Alma College

Date: Jun 03 2021
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
Alma gave a great impression. I visited several times before I officially got accepted, and it sounded like a college dream come true. But once I got there, it felt like nothing but trouble.

There were huge issues within my department between some professors and higher-ups of the school that resulted in lack of classes and professors, and almost made it impossible for me to graduate with my intended major. They slacked for a whole year, not hiring professors needed for juniors and seniors to graduate on time. I had to work very hard to make my degree happen, and I bugged the shit out of certain department chairs because I never felt like my situation was considered a priority of any kind. Even the remaining professors in my department treated me as a non-priority because I wasn't focusing in their specialty. I frequently felt like I was talking to a brick wall. I had to substitute classes and plan my course work perfectly so that I could still graduate, and apparently I was the only one who gave a shit about whether or not I graduated from my department.

On top of that, there were issues with signing up for mixed gender housing several years, where I had to talk to 6 different people just to find the one person I really needed to talk to in order to fix the problem. Basically, if there was ever a problem, I felt like I had to be prepared to talk to half of the department before I saw a result. That's not how that should be.

I also started to get sick off of the cafeteria food, and found that I couldn't opt out of paying for it without providing proof that it made me sick, which I couldn't really do. I don't have food allergies. That was basically the only way to get out of paying for meal plans. I had to take medication for 6 months to fix the damage that was done to my gut.

I feel like I paid for 4 years of pain. You have to pay for everything, you can't opt out of anything. You HAVE to live on campus all 4 years, which was not made very clear to me as a freshman. I wish I would have transferred. The only reason I didn't was because I didn't think my credits would transfer (because it's a liberal arts school). Having now graduated, I realize that it was stupid to stay. I got nothing out of it. I don't feel job ready, my professors did very little prepare me, and I wasn't considered a priority. For a school who claims to have more personal student-professor relationships/contact, this is bullshit. This should have never happened if that was really the case.

Save yourself the trouble and money. Go somewhere else, literally anywhere else. This school clearly does not have their shit together. And it's not just the arts department. I know other people with similar stories from other departments. I don't know how anyone has any praise or pride for this school.