Wabash College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Political Science
Minor: Film and Digital Media
Student Self Identifies as: South Asian Straight Male

Summary

I’m in Student Government and serve on the Diversity and Inclusion Council, the International Students’ Association, Extreme Sports Club, I’m in the Muslim Students’ Association, and I’m part of Greek life. I was independent for two years and during that time I was part of the Independent Men’s Association.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: South Asian
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Private school in Pakistan with a graduating class of about 100 students. There was a strong culture of going to college in the United States.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Political Science
Minor: Film and Digital Media

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in Student Government and serve on the Diversity and Inclusion Council, the International Students’ Association, Extreme Sports Club, I’m in the Muslim Students’ Association, and I’m part of Greek life. I was independent for two years and during that time I was part of the Independent Men’s Association.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Student Government has because there’s a lot of autonomy given to the student government here, so that’s had a significant impact.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It’s a lot of readings, a class discussion, and writing papers. In the senior seminar class, you have to write a research paper and the length can vary from 15 to 20 to 30 pages. The average amount of reading before class for a 300-level class would be around 40 pages, so it’s not too bad. Papers make up the bulk of our grade but also class participation and discussion. Sometimes we have simulations, as well.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
There are a lot of opportunities to encourage a lot of undergraduate research. I presented my research paper at the Political Science Association in Indianapolis and the college is paying for me to travel to Puerto Rico and present at the Southern Political Science Association. It’s so nice that the college is paying for that and encourages those opportunities. Also, many of the professors mentor the students a lot on research in other fields.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
Since it’s a small school and the classrooms are smaller, there’s no real place you can hide from the professors. They get to know you personally, so that relationship and the discussions that come out of that are important. If you don’t do the reading or the work it’s going to be very evident. It forces you to do your work because otherwise you’ll end up being embarrassed.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. You can email them to set up a time or just drop in since most of them have an open-door policy. They are willing to meet during their office hours and outside of them. Sometimes they invite students over for Thanksgiving dinner and that sort of thing as well, so they’re very involved in the lives of the students.
Do you think people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
When people come in as a freshman, since the school’s in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the students they attract lean more heavily toward a certain ideology. As they go through classes and become a sophomore, junior, and seniors, they become more open because the faculty make sure that there are varying perspectives present in the classroom. Over time, you can see the differences in how the same person thinks.
How was transitioning academically from your school in Pakistan to Wabash? Were there any resources available to help you adjust?
We have a Director of International Programs who runs a pretty comprehensive orientation. She gets everyone connected to the Writing Center, the registrar, and the dean. Orientation is pretty comprehensive and you get to know where to go to get the help you need and what to do and what not to do. At my high school, I didn’t need to go to classes, I just needed to pass the exams. But, during our orientation, they explained to us how the college works and that you can’t do that, so I think it was helpful. They also keep in touch with you and make sure you’re doing okay in your transition. After that, there are lots of affinity groups and fraternities that can help with the transition.
How has going to an all-male school impacted your academic experience?
Sometimes, I think there is some perspective missing. The faculty tries to push back on that by having a significant number of women in the faculty. Other than that, I don’t think it has affected my academic experience too much. Sometimes I think there is more openness in the sense that if somebody says something ignorant or stupid, it leads to civil discussion which may actually get the person to change their stance, rather than being immediately demonized. [About 38% of full-time faculty members are female.]
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I chose my major because, when I first came here, there was not a Computer Science major. I was majoring in Economics but it didn’t qualify for STEM for visa purposes. I liked the Political Science department because we have really nice professors and I enjoyed taking their classes. I was mainly convinced to switch after talking to our Director of Career Services who told me that I can still go into a data science-related field or finance even if my major is Political Science at a liberal arts college, so that’s why I chose it. I enjoy it.

