The University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

Date: Dec 16 2014
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
UCCS, like all colleges, has pros and cons.

However, lately the cons are simply getting out of control. The parking situation is ridiculous as the free parking is away from the main campus and the shuttles that are supposed to run every 5-10 minutes are never on schedule. There have been numerous times, I've shown up at 7a.m. at the free lot and was still late to an 8a.m. class due to the shuttles; and there is no way I can afford $300+ for a pass to park on campus. Other colleges I've attended either had full free parking or their passes were $50, so why UCCS's are so expensive I cannot say.

The instructors range from the friendliest, most helpful professors I've ever had the pleasure to learn from, to ones that seem like they have zero interest in actually teaching a class. It is very frustrating when you need to teach yourself everything just to skate by in a required class because the professor would rather focus on person endeavors.

Next, is the recent change to a more writing focused program for all majors. This is the third time curriculum for my major has shifted since I started attending and it keeps adding new classes I need to take, or it changes classes that have no actual writing involved outside of one massive sized required research paper, that you won't receive feedback on until just before the end of the semester despite this one paper (which is usually due in the first few weeks of the semester) being worth 10% or more of that class's grade. This also adds a lot of unhelpful busy work to other classes just so students can fill a pre-determined writing quota. The quota, to my understanding, is the same regardless of major and even certain writing/english classes DO NOT qualify for the portfolio or quota required to graduate for reasons that have never been fully explained to me.

Exams are ridiculous. My major is game design, yet most of our exams have to be hand written because of administration requirements. Further more, most of my classes are team classes now. Meaning usually in a team one member is responsible for the actual code of the game, while the others are responsible for art, design, etc. This is good for learning how to work in groups but when test time comes around and your grade is based on programming, if you were not the one person assigned to program you have little actual practice since most of the class time is left to your team to work on your project instead of actually covering how to code anymore. Classes also never communicate despite (at least in my major) all classes being taught by the same small group of instructors. This results in huge deadlines, exams, and papers all being assigned at the same time and due within the same two to three week period.

But the worst thing lately has been the campus wireless. Everything needs a wireless connection from enrolling for classes, getting assignments, submitting assignments, and paying tuition (unless you want to pay extra for processing fees on an already expensive bill). This wouldn't be much of a problem if the wireless was reliable. Signal in the library and study rooms cut in and out, the student portals and blackboard website crash and need maintenance almost on a weekly basis, and sometimes my classes can't even do their few practical exercises because the internet in the main game design room loses signal all the time.

When I first started attending UCCS, it had a much better feel and felt like the students were the focus. In some cases this is still true, but as far as administration is concerned it's all about prestige anymore. Students are now either just a stat to brag about to other colleges or a check to keep expanding the campus without improving what is needed to ensure student success.

My advice, go to a community college like Pikes Peak to get the main core classes done and then transfer to UCCS to complete the higher and more specific level classes where the professors who actually care and want to teach are in charge. It will save you money, time, and frustration.