The College of Staten Island CUNY

Date: Jun 13 2011
Major: Math (This Major's Salary over time)
CSI is nice aesthetically and dirt-cheap, but a nightmare otherwise. If you come here, get used to running between 1A and 2A (the administration buildings) a bunch of times, because everyone is convinced they're not the person who can help you. When you finally reach the person who can help you, expect them to completely contradict anything anyone else told you. When I first started here, I was told I should take Calc 2 my first semester because of my test scores, and to go see someone in the math building to get permission. He refused to look at my records and put me in Pre-Calc.

Instructors are all over the place, but from what I've seen most of the good and nice ones that're willing to deal with students are in the English and Biology departments. I'm a math major and I've literally had a professor in my department tell me "it's a secret" when I needed clarification for something. Another one would respond "It's in the book" to everything. If not for the attendance requirement, you might as well just skip and read the book for most of the math classes here. You'll save on gas and frustration finding a parking space too!

As for students, everyone sets up their schedule so their friends are in all of their classes. So if you moved to Staten Island recently and don't know many people, you're out of luck. Everyone gets a ride with their friends to class, sits with their friends, and immediately leaves. Over my two years here, I've seen nothing about any student organizations.

If you just want to get your degree and not go far from home, CSI is the school for you. If you want ANYTHING else out of college (including a degree from a half-reputable school), look elsewhere.