The University of Oklahoma - Norman

Date: Nov 20 2004
Major: Zoology (This Major's Salary over time)
I absolutely love OU. I was Sooner born and Sooner bred, so I am biased. First off, I am not in a sorority and despite the opinion of most, I don't think it rules the university. Off my four best friends, two are sorority girls and two are not. I have hung out at sorority houses and been to frat parties; I disagree with the common connotation associated with OU as "Greek or Freak."

The bad things about the Zoo Department are that they cater to premed students and not to students planning to attend graduate school. The help is there, you just have to make an active attempt to find it. The fact is probably 90% of the department is premed, so they do what they have to. This also makes for very competitive classes (don't rely on curves in this department), but once you get to know other students and find some that get out of the don't-have-time-to-eat-or-sleep-must-study-Pre-Med-is-my-life-and-if-I-don't-get-into-Med-School-I-will-die crowd, you will find awesome people who spent last night drinking beer and playing Nintendo and couldn't care less if they (or you) set the curve in a class.

The professors are intelligent, interesting, and extremely approachable by there students. Of the classes that I am currently taking, I am on a first name basis with four of them (as in they call me by my first name and I call them by their first names). I go by their offices, drink coffee with them, and have been to two of their homes. Two are renowned authors who are experts in their field. Nearly all of the Zoo faculty are well-known and respected in their field. Besides their research, they have written textbooks and novels; they have traveled the world over in pursuit of scorpions or rodents or plankton. They serve on national, regional, and local committees (which comes in very handy when you are competing for money or awards).

I know that the ultimate push by most universities is small class size (supposedly small class size correlates to prestigous universities; I wonder if Harvard and Yale have class sizes of zero), but I loved my enormous class sizes at OU. I went from a small town high school were I graduated with 60 students to Intro Zoo with 550. Frankly, in some cases, it is nice to be just a number. If you don't need (want) to go to class, you don't have to. No one notices. On the same level, the upper-division classes with 20 or less (I have one class with 5 student in it) is really nice to get to know professors (especially if you plan to pursue a Ph.D. - one day these people will be your colleagues and today they can really help in selecting a graduate program that fits you).

OU has amazing facilities. We are home to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, a brand new Stephenson Genomic Research Center, a brand new Art Museum, a soon to open National Weather Center, and a world renowned History of Science collection; as well as an amazing Journalism department and Business College. The zoo department, itself, has access to the natural history museum (the largest of its kind associated with a public university in the nation and home to amazing mammalogy, ornithology, ichthyology, herpetology, and entomology collections - as well as geology, paleontology, botany, and anthropology collections), the Genomic center (home of cell, molecular, and devolopmental biology), and 2 campus buildings (divided into evolution/ecology/behavior and neuroscience/ physiology), along with the Oklahoma Biological Survey (a division focused on the survey of Oklahoma fauna and flora) and a 282 acre BioStation located on the shores of Lake Texoma (home of both research and teaching labs - 9 2-week courses are offered each summer for 3 hours of upper division lab credits taught by professors from across the nation) which has 6 classrooms, 3 labs, a dorm/mess hall building, 3 "apartment" buildings (two room dorms with refrigerators and living room furniture), office and research space, and a library fully-stocked with T1 computer access.

A huge advantage of going to OU is the in-house funding available. As a undergraduate, I have received scholarships, research funding, and travel funding. I did not realize the significance of this money until I began my graduate school search and discovered it is uncommon. It has allowed me the opportunity to travel to other countries for research, to perform research that will result in at least two publications by the time I leave here in May, and to attend multiple regional and national meetings to present my research and develop relationships with other students and professors.

Frankly, OU will give you a lot if you are willing to put something into it. Yes, it is known for its nationally ranked sororities and fraternities, but 75% of OU students are non-Greek. Yes, we have an amazing football stadium with multiple national championships to back it up, but you have never had fun until you have screamed yourself hoarse at the Cotton Bowl with 34,000 OU fans as you beat Texas again (besides you can always avoid campus on Fall Saturdays). Yes, Norman can seem small, but it is also home to amazing places and people who will become an extended family to you.

Norman has been a great place to spend the last 3 1/2 years.

**I want to say that some may view my advice with skepticism. I have a lot of specifics that the common student would not know, but I have eaten, slept, and breathed OU and the Department of Zoology for 3 1/2 years. This shows how much information and pride you can get out of OU, if you are willing.**