http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html Life at CUA - Comments en http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html The school is accredited but they are on probation due to poor pass rates on the NCLEX. Look at the DC Board of Nursing's website for verification. The program is small and it is possible to get plent... Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:57:32 GMT StudentsReview 262-93493 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 262-93493 262 30 Nursing Female Undergraduate Class 2013 4th Year Negative The school is accredited but they are on probation due to poor pass rates on the NCLEX. Look at the DC Board of Nursing's website for verification. The program is small and it is possible to get plenty of individual attention from professors although many are rude and condescending at times. The administration is very unorganized and makes it very hard to get things done. If you want to pursue a career in Nursing, I highly recommend looking elsewhere. The one redeeming factor was that my hospital placements for clinical rotations were superb. Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:57:32 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html I can certainly understand some of the negative comments about CUA, though my mileage seems to have been quite different. First: my experience at CUA and speaking to other students and faculty seems... Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:03:12 GMT StudentsReview 262-93298 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 262-93298 262 15 Education Male Undergraduate Class 2012 1st Year Positive I can certainly understand some of the negative comments about CUA, though my mileage seems to have been quite different. First: my experience at CUA and speaking to other students and faculty seems to indicate that which major you choose will have a major impact on the quality of your education for your upper division coursework. Not to diminish the hard sciences and the work they are doing there, but outside of Nursing most of the biology/chemistry programs seemed chronically underfunded. Honestly, this should not be a surprise, as this is a liberal arts focused school. If you want top-flight science education, you go to a school that is on the cutting edge of research in that field.
Further, many of the negative comments about CUA seem to be authored by students in, and address, the first year experience. As someone who went to a large state college out of high school, joined the military and then transferred to CUA (where I largely restarted from the beginning) I can say that the 1st year experience at CUA is typical of colleges as a whole, assuming you replace rabid newfound liberalism with rabid conservatism. Both are a product of young adults trying to negotiate their identity in a world without parents. Both are annoying, and largely absent from the 3rd and 4th year experience.

My experience was as a Secondary Education/History Major and I was EXTREMELY satisfied with the program. A few caveats for anyone thinking about Secondary Ed. The program itself has a fairly low retention because it is functionally a double major in Education and your content area. If you are not 100% certain about what you want to do, it is not a great major because the heavy course-load between your content area and education classes eliminates most of your "exploratory" credits. That being said, there are few undergraduate programs out there that can ensure that you will receive a degree and teaching credential simultaneously. This alone is well worth the cost of entry, but it is a lot of work to knock it all out.

The education department is fantastic at CUA. Every faculty member is dedicated and cares deeply for their students and for their Department. They will work you hard. The lower division of education classes are usually pretty packed with students, but the high expectations for future educators (which is a good thing), coupled with the aforementioned lack of exploratory space for those students who are unsure of their career path, causes many to depart for "softer" programs. As a result few, if any, of my upper division education courses had over 10 students, and often half of those students were graduates. The end result was classes that really challenged me to become a better educator in a rigorous environment.

Similarly, I had a fantastic time working with the History Department. Upper division course offerings were always interesting, and forced me to move out of my comfort zone into exciting content area. The Senior research thesis pipeline of two junior research seminars and then a senior research seminar was a great way to prep for graduate level work (which I am currently taking at a California State University) and have a paper published as an undergraduate. I found the entire department to be caring and dedicated to providing a high quality education.

The high acceptance rate at CUA is somewhat deceptive. This does mean that there are many students who are simply there but not necessarily engaged in their education. Most departments at CUA ramp up their difficulty in their upper division classes and have GPA requirements to keep their majors to weed out unmotivated students from those programs. This means that some majors: Education, Nursing,Engineering and Architecture, to name a few, are extremely high caliber while some of the other majors become a sort of island of misfit toys (media studies comes most readily to mind). As with any school, you find the school itself is not what really matters, but the department you are going to major in that truly determines the quality of your educational experience. Your mileage may vary, but I had a fantastic experience at CUA, and would strongly recommend the education or history programs to anyone thinking about those job fields.

On an additional side note: I took a lot of summer classes at CUA, and in one of my math classes I was the only student enrolled. At many schools, this would have meant a cancelled class and I would have been off-track to graduate on-time. But my professor ran the class anyways, and we met in his office for essentially one-on-one tutoring for the duration of the class. I can attest that this type of experience will not happen at most schools.
Go Cardinals! Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:03:12 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html Catholic University has wonderful people, good atmosphere and some of the brightest people who have time to talk to you, that is to say everyone is not on the grade hunt or the cut throat career hunt.... Sat, 12 Jan 2013 03:10:02 GMT StudentsReview 262-91314 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 262-91314 262 10 Civil Engineering Male Undergraduate Class 1986 4th Year Positive Catholic University has wonderful people, good atmosphere and some of the brightest people who have time to talk to you, that is to say everyone is not on the grade hunt or the cut throat career hunt. But, the faculty is underpaid, the administration has a HUGE Maryland incompetence problem. The people at CUA in the Administration, the secretaries, etc. are living proof of JFK's description of Washington DC as the " Land of Southern Efficiency and Northern Hospitality." Sown right nasty administrators. You will meet some great faculty, but also a lot of faculty who are really much too busy with research, but you will get that anywhere. Enjoy the super bright and friendly fellow classmates and you will have these people as friends for all of your life and there is a real CUA network out there. The ethics you learn will have you as a lonely person, but ultimately the lonely person at the top of any organization that you are in. Keep the Faith. Most college professors are not good teachers, trust me I know I am a Dean. So suck it up, do the work and be glad you did not make it into Yale. Sat, 12 Jan 2013 03:10:02 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html I can only speak for the Architecture department at the school and find that the program is extremely character building. I believe that the facilities and faculty really allow opportunites to grow i... Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:45:11 GMT StudentsReview 262-90611 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 262-90611 262 3 Architecture Female Undergraduate Alumna Class 2000 Neutral I can only speak for the Architecture department at the school and find that the program is extremely character building. I believe that the facilities and faculty really allow opportunites to grow in a variety of ways training the mind to think in a unique way for design. It has been many years since my graduation but at that time I could describe the education as almost a philosophy of design - unique to architecture schools. Could receieved benefit from more hands on real world experience earlier on in the program, maybe a bit more research opportunites also, but all and all a superb school with an outstanding program. Thank you CUA. Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:45:11 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html The University blew off my student residence info. I was paired with my exact opposite. DO NOT TRUST THE RESIDENCE LIFE. Flather Hall is disgusting, Opus Hall is hard to get in to, Centennial Villag... Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:28:00 GMT StudentsReview 262-90383 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 262-90383 262 60 Art & Design Department Male Undergraduate Class 2016 1st Year Negative The University blew off my student residence info. I was paired with my exact opposite. DO NOT TRUST THE RESIDENCE LIFE.
Flather Hall is disgusting, Opus Hall is hard to get in to, Centennial Village is gross but an upgrade from Flather, showers are cold, urine on every toilet seat, drunk students every weekend, crappy food, worst security department, slow maintenance staff, rude students. AND MUCH MORE! Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:28:00 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/DC/CUAT_comments.html