Concordia University - Saint Paul

Date: Nov 26 2001
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
I had originally planned on going to Concordia for a year or two to figure out what I really wanted to do in college (I figured that a smaller, private school would help me more than a big one would). I am in my first year here, and am only finishing my first semester and transferring afterwards. The variety of courses is horrible, and you really will only be moderately satisfied with the selection of courses if you are going into teaching or any sort of religiously-related work, and even those courses are lacking severely. The professors that I have had have all been very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, but I have several friends that are unhappy with just about everything about their professors. Seems all the tuition money went to build a new(er) athletic center, and not towards any sort of academic programs or facilities…

The dorms here suck for the most part, especially ALL of the men's ones. They have disgusting rooms, half of which have broken closets and dressers. The women's dorms are ok, but pretty small, and the ceilings of many of the rooms in my hall (Wolleager) are falling apart.

There are very few activities and groups that do not involve something regarding anything religious or church related. Another thing is that many groups will be "forming", but will never actually become anything.

There is a fairly new athletic center on campus, but it is very, very small. The weight room is horribley tiny and there's not much besides free weights there. There is no pool or anything other than a couple of basketball courts and a couple of racquetball courts. There is another weight room in another building that is very well equipped, but of course is reserved for use only by the football and (men's) basketball teams (showing the emphasis on the meager athletics at the school).

The (tiny) campus is also not in a good neighborhood at all. It's right on top of the interstate, next to a water treatment plant, and also is kind of in the ghetto (not the most aesthetically pleasing place BY FAR). And if you don't have a car or anything, don't plan on EVER doing anything…there's nothing to do on campus and even less within walking distance. The bus system around here isn't very good either, so I wouldn't count on that too much.

Also, in my experience, many many many of the students here were recruited based soley on their athletic abilities (even though the college supposedly has "very high standards" they go by when accepting students). I have met several people who have gotten VERY VERY LOW test scores and grades in high school, and are paying significantly less for tuition than I am (I scored a 30 on my ACT and graduated in the top 5% of my class).

Basically, unless you want a second-rate (more like fifth-rate if you ask me) education and to have no fun AT ALL in college, go to Concordia St. Paul. However, if you do value 4 years of your life and up to $100,000, then DON'T GO HERE!!!!!!

Have a nice day!