Bunker Hill Community College

Date: Dec 29 2009
Major: PreMed and Medical (This Major's Salary over time)
OK. I'm trying to be fair here. As half of the school, I'm an immigrant. However, I never went to the ESL classes and skipped straight to College Writing I. I was actually shocked to find out that there are Native speakers taking classes that Advanced ESL students, such Writing and Reading Skills, and in the worst scenarios, Note-taking. Bunker Hill is not as bad as I thought it would be, but there are obnoxious facts about it that I'm gonna try to list here and not forget anything.

First, the ACADEMICS. Bunker Hill has terrible, terrible professors. After my first semester here, I learned the lesson: NEVER EVER take a course because the time is nice, instead, look at ratemyprofessors.com and make sure you don't get screwed up for a whole semester. How bad is it? Well, you can get from the teachers who do not correct you stuff on time and lose your papers to the teachers who bully you and think they own world. I took PSY101 in my first semester and while in a class discussion my professor asked me what career I wanted to have and I answered that I wanted to go to Med School and become a Psychiatrist. He told me:

well… I hope you know you need more than a pretty face to get into Medical School

Yeah… Sour like that and that's really just one of the many examples I have, not just from that jerk. On the other hand, after that semester I found out that, as many bad professors BHCC can have, it also has plenty REALLY GOOD ones. Professors that are not just smart, know their subjects, but also CARE. But again, you have to do your homework if you want to have the good ones and also, register as early as possible, because when the professor is good, their classes also get full faster.

STUDENT SERVICES, oh the services. BHCC has actually too many student to run right. They have had cuts on budget while admitting the double of students they can carry. Classes are full, and it screws you up when you have to take a class that is no longer available. There are amazing advisors and I feel like people think that they are not helpful, but let me tell you, most students also don't help themselves. Half of the students have no idea about what they are doing of their lives, can't care less about their careers and also have no interest on taking anything. They are there because it's expected and so, they expect advisors to be like the guidance counselor in high school. When you don't know what you are doing, they will pick the classes for you. Advisors ARE NOT there to babysit. LORD, can you walk in your own feet? Have you read the catalog or the basic instructions? I volunteered to help students with registration last semester and most of them didn't know how to search for courses (which you are suppose to, since the orientation is mandatory in the beginning of year and everybody has to go to in order to register for the first semester, there they teach you, help you and advise you). Some students don't even care to read the computer screen in front of them. But yes, there is help available. You just have to MOVE your butt and get it.

The STUDENT ACTIVITIES office could have been more of a disaster too. In my first semester I tried to join clubs and be active on the almost non-existent community. Most clubs they brag about having are actually not being run, the rest they manage to screw up the rooms, meaning, when you go there and you're interested in joining a club, they give you an list of clubs and its rooms that is not updated. More frustrating, you asked them when these clubs are happening and they say

either Tuesdays or Thursdays at 1pm

Yep. All clubs run at 1pm and virtually all of them are Thursdays, save 3 or 4 in that list. No wonder the school is cliquey.

That being said. I restate: THE SCHOOL IS CLIQUEY. The students do walk in groups hard to get in. Most students enroll at BHCC already with a group of friends. Talking about groups, I divide the school in 3 of them:

1. The trouble kids or not-so-smart who didn't get into any other college.

2. The poor kids, who couldn't afford to go to college or decided to save some money. (I'm in it)

3. The adults and Nursing students.

Of course, some people are a mix of those groups. I also can tell that depending on the time of your class, you are going to get one of these. Evening students are mostly group 3, but you find a lot of group 2 who don't wanna deal with kids (and adults) from 1 that take most of the classes in the morning and populate the school at lunch time. Weekend (include Friday afternoon and nights) classes are a mix of all of them. I was unfortunate to take a Sunday class full of people from 1, but that made my life even worse, because they were mostly over their 30s and to be honest, I find depressing and annoying when you find those type of adults who act like they are 18-20 or those who are more insecure about their skills than a high school freshman.

Besides all that, there are VERY NICE PEOPLE with strong personalities who will really make a difference in your life as a student at BHCC. Those people are not necessarily the straight A student, but they are quite bright and fun to be with. These are normal people who don't pretend to be this or that to fit in the cliquishness. However, they are rare and hidden, possibly because most of them mind their own business and are not mean and snotty or nosy, or simply are too busy with their lives to be around campus that much. Also, because of the ridiculous amount of people not worth the time, they possibly back away and you will never meet them, simply because like you (and me for a long time), they gave up on making a social life at this school.

The campus itself id not bad for a community college. I visited some before choosing BHCC. It is ugly, and the bathrooms are dirty, although, if you make an effort, there are hidden bathrooms that are much cleaner than usual. I also would not venture drinking in the waterfalls. I never ate in the cafeteria. Every time I go there it is closed and I'm usually around at 1ish. The cafe, is also open most of the times, but food there is too expensive and not that great. The coffee is awful too, but if you don't mind, Cambridgeside Galleria ia mile away (it is doesn't seem that far, actually, unless it is winter) and Charleston "Mall" is less than 5 minutes away, which is great for a snack at Papa Gino's or some food at 99. It is also nice to have a CVS nearby. There are also vending machines on campus, but you quickly grow tired of them.

Overall, I don't really like BHCC, most because of its students than anything else. I used to have a social life in high school with many friends and interest for stuff, now I can't wait for my friends to go back for vacation. I also hang out with old friends that are still on the area and I don't see the few people I really like at BHCC being those long term friends. I absolutely adore most of my professors and academics are fine. I'm grateful at BHCC because it is really an cheap options, but you really make of it what you make of it. BHCC do have a good reputation for a Community College and colleges don't mind that much since you are coming from here. However, I can't wait to transfer, though, one more year. ONE MORE YEAR!

PS: Sorry if I wrote too much. I hope it serves as a warning for prospective students or was useful at some level.