Academics
Virginia’s Hampden-Sydney College is the tenth oldest higher education institution in the country, providing young men with a liberal arts education steeped in brotherhood and tradition. A 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio allows for small classes, one-on-one instruction, and scads of experiential learning opportunities such as cooperative learning and student research. The Rhetoric program is the cornerstone of a Hampden-Sydney education, instilling students with the “clear and concise oral and written communication skills” that stand out to employers and graduate schools; it follows that the school emphasizes that “freedom of expression is very important” and ensures that “students are able to ask difficult questions and discuss them honestly.” Because of this, the college is “one of the best places to develop one’s ability to think” and to “learn how a different lens of study changes how one digests and processes information.” The “career center and alumni connections are…outstanding” and “having alumni invested in you and your future really makes a difference.”
The student-professor connection at Hampden-Sydney is “the real deal,” and students can tell that faculty “invest so much time and care into their students…it is clear that they became professors to teach.” It helps that courses also keep things fresh with “whole class debates, demonstrations, and historical games.” One student says: “One of my classes was based solely on acting out management positions and seeing the psychology play out in real time.” While the core curriculum may feel rigid to a few, most come to appreciate the “wide variety of fields” required and even things like “mandatory attendance policies,” as they lead to “more face time between professors and students, which translates to better learning.” This also enables each class to have “academically stimulating conversations,” also described as “in-depth and purposeful,” and helps the professors to “keep the student’s interest at the forefront of the lessons.”
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