North Carolina State University
2009 First-Year Student Survey:
Open-End Comments
Frequency Distributions by Topical Category
Students were asked to report in their own words what they are most excited about and most concerned about in coming to NC State. The tables included in this report contain the frequencies at which various topics were referenced in their responses to these questions.
Exact wording of questions:
Briefly describe what it is you are most excited about in coming to NC State (view frequency distribution)
Briefly describe what, if anything, you are most concerned or nervous about in starting your first semester of college at NC State (view frequency distribution)
Excitement (Table 1)A total of 2,610 respondents provided a response to the question asking about what they are most excited about in coming to NC State. First-year students most commonly reported being excited about their social life (31.8%), personal/career development (24.7%), and independence (19.3%). Only about 1 percent of respondents reported being excited about college living (e.g., living with a roommate).
The following are several students' responses that relate to social life, personal/career development, and independence:
"Learning to be more independent, meeting new people, studying in a field I am really interested in."
"I am excited to start a new chapter of life and become more independent and more intellectually and socially well-rounded."
"Being away from home. Learning what I'm truly interested in, and receiving education in that field. Meeting new people. Being on my own."
| Topic | N | % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Life | 831 | 31.8% |
| Personal/Career Development | 645 | 24.7% |
| Independence | 503 | 19.3% |
| Campus Life/Involvement | 454 | 17.4% |
| Transition to College | 385 | 14.8% |
| Community/Campus Environment | 164 | 6.3% |
| Diversity | 85 | 3.3% |
| Co-curricular activities | 84 | 3.2% |
| Performance/Workload | 74 | 2.8% |
| Instruction | 66 | 2.5% |
| Living/Roommate | 28 | 1.1% |
| Time Management | 16 | 0.6% |
| Financial | 16 | 0.6% |
| First Year College | 12 | 0.5% |
| Health | 8 | 0.3% |
| Other/Miscellaneous | 101 | 3.9% |
Back to Top Concerns (Table 2)
A total of 2,359 respondents provided a response to the question asking about what they are most concerned or nervous about in starting their first semester at NC State. More than one-third of respondents reported being concerned with performance/workload (35.1%) during their first semester at NC State. Other commonly reported concerns related to the transition to college (20.6%), and time management (14.8%). Less than 3 percent of students reported being most concerned about financial issues (2.9%) and only about 1 percent reported being concerned with issues related to safety (1.1%).
The following are several students' responses that relate to performance/workload and adapting to the transition of college:
"I am nervous about adapting to a new place and the school workload."
"It will obviously be an adjustment to go from living at home to basically living on my own. I am most concerned about making it to all my classes on time and understanding the harder material in college."
The following are examples of responses related to concerns with time management:
"I am most concerned about managing my time between classes, study time and school related things, and still having time to make friends, join clubs, teams, etc while maintaining a healthy lifestyle (sleeping enough, staying active etc)."
| Topic | N | % |
|---|---|---|
| Performance/Workload | 829 | 35.1% |
| Transition to College | 485 | 20.6% |
| Time Management | 350 | 14.8% |
| Independence | 283 | 12.0% |
| Social Life | 257 | 10.9% |
| Health | 179 | 7.6% |
| Instruction | 99 | 4.2% |
| Campus Life/Involvement | 92 | 3.9% |
| Personal/Career Development | 72 | 3.1% |
| Financial | 68 | 2.9% |
| Living/Roommate | 56 | 2.4% |
| Community/Campus Environment | 31 | 1.3% |
| Safety | 26 | 1.1% |
| Registration | 19 | 0.8% |
| Transportation | 18 | 0.8% |
| Co-curricular activities | 7 | 0.3% |
| Diversity | 2 | 0.1% |
| First Year College | 2 | 0.1% |
| Other/Miscellaneous | 93 | 3.9% |
Back to Top
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu
Posted: August, 2010
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