Academics
The small and innovative Goucher College, located just outside of Baltimore, boasts a welcoming, collaborative learning environment, a 100 percent study abroad rate/requirement, and a liberal arts curriculum that focuses on interdisciplinary complex-problem solving. The foundation for every major is the Goucher Commons curriculum, which creates shared, problem-based learning experiences across disciplines. The school encourages its students to live outside of their comfort zones when it comes to being "mindful" of others "so as to learn from...diverse perspectives." Students here are "curious to learn" and "thrive on engaging in deep conversation, and are not afraid to speak their minds." Small class sizes and a low student-to-faculty ratio promote these conversations, and "discussion and critical thinking skills are built into every class so you learn or formulate an argument around a wide variety of issues."
As a way of easing the transition into college, Goucher also provides a course called First Year Experience (FYE) that every first-year student is required to take. During FYE, firstyear students "meet with their mentor who was with them during orientation to talk about certain resources provided [at] Goucher for safety, and other subjects about racial identity and how we're getting acquainted with our new environment." As for regular classes, there are a ton of "very interesting" classes, and "it is easy to enroll in a class that is either full or that you don't have the prerequisites for." Professors receive high marks across the board; they get to know students on a personal level and are "invested in [their] unique reasoning for being a part of the department." They "want everyone to share their opinions and certain personal experiences that go along with the topic" at hand. "I know they see me first as a person, second as a student," says one happy student.