University of Mississippi

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Business Management
Minor: Entrepreneurship
Student Self Identifies as: White Heterosexual Female

Summary

I’m in a sorority, and I volunteer twice a week with Leap Frog at a local church and tutor first through third graders.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Private high school outside of Little Rock, Arkansas with a graduating class of 55 people. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Business Management
Minor: Entrepreneurship

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a sorority, and I volunteer twice a week with Leap Frog at a local church and tutor first through third graders.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
My sorority has an impact on my social life for sure. That’s how I met most of my friends and my roommates. Leap Frog is the program where I tutor kids, and because Oxford is so small, just being involved makes it so you can actually have an impact on someone.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It depends on the class, but normally it’s going to class twice a week. A lot of them have discussion boards for weekly homework and quizzes. Besides that, it’s just tests, projects, and papers every two or three weeks. My entrepreneurship classes are more creative so it’s more projects and papers, but my management classes are more straightforward tests and quizzes.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
They do a good job of letting you know about the different clubs and societies involved with the major. In pretty much every class I’ve taken, guest speakers have come in and talked about their experience. That’s cool because it gives you their perspective, most of them are college or graduate students so you know you’re getting a solid opinion that relates to your life and your major.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s not particularly competitive, but it is very collaborative. In most of my classes, we do group projects and the professors are pretty involved with their students. My classes are getting pretty small so there’s a smaller student-teacher ratio.
How accessible are your professors?
They’ve been very accessible. Just a simple email will get an answer and they also have office hours. If those don’t work for you, they normally can work around my schedule which is nice.
What has been your favorite class within your major?
The entrepreneurship section of a leadership class. It was really interesting because it was cool to learn about leadership, not just being a manager and controlling people under you. It was more about how to be involved with people around you in college and in your work life.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m happy with it, I’m just not sure what I want to do with it for my career. I picked it because I knew I wanted to do business and it gave me a broader range of career choices. I picked management because I like how you get management, marketing, finance, and accounting classes. It combines all of the things you’d need.
Have you used academic accommodations? If so, how helpful were they?
I’ve used the Supplemental Instruction (SI) study session they provide. They have study sessions for different classes.

Reasons to Attend

1) The sense of community. Even though it’s a huge college, everyone is very loyal to Ole Miss. They are big fans and they love the school.
2) The nightlife is really fun and it’s a very social school. There are multiple options for things you want to do if you don’t want to join Greek life.
3) During orientation, I learned a lot about the different schools. There are a bunch of great academic opportunities and perks for the different majors.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The size of the town. It’s very small. [The population of Oxford, MS is about 22,000.]
2) So much of the school is based on Greek life and sports, so if you’re not interested in that you may not like it.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Martin Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Off-campus house with two roommates
Junior: Off-campus house with four roommates
What was your favorite living situation?
The one I’m in now is my favorite. We’re in a much bigger house in a better location. It’s closer to campus and the Square where we go out.
How was transitioning from Little Rock to Oxford, Mississippi?
It’s smaller than where I’m from which was a little bit of an adjustment. It’s also very centered around Ole Miss, it’s a huge college town. I did enjoy that a lot and nothing was super hard about it. I just had to get used to not having bigger stores like Target, but you make do.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I’ve never felt unsafe around campus.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
On the weekends, I mainly go to bars on the Square in Oxford. It’s the main part of the town.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things? Are there regular places you go or things you do on certain nights?
The regular bar is called The Library in The Square. That’s one of my main spots, and another restaurant we get drinks at is called Boure. The nights of the week are Thursday through Saturday.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
Just going to get dinner in the town with all of my friends.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
It’s a huge part. A big percentage of Ole Miss is Greek life, so having different friend groups in different sororities and fraternities determines what bar they go to. Pretty much everyone goes to the Library, but others will be more of a spot for a certain sorority or fraternity. For functions like date parties or formals, they rent out the bars. [About 33% of men are in fraternities and 42% of females are in sororities.]
How did the nightlife differ before and after you joined Greek life?
Before I joined, it was a little less cliquey and more talking and meeting everyone. Now that I joined, I have a bigger group of friends and am more comfortable. I stick with them the whole time, rather than trying to meet and see everyone. It makes you a little more comfortable. The bars aren’t exclusive unless it was rented out, but the parties are more exclusive for people who are in that sorority or fraternity.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I like it a lot. It’s fun now that I’m over 21. It opens more of the bar options, but it’s small and there are only about 10 different bars you can go to. They’re all pretty small, so the size of the town is a con.
What have been some of your favorite times at Ole Miss College?
Football season and being in The Grove every weekend is super fun. In general, the fall semester is my favorite. It’s starting to get beautiful outside.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Through my sorority, and there were some from my hometown that I knew going into school.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Ole Miss?
It’s pretty fun. Oxford is kind of known for being a big party town, but it’s good. Everyone pretty much goes out on the weekend and the Square is always crowded.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It can be mixed a decent amount. It really depends on the bar too. Some bars are more exclusively Greek life, and others are more open where more different people go. It’s common to see friend groups of diverse demographics.
How would you describe the student body?
It’s very Southern. Everyone is pretty nice and the Southern hospitality is definitely a thing.
How do you like the size of Ole Miss in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 17,500] students?
I like it a lot, it doesn’t feel too big or too small. Especially being from out-of-state, I didn’t know that many people going in so it was kind of intimidating. Then I realized it’s small enough to where you know the majority of the people. At the same time, it’s big enough that you don’t feel overwhelmed. My high school was so small and I knew everyone, which is what I was trying to avoid. I think it’s a good mix of that. [About 44% of the population is from out-of-state.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially
They mix a decent amount but it could be better. I think Greek life mainly sticks to Greek life, and non-Greek life sticks with non-Greek life.
Do people generally seem happy with Ole Miss by senior year? Do people leave loving Ole Miss?
Yeah, I think people are very loyal to Ole Miss. I think pretty much everyone stays pretty true to it after they graduate.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
A little bit I’d say. The job I had last summer I didn’t get through alumni, but I’ve had some referrals and have met alumni that have helped me network a little.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I’ve used the career office to help me with my resume. They were very helpful in making my resume stand out, rather than how to make it fit in. Multiple classes I’ve taken just told you how to format it and make it look like everyone else’s, but the [career office] helped to elevate it.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
I took a class called Management Information Systems, and they taught us how to do Microsoft Excel and Access.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
I have a scholarship and they’ve been helpful any time I’ve had a question.