I saw that someone else had this idea and I wanted to give any incoming students another perspective/person to ask questions to. I am a Political Science major with a Spanish, History, Communications, and Legal Foundations of Society Minors. I am involved in Politics, Society and Law Scholars and will be an RA next year on South Campus. Please ask any questions you might have!
We don’t allow “Ask me anything” threads that give the appearance no one else should answer in that thread. As can be seen, there were two threads that had this title. I have merged them and retitled the thread. Anyone with knowledge about a question should feel free to reply. - FC
Thanks for offering. It’s great when current students do this.
Few questions:
How strong is the CO-OP program in the business department. Or is it all internships? Paid or unpaid and approximately how much do the students make? Have you seen if getting CO-OPS/Internships (paid) is an easy thing for first year students?
With all the new houses opening in North Campus has that area become more lively? My sons were told that starting next year OSU is going to put 1/3 of incoming students in each South/North/West. Do you have a preference?
My sons wanted to go with the learning communities, do you have any experience with them? Your feelings? One is looking at Exploratory and the other Son (twins) at Engineering learning communities.
@pinkpocket, my son has been admitted to the Scholars Program, (his first choice is Politics, Society & Law), we are somewhat confused about what it means to have “college-level priority registration” for those that are members of the Scholars program. How does this differ from the university-wide priority registration available to Honors students. Also, how comprehensive or robust are the course offerings for Scholar students since they are organized around certain “themes” rather than subject-matter.
Finally, since the Scholars program my son is interested in have first-year housing communities, one of the few decisions we need to make is the appropriate meal plan. My son will be staying at Smith-Steeb Hall if he is admitted to PSL. Can you tell me what is the nearest dining facility for “traditional” visits near Smith-Steeb. What two dining plans do you find are most popular among freshman?
@Pinkpoet. Thanks for your kind offer. Son next fall will be like you, a freshman business major and in Scholars, but coming from a very small HS (18 graduating seniors). May we ask three questions?
Are you in Business Scholars, and either way, how beneficial has Scholars been?
Best thing about freshman year/experience?
Any aggravation or negative worth sharing, or that new freshmen may want to keep in mind?
Your experience looking for internships is going to be different depending on your major. I am a direct-admit Fisher student so my answer to this question is coming from that perspective.I know students (both business and non-business majors,) who have internships lined up for the summer. (Personally, I don’t have an internship, but that’s because I have decided to become a Peer Leader this summer*.) While I wouldn’t call it “easy” to get an internship after your first year, I personally have been told about many internship opportunities for students through Fisher. People definitely won’t hand you an internship, but the resources are there to help students who are interested in finding one! My biggest tip when it comes to looking for internships (especially as a first-year,) is to research early so you can get a general idea of what’s out there. The career center is your friend!
(*Peer Leaders act as the orientation guides throughout the summer, and then throughout the school year we get to interact with students and help them to adjust to their first year. My peer leader is awesome so I’m super excited to have this role next year!)
I live in one of the new dorms on North campus as part of my scholars program, and I’ll be living on North campus again next year. I personally love it. My dorm is right on North High street, so it’s definitely lively! I wouldn’t say people are exactly partying in the streets, but it’s definitely not dead on this part of campus! I live near Short North as well, so I always manage to find something fun to do.Personally, I do prefer living on North campus. I wouldn’t say there’s a “bad” part of campus to live on, but West campus is the most inconvenient distance-wise (of course, there’s going to be a lot of walking no matter where you live!)
Unfortunately I don’t know a lot about the learning communities. I am part of the Scholars program, which has a similar idea behind it. I’ve really enjoyed living with fellow Scholars students, because the program gives us all something in common. It’s a great starting point when it comes to making friends as a new student on campus. I don’t think your sons can go wrong if they choose to join a learning community!
“College-level priority” means you get to schedule earlier based on your rank. (This is different than Honors students who schedule earlier regardless of rank, I believe.) So scholars freshmen register before “non scholars” freshmen but after freshmen in honors or freshmen who have disabilities.
2)Scholars is more community based, and class requirements differ based on what program you’re specifically in. I believe that every Scholars program has a one-credit seminar class they are required to take. After that it depends on your program. I am a member of Mount Scholars, so during my second year I am required to take a 3 credit hour service-learning class. While this class is very involved (there’s a 30 hour service component,) I don’t think it’s going to be “difficult” per say. My biggest suggestion to you would be to contact the director of your son’s scholars program coordinator once you find out where he’s been placed officially. They’ll be able to tell you more info!
