I had a wonderful admission experience to Ursuline's post baccalaureate accelerated program (UCAP: Ursuline College Accelerated Program). Everyone in the UCAP Advising Office was great both in our email and in person communications. A big shout out to Andrew "Andy" who saw me smoothly and quickly (3 days) through the admission process. After just two visits to the school I left registered for classes and with a copy of the syllabus for my class that didn't yet start for 21 days (this level of organisation impressed me!). The building the advising centre was in, the Pilla Student Center, appeared to be a newer building and was very clean and quiet. The whole campus in general was very quiet - kind of oddly quiet since Spring 1 classes were already in session at the time.
My first class in Spring 2 at Ursuline went well. The professor was great; tho not a full-time worker at Ursuline - he actually also taught at the school I had previously gone to (John Carroll). He had relevant prior work experience outside of the academic world which made his class more interesting and added value to it. The building this class was in (Dauby Science Center) was much older than the Pilla Center but was updated with technology and just as clean - my class ended at 10pm and there were still workers cleaning as I left.
Unfortunately after this point my experience declined and the chance that I would recommend UCAP with it. All the professors were nice people and made time available to meet students as needed. However, for some of the professors the schools screening process left a lot to be desired. Some of the professors I am not sure were qualified to teach in their subject matter. Some of the professors were so horrible at teaching (e.g., simply reading PowerPoint slides made by the publisher, simply reading (at times while making mistakes) homework problems from the textbook) that attending class was rendered pointless.
As far as the school administration goes, having the classes that I needed to graduate put on the class schedule in a timely fashion was nothing short of a struggle. I had to take one term off from school before taking the last class that I needed to graduate because Ursuline failed to provide any class I needed. To graduate with my degree one of my required classes was an "upper-level elective." For this elective, I was given 0 choices. There was only 1 class offered that was considered an "upper-level" course in my major.
Ursuline could also do a better job screening or training admitted students. In a post-bacc program I would certainly not think that I would interact with students who lacked basic computer skills like saving documents and using Word. However in several classes students lacking these skills waisted class/instructor time. I repeatedly made comments to this regard on course evaluations suggesting that 1 credit computer classes (or a test out) be mandatory for all students).
Also it should be clearly noted somewhere that Ursuline does not have a business school. While they offer several degrees in business subjects (e.g., accounting, marketing, etc...) Bachelor of Arts degrees are awarded for your effort. Also note, that major requirements at Ursuline may be shy of what is required by regulatory bodies in your field of choice and that additional course work above and beyond your degree may be personally required for moving on in your field. Ursuline's career center was not helpful or aware of this issue and furthermore made no assistance to find me an internship, something I found on my own. read more
