Located about halfway between Kansas City and St. Louis (about a 2-hour drive from each), the University of Missouri (Mizzou) has a number of hidden gems aside from its well-known journalism program.
The College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) is the surprising home of Mizzou’s sports management major. Students in this program can easily minor in business or concentrate on sports reporting, and the College’s dedicated internship coordinators help these students obtain their required internships by maintaining strong relationships with regional sports teams, athletic venues and media outlets.
Mizzou has the only veterinary school in the state, and students in the undergraduate animal sciences program enjoy access to six different research farms. The biochemistry major supports premed students, and the College’s small size, relative to others on campus, ensures that students have close connections with professors. As we toured, we entered an empty senior biochemistry research lab, in which a professor was happy to tell us about his research projects involving undergraduate students. All labs, including freshman labs, in this school are capped at 16 students.
Mizzou’s Hospitality Management major is also (surprisingly) within CAFNR; many students who begin as business majors transfer to this program. Among the four areas of concentration, conference and event management is the most popular. Other options include food & beverage, lodging management and sport facility management. Students in these fields get lots of hands-on experience in event production, as Mizzou is the site of many professional concerts.
CAFNR is also home to a Food Science & Nutrition program, which delves more into the chemistry and science of food than the dietetics side (which another college on campus has), as well as an Environmental sciences major. All CAFNR majors are direct-admit, and none requires students to take a foreign language to graduate. The student-to-faculty ratio is 17:1 ratio in this college, and 80% of classes have an average class size of 20 students. CAFNR students have their own career and academic counselors, as well as study abroad programs targeted just to majors within this college.
The Trulaske College of Business at Mizzou
The Trulaske College of Business is Mizzou’s second largest academic college with 4000 students. BIZ students spend much of their time in Cornell Hall, where they have their own academic advising and career services offices, and where all business faculty offices are located. The Atrium is definitely the hang-out space! “You’ll always find someone you know,” said Tim, our friendly midwestern tour guide.
Admission to the business program is open; as long as you meet Mizzou admission criteria, you’re in. Everyone starts as undeclared business, and the first two years are exploratory. Lots of students do a minor, with many studying political science or strategic communication. If you come in with AP credits you’ll have more flexibility
Most business students apply for their specific program in the spring of sophomore year, and a 3.4 in your first two years will guarantee that you are admitted to your first choice concentration. The largest program is general business administration; concentrations such as entrepreneurship and supply chain management have been added recently in response to the demands of the job market. The International business concentration is a joint program with the College of Asrt & Sciences, and because it requires a foreign language and study abroad, students tend to take longer than four years to complete it. Through Mizzou’s International trade center, students work for locally-based companies that are looking to do business internationally.
The five-year accountancy program prepares students to sit for the accountancy exam. Students leave with both a BAcc and an MAcc; this is the toughest program within the College of Business.
Mizzou’s School of Journalism
The University of Missouri School of Journalism is top-notch. Students come from all over the world to study all facets of written and broadcast communication here. The “Missouri Method,” which emphasizes real-world experience integrated into students’ education, started in the J-school and has expanded to inform most of the academic disciplines here. Mizzou’s Journalism complex is first-rate, and all students produce some type of sample work during their time here (for example, documentary students produce an actual documentary, many of which are shown at a local annual film festival; print journalism students have the option of working at the Columbia Missourian, which is across the street from the main entrance to campus and which is the actual local hometown newspaper).
The Honors College at Mizzou
The Honors College at Mizzou is another smaller community within this large environment; the 1700 Honors College students represent less than the top 10% here. The vast majority joined as incoming freshmen, but it’s possible to be admitted to Honors once on campus. There is a separate application, and the minimum ACT score is 29.
Honors College students earn scholarship money, and have access to priority registration, smaller honors sections of larger courses, special (and interesting!) courses that aren’t available to non-Honors students, and dedicated advising to direct students to experiential learning opportunities both on and off campus. Finally, Honors students enjoy suite-style housing in the recently-renovated Mark Twain dorm (lots of things in Missouri are named after one of the state’s favorite sons!).
Admission to Mizzou
Now a member of the Common Application, Mizzou’s admission process is fairly straightforward. The admissions office looks strictly at your GPA and test scores. They will recalculate your GPA using only academic courses, and the more core academic courses you take, the better. There are no essays or letters of recommendation required.
Mizzou has great merit scholarships! They aren’t stackable, so they’ll give you the highest award for which you qualify. Missouri is one state in which it’s easy to transition to being an in-state resident, which brings tuition costs down significantly. In fact, there’s actually even an office to help students through this process!
Apply early – the application is simple and their rolling admission process will give you a swift decision.
Mizzou – Summary
Mizzou is one of those schools that ‘has it all:’ a big, beautiful campus that feels like college, sports in the SEC conference, a student body with both a sense of spirit and community, and strong academics focused on preparing you to succeed in the working world. The California student I met with on campus, a journalism major, felt that attending Mizzou was the best choice he could have made.
Evelyn visited Mizzou in February, 2018, and you can scroll through all her campus photos below.