I have the Grey 10 dining plan. That means I get 10 “swipes” that can be used for “Traditional” dining halls. The majority of people that I know have this plan as well. Next year, I believe I’ll stick with that plan. The type of plan your son should choose depends on his eating habits. Personally, I like to “grab and go” when it comes to food. I buy a sandwich or something easy to eat while doing other things, so the Grey 10 is great for times when I find that I actually DO want to sit down in a traditional dining hall and just have a meal with some friends. If your son plans to buy food on the go more often, you may consider getting a plan with less “swipes” for traditional visits. If he plans to eat sit-down meals more often, you may consider a plan with MORE swipes. At the beginning of the year, I think there’s about a 1-2 week period where you can actually change your meal plan. So I’d suggest starting with the Grey 10 and seeing how he likes it. If he decides it’s too much or too little, you can go from there.
I am a member of Mount Scholars, which is service oriented. I love being a member of it. The program is very tightly knit and the environment is great for me, personally. I think that each scholars program has their own culture, so the experience will be different depending on where you’ve been placed. Mount is actually pretty well known on campus, so I find it’s a great conversation starter. Also, it’s a great resume builder!
2)The best part of my Freshman experience so far has been learning to be independent. During high school, I really relied on my parents to help me make even the most basic decisions. I’m a homebody, and I really liked having my parents around as a safety net. Coming to college was REALLY scary for me, and it was a difficult transition. During my first few months here, I was constantly texting my parents and asking for their input whenever I found myself having to make a decision about something. Looking back I can really see how I’ve grown in my ability to be “on my own” in a way. Obviously, I still ask for my parents advice when I need help with certain things, but I definitely feel more confident in the decisions that I make on my own.
I think that a lot of people come to college with this idea that they’re going to “reinvent” themselves. I know I did. I just want any future Freshmen to know that you DO NOT have to reinvent yourself in order to make friends and get to know people. As college goes on, you will naturally grow and certain aspects of your personality will probably change, but don’t force it and become someone you don’t recognize. Come as you are, and form relationships with people who like you for who you truly are. While it sounds cliche to say this, it’s the truth!
@mower2016 I actually don’t know. Right now I live in scholars housing that is a mix of both freshmen and upperclassmen, but it’s mostly freshmen. My assumption is that the dorms will be mixed like they are this year, but I don’t have a definite answer to that.
@Pinkpoet. Thanks for your quick and helpful reply (actually your replies to everyone so far) and for being so generous with your time. You’re a great help!
@fflmaster Not reallyyyy in the business school (eng. major, business minor) but from what I’ve seen, it’s generally pretty difficult for first-years to lock down internships. There are always exceptions but I’ve also seen the vast majority of students get internships at the end of their 2nd and 3rd years.
North Campus should be more lively, they’re closing down a lot of the bars down there so that will affect things a decent amount but there will be quite a bit more kids there. As far as housing goes, do anything but West campus. South and North should both be good next year. Don’t know much about LC’s in all honesty.
I’ve actually heard really good things about the PSL scholars program. Diverse group of kids too you’ll see some engineering majors in there. Scheduling goes Honors/Athletes/Disabilities, Rank 4, Rank 3, Rank 2, Rank 1, with Rank being the amount of credit hours you have. Effectively it’s what year you are unless you have a ton of AP credit. Scholars schedules first within each rank. So if your son’s rank 3, he’ll schedule in front of the other Rank 3 people but behind Honors/Rank 4.
Scholars doesn’t have distinct course offerings. Just the same stuff everyone else takes, but they get some opportunities and a sense of community that others don’t have. No difference in courses. Smith-Steeb is one of the better dorms on South and it’s close to a lot of big things so that’s good. The nearest dining facility is Kennedy Commons, which is actually a little bit away. The food at Kennedy is alright, but gets pretty repetitive. There’s a bunch of other places nearby including two other dining halls that I think are the best at OSU (Mirror Lake Grill, Marketplace on Neil) and a cafe. You can use traditional visits at both of those two places. Two most popular dining plans I would say are unlimited and Scarlet 14. I highly recommend Scarlet 14 as it gives you a ton of flexibility on where to eat and when to eat but it is also of course more expensive. the 10 and 7 plans are not meant to be full meal plans by OSU so realize you’ll have to add some money to that if you get it. Unlimited…sounds great and is fairly cheap but you’re limited to just Kennedy Commons unless you want to use dining dollars somewhere else. You also cannot exchange traditions visits at other dining halls. For this sole purpose I don’t recommend it but I see the appeal.
