<p>Does anyone know if it is possible to get a job on campus if you don’t have a work/study award? Also, how difficult is it to become an RA on campus?</p>
<p>HI Oxystudent–really appreciate all this info. My son was accepted this week–it was his only acceptance: he also applied to Wesleyan, Vassar, Carleton, Oberlin (waitlisted), Macalester (waitlisted) and Colorado College (waitlisted). Oxy was the only school we didn’t visit. We are heading out for admitted student day on April 8. </p>
<p>One of the questions my son has been wondering about is how the intellectual curiosity and rigor at Oxy compare with better known East Coast schools. He recently heard about someone who transferred from Oxy to Oberlin to upgrade his academic experience. Can you comment on this?</p>
<p>We are excited to visit Oxy. Like everything I have read about the school so far! The students seem diverse, interested and pretty well adjusted.</p>
<p>Hi domi555, sorry to butt into the conversation, but thought I would add my two cents. I’m a current Oxy student (freshman). I’m from the East Coast, specifically Massachusetts, and so I know all about the concerns that schools on the West Coast can’t meet the academic standards of New England schools. I was worried about that too before coming out here, but now that I’ve almost been here a full academic year, I can honestly say that my classes are not only plenty academically challenging, but there are also two other things that I think make this school compete on the same level as New England schools.</p>
<p>First of all, the professors (and I know you must have heard this a million times) are so helpful, and always available during office hours to go over problems with you or just talk! I find my classes so much more engaging when I’ve had one on one discussions with my professor. Furthermore, the professors here expect a lot from you, and because of the smaller class sizes, it is impossible to succeed if you’re always slacking. </p>
<p>Secondly, I find that outside of class, the discussions are continuing. This is really important to me, because I think it’s important to debate and be learning even when you’re not forced to, and because Oxy students really care about current events and their studies, the atmosphere is intellectually stimulating.</p>
<p>Basically, don’t let those New Englanders convince you that just because Oxy isn’t as well known, it’s not as academically challenging.
By the way, I also got waitlisted at Macalester, and I applied to Carleton and got rejected. Oxy was actually lower on my list, and I had the least knowledge of it out of all of the schools I applied to, but I’m so happy I ended up here!
Please let me know if you have anymore questions!</p>
<p>@lovemykids4</p>
<p>There are plenty of on-campus jobs available to anyone. Only certain positions require you to have work study status. Pay is usually anywhere from $8-12/hour. Hours will range from 5-20 hours/week, depending on the job and your preference. Academic departments and the library also offer lots of jobs. There are also leadership and management positions available through the office of student life. Dining facilities offer jobs (there’s even a pizza delivery job where a student drives around a golf cart at night delivering pizzas to residence halls) and the studen-run coffee shop hires baristas, shift supervisors, and managers. Another cool job is programming board, where students get to spend a huge budget planning campus events like concerts and stuff. Trust me, if you have the time and willingness to work, you won’t have a problem finding a job. That said, the main hiring periods are at the beginning of each semester (though some application processes for year-long positions occur in the prior spring semester).</p>
<p>Regarding Residence Advisor positions, there is an application process and the competition level varies every year. But I’ve heard that if you are willing to be an RA for a First-Year residence hall, your chances will increase. I don’t really have any direct experience with this, so I can’t really speak on it as much. But I have served as an Orientation team leader, and that selection process wasn’t as bad - they really like open and energetic people and will work you pretty hard.</p>
<p>@domi555</p>
<p>I definitely second passportinhand’s comments.</p>
<p>Hey, I was recently accepted to Oxy and am definitely considering going but I’m wondering about a few things and was wondering if you could help out.
- How often do people go out and party and all of that
1.b. How often do people go into LA - (sorry i can’t phrase this more eloquently) what’s the girl/hookup situation at oxy
- How’s the science department?</p>
<p>@oxystudent:</p>
<p>I’m a junior in HS and I’ve been looking into colleges on the west coast.
