This schools biggest strengths are its diversity and the commitment of faculty to the success of all students, no matter their background or lives beyond school. I learned as much from other students as I did from professors. Most of us were not following a traditional academic path. This served to enrich the learning experience with knowledge gained beyond the classroom. Additionally, those students who were on a longer education plan developed deeper relationships with the faculty, which also enriched... Read More classroom exchanges and I am sure resulted in those students deeper relationship with the subject. The university as a whole seems to understand that their students come from a variety of backgrounds, and while we are committed to our education, most of us have a wealth of other demands as well. I found my professors in line with this vision. Both within my major (Philosophy) and my minor (Psychology), professors went above and beyond to make classroom requirements as financially feasible and accessible as possible. Instructors had an equally wide variety of backgrounds as students and many were very experienced in their fields. For a highly accessible state school, I was impressed with the academic rigor. Of course, there were some courses, particularly for younger professors, that were not as rigorous as others. However, I saw many of my professors present at conferences, sit on various boards, and draw from years of conducting independent research or diagnoses. The instructors do an excellent job of delivering a quality education that focuses on the most important themes to take-away from a course without forcing excessive work that for most of us will be useless and forgotten in five years time. I feel I got a good background in my field, such that if I pursued a career outside of academia I have the skills I need to succeed, and I dont feel as though I wasted my time drilling on facts and figures that I dont need on a daily basis. If I were to pursue a career in academia within my field, the curriculum is probably not quite as rigorous, but I have enough background to pursue an advanced degree and have a solid baseline of knowledge from which to build on.
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