Kent State University Kent

I am a few weeks away from completing my first semester at KSU. Overall, I am mostly satisfied, but certain that things could be much better. I live over 3 hours away from campus, and was very disappointed to find that almost everyone I meet lives just a few minutes away. The same high school cliques are here, and many people know everyone else. I suppose I came to this school to escape my high school, but only ended up more disappointed.

The campus, itself, is really nice. Well, maybe not when compared to other campuses, but I am satisfied. They try to make it look nice and this effort is certainly noticed in some areas of campus.

I always feel safe here, too, and am not worried if I want to take a walk at 4:00 am. The facilities are safe and always in working order. Well, except for when the elevator breaks in my dorm, which happens about once a month. This is usually because too many people try to get on the elevator, and it can't handle the weight, then breaks. Other than that, no worries.

I expected the course work to be very difficult. I got a 3.7 GPA my first semester. If you're still in high school, this may sound like no big deal. Well, I thought so too, until I heard that the average GPA was 2.2. Yes, few people, and I mean FEW, actually work hard and care about their education. Two words: party school. The course work, I believe, is not very difficult, so long as you go to class regularly and study on your own.

The faculty are very friendly, and some seem very experienced in knowledgeable in their field of study. Yes, like most colleges, almost all professors are left-leaning liberals, but for the most part, they do not try to "brain wash" you. I actually did not know the political beliefs of my Comparative Politics professor until I stumbled into his office and saw political cartoons everywhere. They do a good job at remaining objective (well, some.) It's easy to schedule time to visit an advisor, but you will have to wait a week or too. The requirements for a degree are very complex, but they do a good job of explaining.

People complain about not having anything to do on campus, but they probably aren't searching for anything. I wouldn't say there's "a lot" to do, but there's certainly enough, including the weekends. Get involved! There are many student groups you can join, and I highly suggest it.

The food isn't so bad. There are many places to eat, and almost always somewhere to find whatever it is you're looking for. Unless if you want to eat late at night, when there is only one restaurant open (open 24/7) and most of the food there is greasy and unhealthy, but they do have other options.

The student body, well, kinda sucks. It's not very diverse. If you have very specific interests, good luck finding friends. If you play Halo religiously or watch pointless MTV shows targeted at idiotic teenage girls, then you're in luck. Also, everyone goes home on the weekends. Ok, not everyone, but ALMOST everyone (I'm not even kidding) does because they live, again, within like 10 minutes of campus.

I haven't explored much of the surrounding city, but it is very small, and yet, there are many unique stores downtown that make for a more local experience. Yes, there's a Wal-Mart and Target and everything like that, but many smaller stores as well. The local economy is horrible, by the way, and there are closed-down and crumbling buildings everywhere. Kent is about 30 miles from Akron, but there's nothing to do there either, and not too far from Cleveland, but... being the poorest city in the nation, I wouldn't expect too much from there either.

KSU does have a rich history, especially with the May 4th shootings. Unfortunately, the school is politically dead. We have College Democrats, College Republicans, College Libertarians and the International Socialist Organization, but fewer than 0.1% of the student body is involved with these organizations. This is not an exaggeration. The few of us,though, are dedicated and enjoy being involved.

Basically, if you can only afford a mediocre school and are looking for a mediocre, yet fun, experience, KSU is for you.

If I had the choice to go back in time, I would not wish to attend KSU. It is overpriced for the quality of nearly everything available, and from what I've heard, a degree from KSU is no better than a degree from anywhere else (unless you are a nursing major), including cheaper schools.

I don't think anyone who has graduated from KSU has gone on in their life to do anything great (except for the author of Captain Underpants.)

Again, if you want a fun, mediocre, easy, and probably generic college experience, come to KSU.If you really care for academics and wish to really learn, work hard and expand your mind and meet other intelligent, individualistic people as I had hoped, look elsewhere.

1st Year Male -- Class 2011

Faculty Accessibility: A, Useful Schoolwork: D-

Some of the professors are really great with interesting and informative lectures that are enjoyable. However, I have had very bad experiences with the Honors College. The Honors College is very restrictive and high school-ish. They require you to take their version of an English class where they give a bunch of arrogant, self-absorbed professors complete freedom. This is bad for many reasons. One is that whenever there is a dispute between you and a professor over a grade or project, that professor will win. Second, the professor is basically encouraged to grade on opinion of the student rather than quality of work, thought, or progress. Third, most of the freshmen honors colloquiums have very little to do with English and/or improving writing and reading skills. Fourth, the class restricts your schedule. It is 4 credits which is an awkward number of credits and frequently prevents students from taking classes that are required for your major/minor. A lot of majors and minors have tight schedule where if you miss one class, you're behind a year. The "good" colloquiums go quickly due to Kent State's PASS program which registers and assigns housing to ALL accepted students. (A very bad program that causes problems for students who plan to attend but can't get into classes or dorms they want due to people not planning on attending, but have been given a spot.) When most universities begin scheduling their freshmen, Kent State is ending. That means if you are unaware of this based on the norm, you get stuck in the "crappy" colloquiums. You are stuck with this one for the year. You can't switch in between semesters. So, if you have a bad professor, simply don't like the class, or need to take a class for your major/minor at that time, you are stuck with the decision that you made before even entering the university. The Honors College touts its personal advising system and how great it is, yet I have been unable to get a response from my adviser for weeks. Then she e-mailed me an incorrect response and still has not fixed her error or replied to me. I can't get an appointment and her office hours are not posted, plus you have to have an appointment. Very unpleasant experience. The only reason I am still putting up with being treated like a child, is the money and benefits of early scheduling. I once had an appointment with the dean about switching honors colloquiums due to a time conflict. His response was that I would have to add another semester to my college career (4.5 years vs. 4), not study abroad, or drop out of the honors college thus losing my scholarship. For one class. It was beyond ridiculous. They also expect your high school English class to have been very poor. Where in fact my high school had a great program that far exceeded the honors colloquium ideology. There seem to be 2-3 very uptight women who run the honors college who thought up the idea and are so resistant to maybe even slightly admitting any flaws with it or admit that not all students want or benefit from it. But that is just the impression I got from my meetings with them. It is very high school. That much is true. The rest of the university, i have not had problems. Other than with PASS and the housing situations; feels like a scam. It is a very dead campus. And the school does nothing to promote activity. Very small town. Not much to do on weekends, so many people go home. Dining halls have weird hours that aren't suitable to college students and aren't even open on the weekends (a few are). Don't get the basic plus meal plan! It's way too much!!! It's enough for 2-3 hungry people for the entire semester. People from small schools think it's really large and active, but people from medium to large schools find it to be pretty small and boring in general. I'm still undecided about whether or not I like it here. This is just some of the stuff I don't like that I wish I had known beforehand. Every school has its problems and these are the ones I've found. Oh and you have to live on campus for 2 years which sucks! (But if you study abroad it's only 1.5!)

1st Year Female -- Class 2011

Education Quality: A, Surrounding City: F

It's OK here. Most students who live on campus are from the immediate area, thus the campus experience is largely "local high school clicks version 2.0." They've got the standard kegger/frat scene, if you're into that sort of thing. For those more interested in their academic endeavors, I'd only recommend this institution if you're premed or a nursing major. The local med schools(are there are MANY of them) accept a pretty stunning number of KSU grads, and the biology department here is top notch. Social Sciences? Transfer. Immediately. Particularly if you have any desire to do post undergrad work. Good luck getting accepted anywhere respectable with a KSU poly scy degree.

1st Year Male -- Class 2011