@fatherof2boys I thought I would chime in on this conversation since I am also a freshman at OSU. I am in PSL so I thought I would try and answer your question! PSL has the 1 hour seminar class like most scholars programs in the fall. He would take this with his fellow floor mates. He would also have a weekly Tuesday night commitment, which along with the morning seminar can impact some of his class choices.Other than that there isn’t any other academic class requirements that he will need to have.
Living in Smith-steeb there is a large variety of meal options available to you. We have a traditions dining location close by as well as the Union, another market place option and Mirror Lake Creamery. I have Grey 10, some of my friends have the 5 plan and I know one guy with the unlimited plan. I would recommend grey 10 or the 14 plan to start off with and your son can always change his meal plan in the first two weeks of school
@mower2016 The floors will be mixed again, although sophomores tend to stick together to the ‘better’ floors in each dorm so you might end up having a mostly freshman dorm.
You meet the greatest people at OSU. I’ve never been around so many diverse people who are also very intelligent and very fun/social. Really breaks the stereotype of the smarter college students studying 24/7 rather than going out to bars and parties and stuff. It’s amazing how everyone has their life and studies together yet are able to go out on weekends and have a good fun.
Football games are surreal. The feeling of waking up in the morning, tailgating, going to the game, singing carmen with your buds, going out that night…incredible.
My floor is pretty tight and again it’s just cool to be around a lot of people 24/7 that you genuinely enjoy being around.
Uhhhh try to be as outgoing as possible. Meet as many new people as you can, don't be shy about talking to the opposite sex, just go out and have fun honestly. If you drink, pace yourself. I guess don't be afraid to try new things and definitely go join a bunch of clubs you're interested in. I suggest finding some type of service organization to be part of just because service is one of those things that really changes you in college.
Focus on those math/science classes because those are absolutely hell here if you don’t show up to class or stay up to date with work.
@mower2016 It’s too early to tell just because no one’s ever seen this many 2nd years on campus before. There are a few halls that they’ve made to be specifically freshmen only, Siebert on south and Raney (except the suites) on north come to mind. I don’t believe in other places it’ll be all-freshmen floors though I would expect there to be a decent amount of integration, which is how it currently is. It’s not a bad thing though, there are a few sophomores on my floor where I live and they usually just chill with the rest of us and it’s not really a big deal.
@kdiddy34. Thanks for your insights, including that math is “absolutely hell here if you don’t …,” because access to math tutoring is a consideration. Have you, or has anyone you know, had experience with OSU’s Mathematics and Statistics Learning Center?
@mmongo Generally chemistry and the calculus classes are what I was referring to. I started out one class past Calc 3 so I’ve never had to go through any of those but my friends have and they have not had fun. I’ve actually heard a lot of good things about the MSLC the tutors are all free and usually pretty decent. All professors and TAs have office hours though and from what I’ve heard, that usually is the best resource just because you’re getting relevant advice and help from the source. Math is difficult but it’s not impossible as long as you keep up and do the work. It’s also integral to get help when you need it. I have a friend who is reallyyy not a math person and she went to her TAs office hours every week at least once and ended up getting an A in the class because she put the effort in outside of class.
People usually don’t realize that you need to put in some sort of extra effort in Chem/Calc and then they get a bad midterm or something and fizzle out.
Thanks so much @kdiddy34, @Pinkpoet and @winne15 for your detailed and substantive responses…its greatly appreciated.
It sounds like being in the Scholar’s Program includes the benefits of sort of being apart of a living learning community. I’m glad to hear that’s the case as my son did not apply to a living learning community because of the first year residential requirement associated with the Scholars Program he was interested; however, he did not want to miss out on the opportunity to be a member of a close-knit community, especially since he would be an out of state student at OSU.
Interestingly, he chose PSL as his first choice @winne15 and Mount Scholars as his second choice @Pinkpoet so I’m glad to hear that the two of you have enjoyed your participation in those respective programs. My son will be making his first visit to campus in April as we reside in Texas and he’s down to two top choices at this point Ohio State and UT-Austin so this trip will be a big deal. Thanks again for the info.
