I'm not 100% sure how you write a review of your ol' college, but here it goes:
I thought long and hard about giving BW a less than perfect star rating due to things I'm a little bitter about (*cough* school loan debt *cough* no jobs after college *cough*) but then I realized all those things had nothing to do with the great experience I had here.
I'll explain: After high school I went to John Carroll. I have no idea why, other than it had a pretty campus, but everything else fell flat for me there. It just wasn't the school for me. I was looking for a warm, social environment with great professors and ratings. So I transferred and found that at BW! (And yes, I went there when it was BWC, not this University stuff they have going on now... but I digress.)
Overall, I had a complete and utter blast in college (met my very best friend!), which was exactly what I wanted. The broadcasting dept. was just getting started with their TV program, BuzzTV and my advisor got me right into higher level journalism classes I couldn't get into at JCU (mostly because they didn't even have a good broadcasting program there when I went.) It was nice to get right into classes that actually had something to do with my dream career.
Additionally the professors didn't waste any time telling us exactly what it was going to be like "out there," which gave me a much better idea of what I was getting myself into. The few liberal arts classes I did have to take were MY CHOICE--which was refreshing. Like, in my case, I didn't want to take a foreign language so I had the option of taking some pretty sweet history/religion courses that fulfilled those requirements. I absolutely could not get enough of these courses, especially since I got to choose one of my favorite profs.
The housing, food, and meal card situation was pretty nice--especially since surrounding restaurants accepted our meal cards. The bookstore had tons of electronics which sort of chiseled away at my food funds, but whatever. The books themselves can get pricey and there's no off-campus stores that offer used books--so that sucked. They did offer a buyback program that only half raped you, so that was nice.
Parking would be one of my only gripes, but when is that ever really nice unless you're an upper classman? Just watch out for those pesky campus parking tickets... lol. Plus, the campus is relatively small and the buildings are all within close walking distance.
Greek life (I know I'm losing half of you here) was awesome. I loved the social aspect and you can't beat the Alpha Phis! Clearly I was interested in more of the social aspect of school... but I did maintain my grades and even made it to some classes (probably hungover, but who's judging?)
Things I wish I would have spent more time with: The Career Department. I just didn't hear much about it when I was there and it looked so small--but I hear from other folks that it's actually pretty good. For me? It didn't help--I only made like 2 visits. I was still stuck in the mindset that I was going to become a reporter right out of college... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! #fail
Then again, I have a much better job now than I could have ever imagined. (*wink, wink*) read more