DePaul University

Date: Apr 22 2014
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I was 18, young and naive, still a little wet behind the ears. I went to DePaul with high hopes and dreams, with grand plans to make the most of my college experience. What I got was high school with cigarettes. Here are a few things that jumped out at me.

COMMUNITY. Or lack thereof. There was no school spirit. There was no "We are DePaul!". It was a just a collection of people who came in to pump their brains full of liberal propaganda, to get that B.A./B.Sc. No one socialized outside of class, and my computer science classes were the worst offenders. Trying to organize even a mundane group study at Starbucks (no product placement intended) was like herding cats. I visited a buddy at another school, and made friends within 2 days I was there.

CAMPUS ARCHITECTURE. A few older buildings are amazingly beautiful, like the Byrne hall and the Coreylou Commons. The Richardson Library was built in 1993, but looks almost genuinely historic. There two more historic buildings, but they were torn down. Most other buildings are made of ugly, sterile-looking red brick, the one they build condos out of in gentrifying neighborhoods. No character or wow factor at all! If you walked on Kenmore or Belden, you wouldn't know a university was there unless you read the signs.

FIRST-YEAR LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM. It's basically glorified diversity training. You spend $400 per credit hour to learn that all straight white men are bad, and all women and minorities are good. Explore Chicago was nice, though. I still have Chicago's street grid memorized thanks to that class.

DEPAUL ACTIVITIES BOARD, the student organization. I was a member, and enjoyed it at first. But in later years, I started getting a bad vibe. It was an elitist organization for students who live on campus (but not on paper, of course), and my presence as a commuter was merely tolerated. Their events stunk. A famous comedian performed only once a year, the Homecoming dances had enough cops there to make it feel like a prison yard, and the Fest was just meh.

VALUE FOR MY MONEY: Abysmal!!! I'm still paying off the students loans, and for what? An education that I could have gotten at a state school 1/4 the price and a boring college experience to boot. If I could buy out the school, close it, and sell off the buildings, I would.

REDEEMING FEATURES. There are only two: small class sizes and the Students Ambassadors organization. I liked being able to raise my hand in class to ask a question, and the Ambassadors made me feel welcome and appreciated, despite me being the only commuter in the organization.

In a nutshell, BORING! I found a better sense of camaraderie and shared enjoyment on a cheap cruise than I did in 4 years at DePaul.