Hamline University

Date: Jan 03 2012
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
Hamline University is a mirage of the campus you dream of. I was fooled, just as a dozen of my friends were as well. When you visit for "Piper Preview" you are promised: You're not a number, faculty will do their utmost to help you succeed, and you will be engaged in a community (suitcase campus-most people are commuters or go home on weekend). Once this little orientation was over, we saw Hamline for what it was: A waste of money.

Our first-year advisors plagued us with lengthy "career" assignments, where we had to map out every single class we would take at Hamline while we were there. Not only was it extremely stressful and took forever, my professor actually gave me a B- on the assignment because I asked him about what classes I should pick because I wasn't sure on a major quite yet. He picked a major for me and made me plan a layout of my whole Hamline career. I thought advisors were supposed to be willing to help you make these choices? Not force you into what classes you should take.

Secondly, none of the students are safe on this campus. Safety and Security are never present around the dorms or the dining hall. I have been here for a semester and there have been FIVE armed robberies. On five occasions armed men have walked right into the places where we live and eat and pointed guns at fellow students and some were close friends of mine. Just recently before I left for Christmas break, two incidents occurred in a row right outside my dorm and the student was hospitalized from it.

Hamline needs to find a way to get back the prestige it's supposed to have, because it's gone. Professors and advisors unwilling to help, the safety of the students at risk, and the awful tuition management have got me running in the opposite direction of St. Paul.

The biggest advice I give you is to visit your college while school is in session. And go talk to some of the professors and the people who will be working with you once you are there. Admissions can play the game and trick you; that's what Hamline did.

I put a lot of hard work into this school, but they don't care about their students. Once you are there, they've got you and they figure their work is finished and don't need to be all positive and helpful anymore. So what is the point of paying $30,000 for a university that actually hinders your development?

Find a place that will help you find internships, help you if you want to seek tutoring, and provide programs that engage the students and keep them safe while they are on campus.