The Ohio State University -- Columbus
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Accounting
Minor: Economics
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male
Summary
Plays intramural sports. In a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Went to a public school in Cleveland, OH with a graduating class of about 400 students.
Majors: Accounting
Minor: Economics
Extracurricular Activities: Plays intramural sports. In a fraternity.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
For both Accounting and Economics, it is mainly problem sets for practice. We go over a group of questions over practice problems every lecture and discuss questions people have.
Is there anything that you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
The accounting department is transparent with what they are. They’re straightforward in what’s being taught. They’re not trying to trick you. It’s not easy, but if you do what you’re told and follow the progress that you are given, you will do well in the classes.
What has been your favorite class in your major or minor?
My favorite class was Intro to Accounting because I liked the professor. He was straightforward with what he wanted out of each student and he was helpful if you needed to seek him out.
What has been your least favorite class in your major or minor?
My least favorite class was Statistics 2, because we had brutal professors, and there was overall hard material that isn’t taught well.
Can you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
Collaborative, because you are working in groups in most of the classes. They want to get you ready for the business world where you’re going to be work with teams of people. Compared to Finance, it is not competitive because Accounting is an easier major to get into. People who chose Accounting were not competing for those spots.
How accessible are your professors?
Some professors are more accessible than others. My Intro to Accounting professor was there during his office hours and if you couldn’t make those he was very willing to make an outside meeting with you. One reason I didn’t like Statistics was that some of the professors’ office hours were tough to get to, as far as scheduling goes. Overall, in the business school the professors are very accessible.
What made you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Accounting is my third major. I started with Engineering, but it was dreadful. I switched to Biology, but it was also dreadful. Finally, I switched over to Business, because both of my parents are CPA’s (Certified Public Accountant), and a good friend from high school said since my first year of college that I would be good in business. Finally, I gave it a shot and I ended up liking it.
Reasons to Attend
1) It feels like a college campus, but there is a city nearby which offers a lot of opportunities.
2) There are hundreds of student groups, where you can get involved in at OSU. There is one for everyone if you want to join one. If there’s not, you can make it, because there are going to be people who are also interested in that.
3) We have the best football team in the country.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) It’s incredibly large with [about 47,000] undergraduates. For me is not a problem, but I understand some people can get freaked out.
2) The intro classes are not going to be small and are not going to be easy.
3) You don’t get as much one on one attention as you had in high school.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: I lived in Smith-Steeb Hall, which is a dorm on south campus. I had one roommate and it is a pretty big building, which was actually used to be two dorms, but it ended up into one.
Sophomore: I lived in a fraternity house and I did not have a roommate.
Junior year: I lived this year also in my fraternity house.
Senior year: I will live next year on 16th and Indianola Avenue with some friends from my fraternity.
What was your favorite place to live?
The fraternity or my house next year because I lived there for a month over the summer so I know what I’m going to expect. During my sophomore year, we lived in a different fraternity house because our house was under construction and that was fun because we didn’t care about the house that we were in.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I felt safe on campus. You always see the security guards on campus and there are students driving around at 3:30 am. They give students rides if they want a ride back to their house. I’ve never had any fear. There is a decent amount of crime in Short North, which is on the way to downtown Columbus, but that is not on campus.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
My favorite restaurant is North Star. There is one in the Short North what is not that far away. It is a regular restaurant and they have burgers and a really good breakfast.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
There’s a little coffee shop downtown called Roosevelt. I like going there and studying with some of my friends.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
I’m in a fraternity, so I like going out and going to parties. Most of the time we first have a party and after that we go to the bars on High Street.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out? Are there certain things you do on certain nights?
I regularly go out on Friday and Saturday. I haven’t had class on Fridays the past two semesters, so I went out more on Thursday. When I turned 21, my friends and I went more often to downtown Columbus, because there were good deals and it was easy to get there with Uber. Friday and Saturday, we stay on campus and we go to our favorite bars.
What have been some of your favorite times at Ohio State?
Football games. Tailgates for football games are called block parties and are a great time. They’re called” block parties” because every house on the street will be having a party. Waking up early and getting ready for football is fun.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
Ohio State is a big school and there are many different options for nightlife. But Greek life dictates where most of the parties happen because you know who is having a party, and that often determines where to go. When that party ends, people are going to the bars and the bars will get filled up.
How happy are you with the nightlife at Ohio State? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I would change that OSU didn’t buy out the bars on High Street and tear them down, but outside of that, I like the nightlife at OSU. It’s a good combination of laid back and fun. I’m not a big club fan, but I like more a calm and relaxed bar, but there are options for everyone.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met them through my fraternity.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Ohio State?
There’s a place for everybody. If you don’t want to be in a fraternity you don’t have to be. There are enough students that are doing their own thing. There always will be that group of people that like the exact same thing as you that you can get along with. It’s not limiting at all. What I like about OSU is that you don’t have to be in a fraternity to go to a party, but you know if you want to be in a fraternity you can and you can get to all those parties as well.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientation mix socially?
Within Greek life, people of different sexual orientations socialize very well, but unfortunately, it’s not as diverse as you would hope. [In Fall of 2017, 19% of undergraduate enrollment were minorities.] There’s not really that much ability to socialize within different races. Overall, at the campus there’s a good mix of students that socialize all over.
How would you describe the student body?
I’d say large, but it has a close-knit feel because we have a strong sports culture at OSU and strong school pride. You don’t get people like getting at odds with each other. There are 12,000 students in my graduating class, but I can probably become friends with almost anyone, even if I have never seen them before.
Can you describe the feeling of anonymity you get with a school as big as OSU?
If you don’t want to be seen, heard, or run into people, it is easy to do so. At OSU, there are 30 or 40 kids from my high school graduating class, in addition to all the students from my high school who transferred to OSU. It’s easy to never see the people I’m not friends with or not interested in being friends with. If you want to be hidden you can. Even in a school where you know a lot of people you can carve out your own path. You can make a big school small, but you can’t make a small school big, which is something I like.
Careers
Has the alumni network helps you find internships or jobs?
No, it has not, but I know people who have used it. I hadn’t really settled into a major until this past year, so I never got that chance to build any relationships with alumni. OSU is a large school, so there are also many alumni. I’ve met a lot of people on the street because I was wearing an OSU shirt and have been able to strike up a conversation and get their number. People have a strong school pride that carries on once you graduate.
To what extent have you used the career office? How helpful have they been?
I have not used the career office that much. I have used it for a resume building and they were very helpful with that. One student in the career office is in my fraternity so he helped me with my resume and that was very helpful. I ended up getting an internship because they were impressed with my resume. The professors are also helpful. It’s not career services but when you have an interview, for example, they will help you.
Have you learned any computer programs that will be especially helpful for you professionally or for your course work?
I have used a lot of Microsoft Excel and Access, I’ve also used StatCrunch for Statistics. When I was in Engineering I worked with Matlab, C, and C++, which are for computer programming.