Hate this school, is this just me?

[u/Majestic-Example5782]

I recently transferred here for a shitty college town school, and I’ll say this one is shitty. I’m not sure if they’re running a money laundering operation in this shit, but they overcharge for EVERYTHING here. They obviously do not care about the students as much as their income. And most of the shit here is lazy at best insulting at worst. How can we fix it? I can’t be here for the next couple of years and run myself in debt for this bullshit. Please don’t come in here defending the schools name I’m not into fake shit. How can we actually improve some of this shit?

[u/KnowItAllNobody]

I’m not paying for my education here, but can you elaborate what you hate about it, and preferably compare that to all the other schools you’ve apparently been to?

I’ve tried the large lecture hall classes at a bigger university, and personally, i hated it. I like being able to interact with my professors personally, the smaller classes of mostly engaged students makes it easier to stay focused in class, and the campus is large but not so large that i have to worry when scheduling classes.

As far as the money side goes, again, im not paying for my education, but i see the charges and while it is expensive af, its gotta be pretty reasonable comparatively cuz its fairly close to what i was paying at a major university almost 10 years ago, with a small scholarship. I dont know if the networking opportunities are better or worse here, but i have to imagine being so close to UofM means it’s pretty damn good for a lot of majors.

Sorry you’re going through a rough time, either way

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/KnowItAllNobody]

Hi! I’ll go into more depth. A lot of people on this thread think I’m just being negative (which I am, but not unnecessarily), but compared to the other schools I’ve been to I’ll say this. The lack of quality compared to what I’ve received at other schools, (at a lower cost with scholarships tho) sticks out like a sore thumb. I’m not talking about classes and teachers, but more so the structure and staff that is in charge of financial aid, maintenance (have had badddd experiences so far with them), and the service EMU (and more honest to god). I immediately got the vibe the school staff (not including professors) aren’t connected or really feel even obligated to the students personally, compared to my other institutions. The biggest issue is the quality compared to the money we are paying. Like many other colleges, students are struggling. This isn’t unique to EMU, but compared to the two other institutions I’ve been to, they overcharge and price gouge A LOT. Overall, if you don’t have to pay for most of it, this isn’t a bad choice. If you like a smaller campus size and class size that provide you with more scholarships depending on your GPA position, check out smaller private colleges like Jackson college and Albion College. They have their issues (one of them I personally went to, the other a family member did for a period of time) but they really do care about the students mental health, financial aid, and it’s easier to be involved. And it’s obvious. The classes here are fine. And the Professors here seem like they love their craft, and that’s about the most I can ask for! The school isn’t very big at all. I’ve been to an institution way lower in population numbers and one (for short period of time) way higher in population. EMU is in the middle. Not too big; I would say perfect size if you want the college culture (if you dorm) but also don’t want to be drowned out by everyone. You do get a lot of networking opportunities with UofM and Ann Arbor in general, I would say this is the biggest plus if you play your cards right. Take advantage of your proximity and be involved on campus!

[u/KnowItAllNobody → u/Majestic-Example5782]

I’m older, so I don’t do the dorm stuff, but I walk by them plenty and I see your point there. Some of the buildings look old af and worn down, and while it seems like there’s plenty of maintenance workers about, there’s gotta be mountains of maintenance to keep up with when your buildings are older than most of the town lmao. I’m not sure EMU has the financial base to replace those buildings any time soon tho, not if they want to keep their stellar professors from getting bigger paychecks elsewhere.

I haven’t had to interact with much of the staff outside of the professors, but the financial aid office is now 3 weeks late with my refund, so I feel you there. They were professional when I called about it, but couldn’t give me any kind of timeline beyond “it should be this week”, and no recourse if it isn’t, aside from calling back.

They absolutely dropped the ball with that imo. There’s a lot of people, myself included, doing dumb shit like relying on that Pell Grant money coming in, and 3 weeks late is long enough to seriously jeopardize my living situation, and I’m hella privileged so I know there’s others in a similar boat, and that just sucks.

I don’t have any answers, but I’m sure you could complain to the school more directly if you have specific things you need fixed, the new president seems open to that sorta thing, and the squeaky wheel gets the grease n all.

As for the price gouging, I dunno, I don’t wanna defend the prices at all, but when you consider what’s happening with the economy worldwide… it doesn’t seem that outrageous. The absolute chaos caused by this administration is what I would blame prices on, even though the university is absolutely still taking a profit on top of that. They kinda have to if they wanna stay open long term.

The actual problem, imo, is that nowadays you can’t work part time minimum wage gigs to help cover the little price gougin you feel all over the school, you need a full time job just to cover tuition, WITH a scholarship. That has almost nothing to do with the school itself, and everything to do with letting rich people not have their wealth taxed fairly, and funding the worlds military for the past 70 years, and letting corporations pay our politicians, directly, and get favorable policies enacted in return. Alright I’ll get off my soapbox lol.

Sorry you’re having a rough time though, you’re not alone!

[u/Affectionate-Line314 → u/Majestic-Example5782]

Hi! I will say for the maintenance thing I know they’re super behind on that. They have about 400 maintenance requests in right now and I believe that they only have six maintenance staff. The staff don’t get overtime so they don’t stay late if it can be helped and are really overworked as it is.

[u/Known-Leather-4035 → u/Affectionate-Line314]

Sure I get that, but I had a literal emergency that the request was urgent and nothing. They didn’t get back until I called a separate office and they poked at them to answer me. It was a huge health hazard. Again I get it. I used to work in an office on campus where you have work orders and the beginning of the school year is always packed and everyone always needs shit to be done and thinks theirs is more important. But there are some things that aren’t really excusable.

[u/XenoPlays14]

So drop out? Get your money back now

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/XenoPlays14]

I can’t at the moment.

[u/feelsbad2]

Then leave to something you can afford?

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/feelsbad2]

Can’t, at the moment.

[u/Glittering-Brother73]

I think college everywhere is expensive and everything at college is expensive. We don’t have the same campus culture as U of M or other schools and I think they want to work on that. This is one of the most affordable schools in Michigan.

[u/the_asSAASsinator]

We are cooked as a generation. Someone rightfully complains about how universities are getting more and more expensive over time despite quality not improving and folks just tell you to shut up and stop complaining. I miss when Gen Z was actually about improving the world instead of just being the next boomers telling you to fall in line

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/the_asSAASsinator]

This!! Why I don’t like Reddit especially, it’s like you need a resume of qualifications to complain and it’s ridiculous. I’m not even boot licking a college that I personally love! Everyone has a space to complain, esp in the current economic realities people are facing rn. Also people acting like I’m crazy is so funny to me, as on EMU social apps this is a common sentiment. I’m assuming most of these people have to be staff or EMU loyalists lol.

[u/dtfhritp]

Could you be a good student and get into a real school somewhere?

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/dtfhritp]

Seeing as this is a real school and I have a perfect GPA, of course I fucking could lol. But can’t transfer as of now.

[u/dtfhritp → u/Majestic-Example5782]

I don't believe you. There's a large neighboring school in the county that's very good at transferring in-staters and that has a scholarship program for literally all students in need.

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/dtfhritp]

Seeing as you don’t know my situation, I don’t really give a fuck if you believe me or not lol. But thanks for dropping information I’m aware of!

[u/Faeri]

Every school overcharges lol. It doesn't take a genius to know that the price of college is a scam. 

[u/Majestic-Example5782 → u/Faeri]

I’m also aware of this. But this college does more so than the colleges I’ve been to. And with former colleges, you tend to receive more benefits. The quality and care here sticks out like a sore thumb.