What differences are there between Oxy and USC? </p>
<p>I’m a US citizen but currently living overseas so I don’t have that many opportunities to visit campuses. I toured USC last summer but didn’t get a chance to visit Oxy. How is Oxy’s campus life?</p>
<p>My son visited Occidental and really liked it, but we had a few concerns. I noticed that they didn’t offer certain majors like business, CS and engineering. Do you know if they have joint programs with other schools nearby so students can do those majors?</p>
<p>Also, apparently they mentioned writing, writing, often in the tour that he took. He’s not a bad writer, but is not interested in writing several reports every week. Is there really that much more of a writing emphasis than at other schools, or would you say that is more major dependent? You never know what the reality is compared to what they happen to emphasize during a tour!</p>
<p>Thanks Passportinhand. We are from Massachussets too–Cambridge, MA. in fact. We visited last weekend and really liked Oxy. Returning home, we got an email that Oxy offered my son a full scholarship for tuition–so that is fantastic! I think Oxy is a great fit for my son, who is looking for a school with great academics, arts and athletics, since he is a musician and tennis player as well as a solid student.</p>
<p>@jhnewyork</p>
<ol>
<li>People tend to go out mostly Friday and Saturday nights, but you can definitely find people ready to party on weekdays, if its not finals and midterms weeks. There are plenty of off-campus houses and a few bars within walking distance for the 21+ crowd.
1b. I utilized the city more my first year, but now am involved in a lot of campus-based commitments so don’t have as much time to go to the beach, visit cool cultural sites, concerts, comedy shows, etc. Language classes actually require you to experience two cultural events related to the specific language in LA as class assignments. But its really up to you how you want to spend your time here. There are still plenty of people that go into the city all the time. It helps to have a car. </li>
<li>I would say the hook-up culture is similar to any school our size. Lots of “sexiling” in the underclassmen dorms. More girls than guys here. If you ever get bored of the 2000 student population, there’s always the rest of LA.
3.The science department has some good facilities and access to a lot of cool stuff around LA (mountains, ocean, etc.). There’s a lot of emphasis on student research so you’ll be able to get a lot of exposure to that. Science majors are in no way isolated - people from all majors tend to blend socially. I’m always surprised to hear what majors people are.</li>
</ol>
<p>@runstumblefall</p>
<p>Oxy is a lot smaller, obviously. The campus architecture is similar (both are used for a lot of filming). USC is general university while Oxy is an undergraduate liberal arts college. There are perks to both a large school and small school. They are both private and therefore expensive. I’d say the highlights that Oxy can offer compared to USC are small classes, individualized attention from professors, more opportunities (like campus leadership, fellowships, etc) that are not impossible to get, a focus on diversity and international awareness, and free parking(!). Oxy will definitely feel more like a tight-knit community and will cater to student needs faster. USC will offer more specialized programs and access to its graduate schools. If you get a chance, I would definitely recommend visiting Oxy.</p>
<p>@busdriver11</p>
<p>Since Oxy is a liberal arts college, specialized programs aren’t available. However, Oxy does offer courses that cater to business students through the Economics department. You should check out their course listings to get a better idea. There are also cool student-run organizations on campus that help prepare students for specific career fields and complement the academic experience. There is a list of current student orgs on the OSL website. There is also a connection with Caltech where Oxy students can get either just take a few random classes over there during their time at Oxy or pursue a combined degree. More info on that possibility can be found somewhere on the Oxy website.</p>
<p>Regarding writing, it has not been too intense for me as an Econ major. In freshman year, you take a freshman seminar with 14 other students both in the fall and the spring (separate topics) where there is an emphasis on writing - just to make sure everyone is caught up to an acceptable level. In the spring, you must write an essay in a time and “pass” or an extra writing course is required. Also in junior year, you must designate one of your classes to be graded additionally for writing competency. A helpful tool Oxy offers is the Center for Academic Excellence, which is in the library, where writing advisors and senior English majors hold “office hours.” Any student can visit them (for free!) and receive writing assistance for their papers. That definitely helped me out in freshman year.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great information, oxystudent! We’ll follow up on it online, like you recommended.</p>
<p>Hi-
I just toured Oxy and I was quite impressed with the school. It is high on my list right now, but I do have a few questions that came up during the tour.
