Schools to stay away from.

Union Institute and University

 

Quote of the year.

 

What makes UI&U a school to stay away from?

 

The OP goes there

 

I think they are all shit schools!! Tuitions are too high, antiquated entrance requirements, silly nickel and dime fees and plummeting value of the degrees in the real world. Add to that the bloated institutional arrogance and self-righteousness and that sums up higher ed in 2010.

If I had to , I'd say the big 3 are good schools beacause they are offering a service to those of us who fell through the cracks or were put off by the education "industry." I'd also give a nod to the "NA" schools who are trying to do the job and are facing the behemoth of RA institutionalism in the face (i.e every State school and most private). The hypocracy is maddening. New York State Department of Education AND most State government will not recognize NA degrees HOWEVER little by little they accept it as transfer towards THEIR programs when they need to fill seats. It's all about the $.

JMHO...

 

CCSF in my opinion was a shit school because its over crowded, the facilities are run down, and their equipment is broken or out of date. The class sizes were was too big (Average 55:1) and the instructors just don't have the time to ensure their students are learning.

But thats just my experience and obviously your experience was different from what it sounds.

 

If that is the criteria, I think half the state schools fall into the same bucket.

 

Less then wonderful schools.

Stonebridge Associated Colleges. Did I win ?

Underdog.

 

So we're allowed to curse around here now? Game on!

 

Hey Administrators did you know you allowed someone from Philadelphia to join our discussion ?

Underdog

 

Ha Ha

 

I don't know where you get that average class size of 55, but I never saw anything like that. Most CCSF classrooms probably wouldn't even hold 55 chairs. Most of my classes maxed out at about 30 students which seemed to be capacity. They sometimes had to send away people trying to add. There were some larger lecture-hall classes at CCSF, in subjects like physics and chemistry, but these also had smaller laboratory and discussion sessions. Many universities offer those kind of classes that way. Berkeley does.

It's true that USNews might think that 30 student is still too large and favor class sizes of 10 or 15. But hey, CCSF was free. It might not have been the treatment that students get at Amherst College, but it was functional enough.

It's true that some of the CCSF buildings are kind of run down. I always kind of liked the big science building and thought that its worn edges gave it character. The new library is very nice. The cafeteria was a total dump, but the food there was extraordinarily cheap. The cooks were students taking quantity cookery classes, training to work in the big hotels and convention centers.

I took many of my classes in stuff like business law and art-history at the downtown center at 4'th and Mission, a reasonably new building and perfectly fine. As for equipment, my geology class back on the main campus had everything necessary and it all seemed to be in good shape.

The grey fog and cold wind at the main campus can be kind of depressing and Ocean Avenue isn't exactly San Francisco's most stylish neighborhood, I guess. I can understand that.

One of the things that I liked about CCSF was its tremendous assortment of classes and programs. It offers way more variety than most community colleges, probably because of its huge size. The faculty seem to be, by and large, extraordinarily well qualified and good teachers as well. Maybe that's because it's San Francisco where there are many people with advanced degrees and lots of competition for teaching spots, so schools can pick and choose. I remember one classics instructor (how many community colleges have a classics department?) who came from SF State and absolutely loved the Greeks. It was absolutely infectious, I loved the Greeks too.

I mean, check out CCSF's little astronomy department. You have to hunt for it, up an obscure and hard-to-find stairwell in that old science building. It's like another world up there. The department head is a University of Chicago astrophysics PhD. Another faculty member is a UC Santa Cruz PhD with postdoc fellowships at places like Oxford. They actually conduct research up there and invite freshman and sophomore students to become involved. This is a very rare open-admission opportunity (and it's still almost free in-state) for ambitious students to thrust themselves as transfers into big-time astronomy programs like Berkeley's across the Bay. Not every community college can say that.

Which is why it might not be a very good idea if everyone starts denouncing schools. Schools that one person doesn't like might be perfect for somebody else.

 

Not to get any further off topic, but . . .

CCSF has got to have the WORST Veteran Affairs Department I have ever experienced. The VA had no idea what the different programs were for resent war veterans like myself, and there were countless paperwork misfiling and errors in classification. I ended up having my file prepped by my current college so CCSF could have my package handed to them with a pretty bow on it so those idiots couldn't fu@k things up.

I do agree with you over some the building having charm. But when your sitting in an over crowded classroom, and water is dripping from the ceiling above onto your desk, charm only goes so far.