizations that a lot of people meet friends through. The nightlife scene is good enough where you can meet people as well.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I’m from here and I go to school here, so maybe my view is distorted a bit, but I see lots of people from different backgrounds being friends. That’s also not to say that some people might not feel that way, I just think it’s about who you ask. [The undergraduate population is 6% Black, 12% Asian, 4% Hispanic, and 67% White.]
How do you like the size of UMN in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 31,500 undergraduate students at UMN.]
It’s been really great. I have always envisioned going to a big school. I have never been one to want to walk to class and know every single person I see, so it’s nice having a bunch of options to meet new people. It’s sort of a surprise when you run into a person. It’s also fun that a lot of undergrads go to football games. Academically, it’s been good as well. During my first couple of years I took general classes and other classes that had a lot of people, which could be intimidating to some people. But ever since I got into more advanced classes, my class sizes have gone down significantly and are probably on par with the number of people I had in my high school classes.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
That is quite mixed. I don’t think people in Greek life only think of themselves. They maybe tend to stick more with people that are in Greek life, however, I do not think that there is a divide there. I know plenty of people in Greek life who hang out with people that are not in Greek life.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I haven’t used any of the university’s alumni network stuff. However, I have gotten work experience through the help of alumni of my business fraternity.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
The business school has its own career office and I’ve been 100% satisfied with it. They have tons of options for getting your resume reviewed, various practice interviews, and just, in general, you can meet with a career coach to talk over what is on your mind easily. They also host networking events.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
In my classes, I’ve used Excel, R, SQL. Those are the main ones I’ve used that have been the most helpful to me.