Reasons to Attend

1) The amount of student autonomy because I think that’s something that separates Wabash from others. If you’re in student government, you have a lot of exposure that you can use after you graduate and you’re more aware of what is happening at the institution.
2) The endowment per student. We have an endowment of about $325 million and only have about 880 students. There are a lot more resources that they’re investing in students because of that.
3) The alumni network is really helpful and they really care. I’ve had people walk up to me just because I was wearing Wabash apparel multiple times.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The social life is lacking since we are an all-male school in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Rogge Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Martindale Hall with two roommates
Junior & Single: I moved into a fraternity house and live in a single
How was transitioning from your hometown in Pakistan to Crawfordsville, IN?
Crawfordsville is not a college town and is not built for college students, at least from an international student’s perspective. Most international students are trying to get away from home and also enjoy their life, but this is in the middle of nowhere. That was pretty depressing for the first two years until I found significant friends and affinity groups that you can use to get off campus or get so involved on campus that you bring your life to the college. Crawfordsville has [about 16,000] people and I come from a city of a 9-10 million, so it was a pretty hard transition since the town is so small and doesn’t have much to offer to young people.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
The campus is pretty secure. I’ve never thought about or needed campus police. I’ve walked around at 3:00 and 4:00 AM with friends and that was never something we thought about.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
The Inter-Fraternity Council hosts a lot of events and there are lots of traditions that happen throughout the year. We go to either that or the Student Government will sponsor different events or collaborations with schools nearby. Fraternities will throw parties and collaborate with sororities from other campuses. It’s very different if you’re an independent or in a fraternity because if you’re an independent your options become more limited. Usually, fraternity parties are open but sometimes they have closed events that independents cannot get into. But, for the most part, fraternities are very conscious about making sure that they have an inclusive space. There are a few bars downtown that people go to, but that’s only for older students to get a beer with a friend or professor.
What nights of the week do you tend to go out? Are there certain things that happen on certain nights?
A lot of students go to a bar in Lafayette. Then, on weekends where nothing is happening, students will go to other campuses where they have friends. Otherwise, it’s internal brotherhood events where fraternities go camping or do their own thing. It’s really about what fraternities are having or what student government programming events are going on. If there’s a prospective student weekend, there will usually be a lot happening.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
It’s a love-hate relationship. I don’t know if there is anything that can be specifically done without changing the college from being all-male. I think, for what we have, we do a pretty good job.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
They were my roommates and then I met others pledging my fraternity.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Wabash?
It’s not a party school. We do a good enough job for the conditions that we are in being an all-male school in Crawfordsville, but it’s definitely not a party school. It’s not the typical college social life type of place in terms of nightlife. In terms of more general programming, we have a lot of things that students can participate in. I think independents and fraternities are the two main constituents and anyone can participate in most of the things that happen on campus, sometimes even faculty and staff participate in those events too.
To what extent do international students mix with domestic students?
That depends on the nationality of the international student. Like, there are Vietnamese students who only hang out with other Vietnamese and Chinese students who only hang out with Chinese students. Obviously, there are exceptions, but that’s the generalization. The students who have very few people from their home country are more involved with the domestic students.
As an international student, were there any aspects of Wabash or American university overall that surprised you when you arrived on campus?
Not really, except for the fact that I actually have to go to class which I didn’t have to do in high school. Even if I get an A on my papers and exams, that doesn’t translate to an A in the course if you don’t go to class. That was something I learned during my freshman year because I didn’t go to a class very often and got a B- in the course even though I got A’s on all of my assignments.
How do you like the size of Wabash in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [Wabash has about 880 students.]
If it’s going to be an all-male college, it’s not bad to have this number of students. It gives a more personal connection between students as well as the administration. I remember the first time I got here, I was playing baseball in the backyard of the Dean of Students’ office and I bet if we had 40,000 students that would not have happened. We also have a very personal connection with the alumni and they make an active effort to get involved with students who may need guidance or help. I was considering transferring and would have if it weren’t for the few alumni I spoke with. So, the class size is beneficial because we are an all-male college and all the other traditions that we have.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
About [64%] of students are in Greek life, I think it depends on the independence of the student. Usually, you interact with people in classes and on group projects, but it depends on the student. It definitely does require a bit of an effort from the independent’s side to get involved but, if they do, it’s not hard to make friends in fraternities and go over and hang out at those fraternities. Nobody’s going to question why you’re there if you’re an independent.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I’ve been too busy to apply for jobs and all that yet, but, even with that, I’ve had alumni ask me if I’ve found a job yet. I’d say no, so they’d tell me to send them my resume and they’ll do whatever they can to connect me with certain people. It’s definitely helpful and they’ve been more proactive about finding jobs for me than I have been for myself.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
I used them to connect me with alumni and also to look over my resume and format it for industry-specific things. But, also for international students considering visas requirements and restrictions, I told them that some of the advice they give doesn’t apply to international students or may impact them negatively, so they actually hired some international students to work for them and they specifically focus on the guidelines for international students. They also have software that helps international students, so they put a lot of work there. They will have talks with international alumni who graduated and are working in the U.S. or elsewhere, so those are pretty useful as well.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I took two Statistics classes that use Stata and I took a class on Excel in the Economics department that was pretty helpful. I also learned Java programming through the Computer Science department.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? How easy is the office to work with?
I have had little interaction with them before this year. This year, Pakistan’s economy was doing pretty bad and [the currency value decreased]. I went to the office and showed them the documentation from Bloomberg and the IMF and they looked over my case and actually increased my financial aid. They’ve been really helpful for me. The Director of Financial Aid actually called me in his office and had a discussion with me and then followed up with me to make sure everything is going well.