Hi all,
I’m currently a Junior at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Indiana, studying Accounting with a minor in International Business, scheduled to graduate in December of 2017 (I’m actually a semester ahead from high school AP + dual credit + taking full courseloads every semester).
I’m halfway through, and I absolutely hate it here.
They are going all online, so everything is online. I am a more traditional book + notebook kind of guy. The teachers don’t seem to care about teaching. I feel like I’m struggling against them. I also really don’t like the people at my campus; they don’t seem very motivated. I’m really not enjoying my experience here, and my grades have suffered: I graduated high school in 2014 with a 3.57 GPA, 1770 SAT (in one sitting, no studying), academic honors, and really excelled in my AP classes because I was genuinely interested in them (I also got very high marks on the AP tests).
But at PUC, I’m really struggling. I maintained a 3.14 until this past semester, when it tanked to a 2.8. I passed all my classes, but two of them by the skin of my teeth. A big factor was overworking myself with two jobs and attending supplementary classes. But otherwise, I don’t feel challenged. I don’t feel interested in anything. It feels like my education is a mile wide but an inch deep. I don’t feel connected to school (I’m a commuter who still lives with my parents), and I don’t feel I can ask my teachers for help. I cannot name a good teacher I’ve had here. I sincerely feel they don’t care about us as students.
I am aware that my poor grades from the Fall 2015 semester jeopardize my transfer admission, but I have a good feeling about this semester and can appeal with my new grades if I am initially rejected.
I took a look at UIC’s accounting program, and it seems far more rigorous and suited to my needs (they offer non-profit and government accounting, which I am very strongly interested in, having worked for two non-profits so far, while Purdue doesn’t let you take that until grad school). I feel that Purdue’s program is more general management with a focus on accounting, while UIC’s is far more in-depth.
Additionally, UIC offers an Italian program, a language I am already proficient in and am studying intensively on my own and at the Italian consulate on Michigan Avenue once a week. I am hoping to attend graduate school in Italy after graduation, and I feel that my tanking grades jeopardize this goal.
I have already determined that PUC is not suited for me. I sincerely regret coming here in the first place. What I am coming here to ask primarily is from UIC students about the quality of teaching there.
I don’t care about athletics.
I don’t care about recreational culture, I already know the city of Chicago by heart.
I don’t care about partying.
I don’t care about rankings.
Tuition is not an issue; I can reasonably estimate that it will be about $24K per year based on friends who have transferred from PUC and those who went there after high school. Even if it’s more, a combination of savings, working, and loans will get me by. Apparently my credits will transfer to UIC with ease, so that shouldn’t be an issue.
I am also looking at Valparaiso University, where both of my parents graduated from and my mom is a part-time professor, so that would take a big chunk of tuition out of my bill, but again, it’s the teaching I’m interested in. Valpo is currently my 2nd choice, as both my parents endlessly praise the teaching quality. I was born and raised in Valpo for most of my life, and can simply move in with family, but I do want the job opportunities and culture of Chicago (I will be going for another internship in the loop this summer). UIC is goal #1, while Valpo is #2.
I just really need to know how you guys feel about the quality of teaching, about how invested your professors are, how motivated the students are, and your general experiences.