- Are there a lot of friend groups already established/ is it hard for out of state students to make friends at OU?
- Can people who don't drink/ party fit in on this campus?
- Does the photojournalism major prepare students for the video side of photojournalism? Can photojournalism students take videography classes?
- How difficult is the workload?
Bumping for you, because I’d be interested in some of these answers as well…
The only question I can answer is #2 (because I’m a high school senior, so I won’t be at OU for actual school until fall).
I was really worried about being able to find “my people” at OU because it has a such a significant reputation as a party and drinking school, but my mom and I spent a couple hours online and discovered a group called OU Catholics. It is a student led group that partners with the Christ the King Catholic Church in Athens. So, I reached out to 3 of the current students in the group (2 seniors and a freshman) to get their opinion on finding people like you and me who don’t want to party at OU. Now, I don’t know if you’re Catholic or not, but based on the very long emails they gave me in response, there are definitely people who do not drink or party at OU. This group of OU Catholics regularly goes on hikes together and meets on Friday nights to play board games or have a dance party without alcohol. They also pray and do all that Jesusy good stuff (which I’m honestly just as excited about), but I’m sure they’d be accepting of anyone regardless of religious background. I’d be happy to share more about what the 3 students told me if you’d like, and if you end up at OU, know that you aren’t alone in your desire to have a safe and productive 4 years of college 
Actually I guess I can kind of answer question 1 as well. I live 3 hours from OU, and I’m probably only going to know 3 other people from my high school at OU next year, and they’re awesome people, but I don’t plan on only ever hanging out with them. I don’t believe that a lot of people go to OU in set friend groups, and I’m pretty sure that getting involved in lots of activities at OU will help with making friends with like interests. As an Ohioan, I’m also going to have no clue who is and isn’t from Ohio when I show up at campus in the fall, so I know I’ll befriend people regardless of where they’re from (if that helps).
The best way to make friends is to live in the dorms, preferably without air-conditioning (and stay away from south green, it’s not maintained!). It’s just like making friends anywhere else, you just have to talk to people and stop isolating yourself. There are like 20,000 students on campus, there’s no way you can’t make friends. Most people I meet are either from Columbus, Cincinnati, or Cleveland, there aren’t established friend groups for most freshmen.
I live in the area, I’ve grown up dealing with the parties from an outside perspective, and let me tell you, there is a thriving mass of people who HATE the parties. Just stay away from the fests and don’t go out Friday nights, it’s fine. Make friends with people who aren’t alcoholics
I don’t know about #3, you should try one of those admitted student chats OU hosts periodically, but I DO know about the workload for required courses. It’s SO dependent on your professor. If you are a high achiever in high school, you’ll probably be just fine. My general English course was easier than any of my high school classes, but my friend in the same class with a different instructor was in a living hell. Overall, OU is populated by a lot of average students, so no, it’s not excruciating work (most of the time). Just do your best and don’t take it personally if your grades aren’t as great as you’re used to.
Great questions! I considered OU out of high school and went to spend the night there with a fellow classmate in his dorm. I have to say these are pretty common questions for OU lol, so it’s not out of place for you to ask them!
- It is extremely easy to make friends here. It's kind of funny because its a huge community in between a couple of tiny mountains in the middle of Ohio, so there's not much to do besides make friends lol. But ya OU has an insane amount of freshmen every year who are in the same shoes as you, so if you go out and get involved you will make mor efriends here than anywhere else in your lifetime.
- You can, and it isn't difficult to do so, but I will say OU is one of the only schools I visited (about 25) in high school that I noticed how much of a party school it was in a short campus visit. You will defiantly be surrounded by alcohol and drugs, and honestly I think it goes back to being in the middle of no where with a bunch of college kids. But you can certainly find friend groups there that don't participate in it, I can assure you that. The campus is big and diverse enough to do so.
- not sure about this one lol. I was considering zoology at OU.
- My classmate that goes there says it's just as challenging as any other college, which is why OU has a decent sized freshman dropout rate. Kids go there thinking it's all about partying and end up failing.
OU is a great school with so many opportunities, despite it being in a secluded location. I was so surprised how many research opportunities and internships are available there. It’s a D1 school with great athletics, and I guarantee you that you will have so many friends here and it will be a great college experience. I couldn’t go because of financial reasons, but it was in my final five colleges that I was considering for all of these reasons.