Oakland University

Date: Apr 13 2008
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
First of all, I felt obliged to respond to what I feel is very unfair criticism of OU. I attended OU for 5 years as a undergraduate, nontraditional student. I love the aesthetic cleanliness and beauty of the campus and the convenience of its location. The professors are extremely intelligent and approachable…I was amazed on a daily basis of the wisdom they had to share. I loved the small class sizes because it was easier to really get to know people, including the professors and I felt less self-conscious or nervous when presenting material to the class as a whole.

99% of professors are very approachable. In five years and dozens of professors, I never had one that wasn't willing to take some extra time to help any student who really wanted to learn and wasn't just looking for a pass down easy street. The course load and expectations are extremely demanding, which prompted me to greater achievements and self-fulfillment, but I can see how hard work might be a deterrent for those with no motivation.

Also, I just graduated with my teaching certification in secondary education as an English major and a Spanish minor and had no problem obtaining a job in the Macomb Schools system. I guess you really need to consider the market and plan your studies according to the most marketable job skills in your field of interest. There are jobs out there.

As for the social life, I cannot really comment on a 19-20 year old person's experience, but I had no problem making life-long friendships with some amazing people—you have to be a friend to have a friend. There are plenty of opportunities on campus to get involved with clubs or organizations and make friends.

I will agree that there probably isn't a lot of nightlife near campus and I definitely agree that the OC should have more economically accessible food such as Burger King, McDonald's or Taco Bell—Subway gets expensive and old REAL fast. And the catering food really does suck!

As for extracurricular activities, OU has an incredible workout facility for staff and students and it has men and womens basketball, baseball, golf, swim, track, soccer, cross country, tennis and cheerleading teams. There is life outside of football, folks.

Bottom line, if you're looking for a school with a football team, plenty of fast food, lots of opportunities to get drunk, do drugs or have sex, professors who could care less about you, easy work load and guaranteed good grades with no sweat equity, OU is definitely NOT your school!!