1.) Food situation
the tour guide said that food can only be purchased on a debit system where you pay individually for each item. I plan on playing basketball at Oxy, so I would need a lot to eat, but my parents are not going to want to pay a ton for food. Is there any kind of meal plan/all you can eat system? Have you had trouble getting enough to eat?</p>
<p>2.) The tour guide said that Oxy is very strict about the prohibition of alcohol/marijuana use, and that people discovered with substances get in serious trouble. Is this true? or are alcohol/marijuana used anyway by students in social situations?</p>
<p>^
I didn’t get the impression that they were really prohibiting drugs and alcohol, at all. At Oxy, their thing is that everyone is an adult and should be able to make their own decisions. At school-sponsored events, they have alcohol for students that are of age. You still have to keep mind that the legal drinking age is 21, but I don’t think Oxy itself goes out and actively tries to enforce it. If you are underage, just don’t be stupid and get caught.</p>
<p>No, Celsox is right. They’re pretty damn strict about it. That’s why you have to be careful and not get caught.</p>
<p>^
I’m just speaking on what I saw and what current students told me. Oxy does not have a strict alcohol policy. However, if you bring attention to yourself by drinking and you are underage, it would be a problem, as it would be anywhere else.</p>
<p>D was accepted to Oxy. We just got back from visiting. Beautiful campus. How easy (or hard) is it to make friends? I got the impression that the students are open, laid back, interested in things, politically aware, smart, and willing to have a conversation and listen to others. Does that kind of fit your experience? Please add any comments/insights.</p>
<p>@Celsox20</p>
<p>1) There’s different sized meal plans (A,B,C, and D). I’ve know several athletes who eventually do use their entire meal plan A (the largest), and at that point you can add money to your “FLEX” account in any quantity you see fit. If you don’t use it all in that semester, most of it will rollover to the next semester. In my first semester, I signed up for A and had plenty of rollover, and now in my junior year I don’t even use my entire plan C, but that’s because I eat several meals off-campus every week. Regarding the debit/per-item system, I definitely prefer it. Instead of being forced to eat as much as you can during three confined meal times, you can come and go whenever you please and pick up just the items you need. There are also plenty of items that you can stock up on to bring back to your dorm room and store/heat up in the school-provided “micro-fridge” (microwave+fridge that can fit approx 60 cans).</p>
<p>2) Regarding alcohol/drug enforcement on campus, obviously the policies must abide by federal law as the school receives federal funding. In the residence halls (especially freshman-only), RA’s will try to crack down large dorm room parties due to noise complaints. And the RA’s have no choice but to write you up if they find you walking down the hallway with an open bottle of hard alcohol. A “write-up” involves going in for a “conduct hearing” to discuss the infraction with an administrator. The punishment will typically be completing an online tutorial about binge drinking or something. It technically gets put on your record for a max of three years, and the dean will see this when he/she signs off on a grad school app. but if its only an isolated incident (meaning you don’t repeatedly get called in every year), the dean won’t mention anything. </p>
<p>That said, the atmosphere here is very chill. By all means Oxy students have fun and partake in their fair share of “experimental learning”. As long as you aren’t too ambitious, like hosting a 30-person keg party in your dorm room, you don’t need to worry about getting in trouble. Plus, there are plenty of off-campus houses/outlets to use. If you get caught selling drugs, you will be put on probation at the very least. The campus safety officers are really nice. Even if you don’t constantly get in trouble, you will get to know many of the officers by name. They are here to make sure we are safe. If they see you doing something stupid, they’ll give you a scare just to make sure you learn a lesson. </p>
<p>@Classof2015</p>
<p>Every individual’s experience is unique, but I’d say in general your impressions are spot on about the type of people here. Orientation is meant to make everyone feel comfortable as most everyone doesn’t know anyone else coming in. Even though there’s a good chance that the people you meet in the first week won’t end up being your close friends, you’ll realize what you’re looking for in college friends. Even in my third year and with an established group of close friends, I still find myself befriending younger and older students all of the time, just through active engagement in extracurricular activities on campus.</p>
<p>If you D is worried/uncomfortable, I would recommend the OxyEngage program, which is a pre-orientation program that’s very fun and enjoyable.</p>
<p>What is the multicultural summer institute program? Is it by invitation only?</p>
<p>I hope you’re still around, I haven’t had time to read all the other answers so I’m sorry if this overlaps:
How would you say well-known Occidental is, for getting a job? I wouldn’t want to say I’d graduated from a school that few people can recognize.
Is there grade deflation? What’s the average GPA, have you got any idea?</p>
<p>I am hoping new freshmen will come back and post about their experience at OXY.</p>
<p>The Greek System: You were saying it doesn’t dominate the social scene at Oxy. How would you say the dynamic is within the fraternity? I mean, is it just sort of like “yup, these are just some guys I live with” or is it more of a sense of community/“brotherhood”?</p>