The Ohio State University -- Columbus
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Fashion and Retail Studies
Minor: Business
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Female
Summary
Intramural sports and Greek life
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: A public high school in Plainview on Long Island, New York with about 350 students in the graduating class.
First Generation College Student: No
Major: Fashion and Retail Studies
Minor: Business
Extracurricular Activities: Intramural sports and Greek life
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
We have mostly group projects within the classes. There isn’t too much work outside of class, so you have more free time. For business, we have group projects within the class and homework assignments out of class.
Is there anything that you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
The professors are well educated in what they do because Columbus is a corporate area they are able to involve the city in our classes. We have been to distribution centers for Abercrombie and Fitch and L Brand stores, which was amazing and helped me understand distribution and works behind the scenes.
Can you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It is collaborative compared to the classes I’ve taken in the Fisher School of Business. In my college, the people work together in groups, and quizzes are online. You are allowed to work in groups for the homework assignments. It is very open. The teachers are willing to help and help you get the best grade possible. The philosophy has been to develop our own thing and take ownership of something that could be a great creation for a company.
What has been your favorite class in your major or minor?
My favorite class is Retail Environment. It was an entrepreneurship class where I had to create a company and work with a group of students on a business plan that had to be economically and environmentally sustainable.
What has been your least favorite class in your major or minor?
My least favorite class was Computer Science and Engineering. It is required for my major and it is required for a lot of the majors at Ohio State. You learn how to use Access and Excel, which is a requirement for most of the majors because those are basic skills. My class was unorganized, the professors were accidentally handing out take home-exams as review sheets. They may have changed the curriculum since I took it, but it is a hard class and the way they expect you to learn is not realistic.
What made you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Sometimes I regret choosing to major in Fashion and not Business, but I do love the retail industry. I had internships the past summers within the retail industry. Fashion at Ohio State has taught me a lot and prepared me for real-life situations and the internships. I do regret not going into the business school.
Reasons to Attend
1) Football
2) The city of Columbus
3) The culture. Everyone who goes to Ohio State loves it.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you are out of state, it is a big school and it can take a while to get adjusted.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: I lived in a dorm in Smith-Steeb Hall, which is a dorm on-campus and I had one roommate.
Sophomore: I lived in a sorority house and I had two roommates in a small room.
Junior year: The first semester, I lived in my sorority house and the second semester, I studied abroad in Italy.
Senior year: I am now living in a house on with one girl from my sorority and four girls from another sorority
What was your favorite place to live?
My sophomore year when I lived with my best friends. We lived in a closet, but everyone was always hanging out in our room because we had a good vibe and we were always playing music. It was fun and a different experience.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
There are homeless people who live on High Street, but they are not dangerous and won’t touch you. I have never felt unsafe at a bar or walking home. You have to be careful and be smart when you are going out, but anything bad can happen anywhere and not just at Ohio State. You have to be smart when you are going out.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
There are a lot of good restaurants in Columbus, but I would say Forno. Columbus is a big food area. Forno is a good happy hour place, they have good deals and you can get a lot of good appetizers with your friends and it will cost less than 20 dollars including drinks.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
If I go off-campus, I like to go to Orangetheory for an hour. If I don’t want to do a workout, I like to go to Easton, which is a big and beautiful shopping mall. It is outside and more in the suburbs of Columbus.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I go out when my friends go out. You can go out every day of the week if you wanted to, but that is not realistic with the workload you have. The downtown bars are 18+, and if you’re 21 you receive a wristband. The on-campus bars are 21+ except for the big bars on High Street.
You have to learn to manage your time. Most of the time, I like to choose either Tuesday or Wednesday to go out. Thursday is a must because it is the biggest night at school. During the first semester, you don’t go out on Friday because Saturday there is tailgating, so you are all out day through the night. The second semester is a whole other world and you can go out every night of the week, including Friday. I try to go out and enjoy the college experience.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out? And are there certain things you do on certain nights?
Wednesday night is known for Fourth Street because they have karaoke. That is a big thing at Ohio State. Everyone gets drunk and throws themselves on stage and sings a good song and no one is judging for what you are doing.
The Thursday night scene has changed over the years. In my freshman year, you would go downtown to Callahan’s and then to Cantina’s. At the moment, almost every month there is a new bar downtown and we try it out, especially if it’s rented out by a fraternity. You can now also stay on campus on Thursday because they opened up some bars that are more club-ish. People also like to go bowling, it’s dirty but it’s a fun place to people-watch.
What have been some of your favorite times at Ohio State?
I can’t pick one specific thing because it is different every weekend. My friends have made my experience at Ohio State amazing. It’s great to just hang out and go wherever together. Tailgating is obviously amazing.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
It doesn’t have that much of an impact because we are a big bar school. Greek life has been going downhill. This is due to the issues not just at Ohio State, but everywhere. We have been forced to go to the bars, but this hasn’t affected how nice the school is.
How happy are you with the nightlife at Ohio State? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m happy with it. There is a different bar for every situation that you want.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
Most of my friends are from Long Island. I went to Ohio State thinking that I would make friends with people who weren’t from Long Island, but you gravitate towards the people who are most similar to you. I met them through meet-ups before school. We had the same classes, lived in the same dorm, and half of them ended up in the same sorority. I met one of my other best friends through my major, but she is from Chicago.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Ohio State?
Everyone is very social. No one is judging you off what you are wearing.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientation mix socially?
Pretty well. I know people of different backgrounds or different sexual orientations that are in the same social circles. The students are open to anything. I’ve never felt intimidated by the people that I’m out with or other people in the place where I’m. Going to sorority recruitment can be a scary thing to go through at any school, but it is more laid back in Ohio State. The people who go to Ohio State have a certain personality and everyone loves to be family and love Ohio State.
What is the impact of Greek life on social life at Ohio State?
You can be in a sorority and have a great social life, but you can also not be in a sorority or fraternity and have a great social life. The school is so big so there are many opportunities.
Careers
Has the alumni network helps you find internships or jobs?
No, I haven’t used it.
To what extent have you used the career office? How helpful have they been?
I haven’t used it. I have just been using LinkedIn for my business opportunities through networking with other people that I know.
Did you learn any computer programs that will be especially helpful for you professionally or for your course work?
I use Excel every day at my internship but another program that I have learned is Photoshop. I learned the basic skills in my classes and I became obsessed to learn more about it. It is not a necessity in my major, but I love learning it and the teachers are willing to help you with it even if you don’t need it for their class.