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Independent Study
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Independent Study

Student holding up his complete independent study printout walking outdoors with clock in background.

What exactly is I.S.?

For more than 60 years, every Wooster graduate has had the experience of creating something genuinely new and valuable through I.S.: Independent Study.

I.S. is a year-long project that allows you to throw yourself into an idea you care about. It's like being in a class of one. (Literally. I.S. takes the place of one of your four classes each semester of senior year.)

With the one-on-one support and guidance of a faculty adviser in your senior year, you'll take a journey of self-discovery — culminating in a major research paper, an art exhibit, or a performance — that pulls together what you've learned and shows others where you've been.

It's a significant piece of work, but you don't go there all at once. Wooster's curriculum is structured to prepare you, from your first semester on campus, for the kind of scholarly, critical inquiry that I.S. demands. 

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I.S. in the News

On a Friday in the spring, classes are canceled so the entire Wooster community can come together to celebrate the I.S. achievements of the senior class. More than a hundred students offer presentations on their projects for their fellow students, faculty, staff, and members of the community. Cleveland's WEWS-TV came, saw, and left impressed.  Learn More »

Closeup of a wall of Independent Study 'I Did It' buttons and Tootsie Rolls.

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Profile Sheldon Masters

Sheldon Masters 

Sheldon developed a linear programming model to determine the most efficient and cost effective way to use of a series of wastewater treatment plants on the Willamette River in Washington.

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