Lyman Briggs??

Hi,
I’m currently a highschool senior who is seriously considering going to MSU. I plan on pursuing a degree in Veterinary medicine OR zoology/animal science. I just visited the school a few days ago and loved the idea of living in a residential college (Lyman Briggs), but I’m concerned that I’ll end up spending ALL of my time at Holmes Hall and won’t get any of the “MSU college experience”. I have a few questions…

  1. If I attend Lyman Briggs, are ALL of my courses going to be in one building? Or just my core classes?
  2. What is the student body like at Lyman Briggs?
  3. How easy is it to make friends outside of Lyman Briggs?

A little about me: I’m very commited to my academics, but I also want to venture out a little and be more social in college. I like the idea of being surrounded by students like me who want to study hard and focus on their education, but I also want to be surrounded by people who show their spirit at football games and want to go out on the weekends. Yes, academics are important, but I don’t want to drive myself insane with studying in college. Would I fit in at Lyman Briggs or be better off in a typical dorm setting?

I was in the business college but had friends in Lyman Briggs/holmes. All of your science classes will be in Holmes, but not your IAH/ISS/electives. The student body is generally pretty serious about school, most are pre med. Not everyone who lives in Holmes is in Briggs, so you should be able to meet other friends there as well as in your other classes. Join some clubs that aren’t science related as well and you should have no trouble meeting people outside of Briggs.

  1. First of all, it depends on what AP credits you come in with. The only classes that you can take through Briggs are basically your core science classes, so you take 2 semesters of chem and the lab, 2 semester of math (calc I and II in general), 2 semester of physics (integrated lab and class), 2 semesters of bio (lab and class integrated), and a 4 credit HPS (which saves you from having to taking the university WRA requirement)
  2. These classes are normally taken between your freshmen and sophomore year, and normally you'll have a few non-Briggs classes somewhere in there As a junior and senior you will have mostly your classes for your major, with a couple Briggs classes somewhere in there (so basically the opposite) these will be your 2 upper level HPS classes which correspond to your upper level IAH and ISS (so you don't have to take the upper level IAH/ISS) and then you have a 4 credit senior seminar
  3. The student body at Briggs is difficult to explain, and it can also vary. If you are part of the honors college and live on the honors floor, expect a lot of people who spend a lot of time studying and don't go out as much (not that none of them do, but they will be very serious about their studying and are probably involved in research or something), in general, I would say that the student body is more close knit than you'll find anywhere else on campus as you probably have classes with some of the same students and you live in the same building and you see the same people more than anywhere else on campus, but there will also be lots of people that you have no idea who they are or what their name is. I would also say that Briggs students are pros at the whole "study hard, party hard".
  4. I would say it just depends on you, you can easily join social clubs and take classes outside of Briggs and make friends who are not in Briggs, but it's also easy to avoid talking to anyone in those large university classes, and only make friends with Briggs students.

I should also add that lots of Briggs students love to show their school spirit and go to all sorts of different sporting events and also want to go out on the weekends. Your college experience is whatever you make of it, Lyman Briggs is relatively small, but with 600+ incoming freshmen, you can find friends that enjoy doing the same things you like to do.

"A little about me: I’m very commited to my academics, but I also want to venture out a little and be more social in college. I like the idea of being surrounded by students like me who want to study hard and focus on their education, but I also want to be surrounded by people who show their spirit at football games and want to go out on the weekends. Yes, academics are important, but I don’t want to drive myself insane with studying in college. Would I fit in at Lyman Briggs or be better off in a typical dorm setting? "

My d is a UDS Scholar in Briggs. She has reported that she likes to spend more time socializing than many of the other Briggs students who are living in Holmes. However, she also said that she has made some study friends in Briggs who are in the same class (sometimes same class, different section). They get together to discuss lab reports and before midterm exams. She is heavily involved in a dance club that competes at the collegiate level- so that provides some social interaction as well. Additionally, she has a research job, is involved in pre-professional activities, and made lots of friends during the Freshman Study Abroad experience.

Although she is probably more active socially than some of the other Briggs students, she has been able to make friend groups from all the activities she is in. Of note is that the teaching at Briggs is excellent. The professors excel at teaching, are very helpful during office hours, and interaction with professors is good because of their attitude (welcoming, not haughty as some profs can be) and due to the small class sizes.

If you want a larger social circle than what you would find at Holmes Hall in Briggs, I suggest you thoroughly research all activities you might be interested in- and do your research now so you can have a game plan set for the start of school. If you find some clubs and activities that you think you would definitely like and can see yourself staying in the club past the “trial” stage, I think you will be able to make friends while pursuing those activities. If you don’t see yourself becoming very involved in some activities, you might want to try living in Brody with the other Freshman so that you can make friends more in the context of everyday living.

Of note is that Briggs has been a great educational experience for my d so far. If you have high academic goals, Briggs is a good place to be.