Disappointed in the University

Lynae N.

December 20, 2009 - 9:59 AM

My experience being a graduate student at the UO has been fantastic. Because of this, I have been pushing really hard for my husband to finish out his undergraduate degree at the UO rather than other local universities. I have been so excited as I've thought about this that I had a whole plan-of-action made for getting him set up for classes and in the running for all of the scholarships he would qualify for.

But before we jumped in to the application process we decided to take a day and talk with people from admissions and from the Psychology department. The first stop we made was Northwest Christian University (NCU) where I got my undergraduate degree. We were met with warm smiles, helpful persons, were escorted around campus, and given as much time as we wanted to ask questions. Furthermore, we received a follow-up letter two days later in addition to a phone call from a student who runs campus tours wondering if we'd like to see more. This was a positive experience and I was really just blown away at how the campus has changed in the short year and a half since I graduated from there.

Now contrast this to the UO. We went to the main admin office and were directed from one line to another line to talk to someone from admissions. After a few minutes an employee met us and we asked him a few questions about admissions and the Psychology program. He did not know the answer to any of these and instead asked us what my husband's GPA is and if he'd had a college level math and writing class. We gave him the information and he then said he could not help us. We were directed to academic advising and off we went to another office. The gal working the desk barely looked up, there was no line and still we waited. When she finally was able to say hi we told her that we had been referred from admissions and she simply stared blankly at us and said, "We only meet with students by appointment." She then directed us to the Psychology department office.

So we were off again to the Psych building. We got there and made our way to the main office area. We asked the lady at the desk if there was someone we could talk to and she informed us there was not. She also let us know that there isn't even a printed from of the student manual available anymore and directed us to the Psychology department's website for information about the program.

Both my husband and I were shocked. We'd spent about an hour and a half trekking from one office to another, putting more and more money into the parking meter, and no one gave us any information. Not only did we not get the information we were looking for, only one person that was there to help us, asked our names and took the time to shake our hands. By the end of our journey we were right back where we started, at the school's website.

I am deeply disappointed by this experience. It is so radically different than what my experience has been as a graduate student that was shocked beyond shocked. The impression all of the interactions gave was one of not caring and I didn't get the feeling that either my husband or I was respected or valued. This is quite the opposite of our experiences earlier that day at NCU. I think we've made our decision for his schooling and while I love being a Duck, I am glad that my husband won't be joining me at the UO.