I cannot agree with the latest review of this school. In fact, I agree with the one made about this school from 9 years ago. This school is not made for people who want to truly advance in a real career. I will break down my experience in each of the main areas that people look at for a school. FIRST, the price. In my opinion, I did not receive what I was paying for. Without any financial aid, a typical school bill here is $40K for a singular school year. But consider that your first two years are mostly your gen-eds (this would be Math, Science, English, and maybe one or two classes pertaining to your major sprinkled in there). To live on campus, consider that you will also be paying for a meal plan (I will go into that next), technology fee, science lab fee, new student orientation fee, ID card fee, amongst other monotonous charges.
SECOND, is the meal plan. As a young adult studying almost every day, food is something we look forward to every single day. However, the food quality here is NOT worth the price we pay for. In the Cafeteria, they are notorious for leaving the vegetables sitting out all week unwashed, as well as dried out desserts, meat that is not fully cooked, etc. The only dorm hall with a kitchen for you to cook your own meals in is Walther. So, if you're reading this and you're thinking of cooking your own meals, you would need to invest in your own portable stovetop or air fryer (But wait, that isn't allowed!). THIRD, the dorm halls/dorm room. In the beginning of the school year, there is this short-lived feeling of excitement to living on your own and preparing for a fresh start. I can only say my experience with Burgess as this is the dorm hall I lived in while being at Evangel (the all-girls dorm hall). Most of the lights in the room and bathrooms are dull. The thermostat is set specifically to only emit cold or hot air during certain months, which is not ideal when the weather becomes uncertain and it is cold outside for a few days, but your vent only has cold air. As for ALL of the dorm halls (excluding the new one they're building), there are NO ELEVATORS. The FOURTH thing I will discuss is the community. This particular portion will most likely be the longest one of everything I have discussed. The first person, the person who is supposed to lead this whole school, will be discussed first. That is, President Mike Rakes. As a leader, he is currently under fire from students and some staff who may not want to discuss it. He is misleading people over and over again with messages that he will even take the time to admit are "not sermons." After receiving feedback from anonymous students about this behavior, he proceeded to deny accountability and even blame teachers (whom he is also leading) for the student's weakness of faith and so on. Remember that new dorm hall I mentioned earlier? He is continuing to use money towards that while the school sits in over 4 billion dollars of debt. But let's get back to the community. As a person of color, specifically black (this is relevant), this school is not that diverse. They make sure that you know that. To the school and to a lot of people here, you're just another number. I did not feel welcome over half of the time here because the people here do not truly want to speak to you if you look like me. They fake smile in your face, and then when that smile starts to crack, they just look at you like you shouldn't exist. What is even more concerning is that most of the people like this here are probably leading your child (or leading you) in "small groups" or they are majoring in a ministry degree with plans to be leading churches or traveling countries to "spread the gospel." I will wrap up this review by saying this: there could be serious improvement if we, as a generation and as people who call ourselves followers of Christ, truly learn how to follow Jesus and love our neighbor. Many people here assume they follow Jesus without truly loving the people around them. I write this review also to not necessarily dictate your decision to this school, but to share with you the things they don't want to discuss during your tour, your welcome email, or on social media. This school will continue to raise prices and make things more expensive for a mediocre education and a weak headship. Please use discernment before coming here. read more
