Alverno College

Date: Jun 30 2010
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
I attended the Lutheran Elementary and High schools. After experiencing a smaller class setting and was reasonably challenged. For college, I decided to attend the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I attended UWM for three semesters and felt that I was not challenged enough. I left UWM with a 3.4 GPA. I had heard the advertisements about Alverno and even spoke to a few people that had went there. I attended an open house and felt that going there I would be a part of a unique educational philosphy that would afford me an opporutnity to excel acadmically, intellecutally and in my career. I was wrong. I was originally a Professional Communication/English Literature double major with a minor in Education. My freshman year guidance counselor was annoying and incompentent. She discouraged me from completing my minor in education because it would take me twice as long to complete my degree so I dropped the minor in Education. Leaving UW-Milwaukee was the worst mistake of my life. I should have stayed. Alverno boasts of their 95% placement rate in their graduates field of study. That is a lie. I did not one but two internships relating to my major. Why have I only held jobs in customer service since 2002? Alverno is just a gimmick and does not live up to what it promises graduates. The instructors, especially the one I had for my Media class where we did a power point presentation, Meg Hunter is a pompous, backward and arrogant woman with no class only crass. She was the worst instructor there. My English professor, Sister Georgene once made a comment to me about my class peers. She taught an 8:00AM class on Shakesphere. My classmates as well as myself are African American. She made the comment to me that I needed to talk to my fellow African American classmates about the importance of being on time because when they are late, they perpetuate a stereotype that African Americans are always late. I reported her comment to Victoria Miller head of the English Department and she downplayed the commnets that Sister Georgene made. Saying that I simply misunderstood. When I emphatically replied that I did not misunderstand and that she said it the way she meant it, I got a reluctant, "I'll talk to her." During my freshman year, I had to take a career paths class that was taught by the now career director Debra Chomicka. She met with me to see who I would be interviewing for my career class in terms of professions I was interested in. She had suggested to me an African American law enforcment officer that worked with her husband who was employed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. She said that Robin was African American and was a sharp girl. She went on to say that the man who worked with her husband previously was African American and was terminated from his position because he was using the state vehicle he was supplied with for personal errands. She then went on to make a comment about affirmative action, which I thought was very racist. I've only had relatively few positive experiences with instructors and my education there. I remember when I went to the open house, Debra Chomicka was one of the speakers and she said that if we made Alverno our choice we would recieve a good education and that it was guaranteed. Yes, it is guaranteed alright. I am stuck with $40,000 plus in loans for a degree from a college that is no use to me. Anyone considering Alverno, don't do it.