Q and A with a current student

Hey guys,
I remember using this site a lot last year when I was choosing between schools and this site helped lean me towards The Ohio State University. I want to give back to this helpful community by answering questions you guys might have. A little about myself, I just finished my first semester at OSU, am a morrill scholar and am attending from out of state. If I can’t answer a question based on my own experience I’ll ask some friends who have experience with the question being asked. O-H

@bigtenbound100 - do they maintain the count of how many have been offered MSP so far ? I was accepted in the first round but have not heard back on MSP or merit aid

@bigtenbound100 - I-O

@dreamed Yes they keep count on how many they offer. I remember from my orientation ODI said that they give around 300-350 scholarships from around a pool of 3,000ish. When I talked to some other morrill scholars they said that they were given the scholarship in the middle/late January so I’m assuming they are really going to start sending out a lot of notices after the break is over. For merit aid you are sent really slow letter. I received notice that I was a morrill scholar(email) before I got notice of other merit aid(mail). Hope this helped

@bigtenbound100 few questions.

I am unsure of a major, do you know much about the exploratory program?

Once you decide on a major, how hard/competitive is it to get into the programs? I know some are probably more difficult then others. What majors would be more difficult to get in if not placed in at first?

Dorm experience: what seem to be the favorite dorms amongst freshman? Main differences between north and south? I know I am not interested in west.

What are your thoughts on the dorms that will open in fall 2016?

What made up your mind to attend tOSU? What other schools were you accepted at? What major?

@bigtenbound100 - Is there a report anywhere which can tell us how many MSP have been offered so far for 2016 applicants not the total count of 350? I am aware that they offer around 300 some MSP in total in a given year

@bigtenbound100 - how has your experience been with class scheduling ? Which major are you in ?

@superk25 Well one of the classes every freshman takes their first semester is a survey class. From my experience(business) they introduced us into different specializations which we could chose from if you haven’t decided yet. They talked about the pros and cons of each and really pushed on us to focus on our GE requirements and that we have plenty of time to decide. I assuming it not that different for for exploratory with the exception of that they go in to the major schools ex. Business, Art, Science, Poli Sci, eg.

Some are really competitive such as finance which requires a 3.8ish gpa to get in if you weren’t placed in finance coming in. Chemical Engineering is the tougher engineering major to get into if you come in undecided.

I’m sure you know this, but most freshman get placed on south campus(myself included). South is still the better place to live as of this year; however, once the construction is done I feel that North Campus might be equal to South. During the summer it was fine to visit some friends up on North campus, but as it got colder I stopped going up North to visit them and instead started hanging out with some friends that were also on south campus. If you plan on eating out often or having a more active social life then chose South. North campus people can also have active social lives but it isn’t common. Dorms I would chose: Park-Strad(South), Scott House(North) or really any of the newer dorms up north because they are really nice(torres, Bowen, or Raney). Smith Steeb(South) and maybe Siebert
What are your thoughts on the dorms that will open in fall 2016?

Main difference was when I toured the campus that sealed the deal for me because I was already leaning towards OSU because of the prominence scholarship. The campus is just so beautiful and the having an OSU degree on a resume is a nice boost in the midwest and east coast which is ideally where I would like to end up. I was accepted at University of Illinois Urbana, Indiana, University of Miami, Penn State, Boston U, and Michigan State. I am an accounting major.

Hope this helped. If you have any other questions or want a more specific answer just ask.

@dreamed Not that I am aware of sorry

@dreamed how has your experience been with class scheduling ? Which major are you in ?

My experience was ok. I came in with enough credits have sophomore rank which helped when it came to scheduling. I scheduled a week before the other freshmen did. I got into most of the classes I wanted and have a decent schedule with no 8ams and finish by 4 everyday. My roommate had to schedule as a freshman and struggled to get into classes he wanted and constantly had to adjust his potential schedules prior to scheduling. I feel scheduling classes is a struggle freshman year if you are rank 1, but after that it become a lot easier. The honors kids that I know scheduled in mid October and I am envious of their schedule because they got into classes that fill up super early on. Everyone else schedules in November. I am an Accounting Major. Hopes this helps.

@bigtenbound100 - how can I know if I will be placed as incoming freshman or sophomore? I do have bunch of AP credits. Did the admission tell you or give you an ide before you started classes ? Or was that a pleasant surprise once you sat down to enroll for classes.

I guess I did not understand your point about some people schedule in October/nov. do u mind clarifying?

@bigtenbound100 - thank u for answering my queries

@dreamed The way OSU schedules is that each group( based on credit hours, honors status, or athlete status) has scheduling priority meaning they schedule first, in order

  1. Graduating Seniors
  2. Rank 4=90+, Athletes, and Honors
  3. Rank 3=60-90 credit hours

4.Rank 2=30-60 credit hours

  1. Rank 1=30 or less credit hours

Page ten https://registrar.osu.edu/testing/em_brochure_current.pdf tells you how many credit hours you get from each ap score.

@bigtenbound100 Thanks for offering to answer questions. Re: post #12 an the link to credit hours, I have a question about how to read page 10 re: credit for AP Exams. E.g., for History: United States, it lists two OSU courses - History 1151 and 1152, both of which are 3 credits. I assume this means that a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP US History exam gets you 6 total OSU credits as it counts for taking both History 1151 and 1152 but just want to make sure I’m interpreting the sheet correctly.

@bigtenbound100 Did you use all of your AP Credits? Could you list the classes you used? "

I expect to have up to 33 credit hours via The Ohio State AP Credit sheet.

@bigtenbound100 Any idea how competitive is it for International Transfer students? I am an International transfer student from an English-speaking territory with 28 completed credit hours [GPA for first semester: 3.66]. I’m currently in my 2nd semester, in which 30 credit hours are due for completion. I’m actively involved in extracurricular activities, holding many leadership positions. I applied to Information Systems (Business) around mid Nov and haven’t gotten any decision yet. Not sure if being an Asian is a disadvantage. Anyone chance me?

@bigtenbound100 - In regards to post#12, at this time I have close to 30 credits on my transcript from the high school (which includes 4 AP classes up to Junior Year). I am taking 4 more AP classes during my senior year and would be earning 7 more credit hours on my high school transcript.

So, when I turn in my “Final” Transcript to OSU in 2016, that means I would fall under the ( 4.Rank 2=30-60 credit hours ) range ?

Will OSU grant me additional credit hours for AP courses taken in high school, in addition to the fact that I have been granted credit hours for those AP courses at the high school.

Do scholars go along with honors students for scheduling? Thanks

@adlgel Yes is means that you earned 6 credit hours at OSU

@superk25 bio, psych, apush, ap lit, ap english language, stats, calc ab, physics. If you took at least two years of a language OSU makes you take a placement exam during orientation which could help you earn more hours I earned 8 additional hours that way.