Gonzaga University

Date: Apr 22 2009
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
I feel some comments in here are extremely negative about Gonzaga. As a senior about to graduate (who also looked extensively at other schools) let me share my thoughts. Sorry this may be long but you are spending lots of time/money/ect at college so its worth the read.

Student body is generally solid although not very racially diverse. The school may be "white" but not as bad as most small private Christian schools you may attend. That being said, students do come from all over the place. It makes it cool because less than half the school is from Washington so you have a good geographic mix. Also, while it is a catholic school it is pretty open and nobody trys to force anything down your throat. I am not catholic and never in my 4 years had a student/faculty/administrator try to "covert" me to Catholicism or look down on me for not being catholic or anything like that.

Academically, GU continues to strive which I like. If you visit their website, they brag about all the academic rankings of the school. Not saying it is good or bad, but when I talk to random people and I tell them I go to Gonzaga they usually compliment me saying that it is a good school. I think they are trying hard to be the

Notre Dame of the West

and maybe in 10-15 years they can reach that. Class sizes are small, there are no T.A.'s that teach you, and I do feel like most faculty genuinely cares about your progress/goals. But I can only speak from the Business School. I have heard from Arts and Science students that the faculty is not so warm hearted about these things.

Night Life/Social Scene. There is no greek system so you do not have the massive partys that may occur at UW or WSU. However, GU does have good parties and if you are someone who likes to go out and drink/party you can fit in at GU. If not, that honestly can work too. The bar scene near Gonzaga and the house partys are always fun. I see many people on here criticizing Spokane. But Spokane is a decent sized city with everything you could want here, and the school is located right in the middle of it. I do hate the winters though, but i grew up in western washington where snow is more scarce.

The campus is very nice and always upgrading. The budget problems that exist at most state schools are not hitting here as hard, so you can expect quality facilities. Almost every one gets involved in intramurals, and there is great school pride not only for the basketball team but for most of the sports teams. The dorms are not great and the food isnt either. But new dorms are being built right now, so try and get into those if you can.

Overall, I did like my experience here.