California State University Dominguez Hills

Date: Dec 06 2003
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
This university simply is substandard. If your desire is to be challenged, to be in an academic atmosphere, to be surrounded by serious students with a desire to grow intellectually then don't attend this university. I've been here one semester and I already have a great distaste for this place. I was enrolled in 5 courses this semester. Only one of them was satisfactoral because the teacher believed in the students. I mean that she had enough respect for her profession and to us by challenging us and not dumbing down the material or giving easy tests. She required work everyday as well. Two courses were an abomination to the idea of higher learning; A student was able to get a passing grade without ever doing more than simply attending the classes and writing essays in complete sentences(sometimes). The 4th course had a grading scale so low that, although the subject was challenging, almost anyone could pass by having a minimal understanding of the material(and a book! The tests were open-book and open-note). The 5th course was an average easy class: not very challenging, relatively easy tests and lectures that appeared to be aimed at junior high age students. I can't describe the dissapointment I feel whenever I think of the place where I study. It also is cause for concern since my plans are to continue my education at the graduate level and I wonder if my knowledge will be sufficient at graduate school. As far as teachers, most are friendly and helpful. I had one teacher who is not approachable and ironically one of the professors who will teach many of the classes of my major during my endeavor(This is a very small university and my department is tiny). It seems that many of the professors have given up trying to challenge the students and either get frustrated or teach dumb classes. The students simply don't seem prepared to be at a university. My impression is that most of them are there to receive a degree and that's it. I met a couple of students who are very serious about learning and both are disillusioned like I am. One of them is very frustrated since she has been there for 2 years. SHe told me that she would purposefully ask around to find out who the hardest professors are so she could enroll in their classes.