Brock University — Attraction in St. Catharines

To Future High School Grads and all international Students:

If you are thinking to attend Brock University (especially if you want to do Accounting or Business Administration), THINK AGAIN, and please read the rest as I am a 4th year Bachelor of Accounting student at Brock who is about to graduate.

Firstly, I will rate Brock University -5 starts if that is an option.

To start, quality of education is extremely poor generally throughout all business programs. Lots of Lecturers just read off power point slides, and some of the accounting professors who actually possess CPA designation do not even understand basic accounting principles. To name a few notorious professors at Brock: Omar Rubi, accounting professor whose teaching skill is so poor that most of students' prof review for him is "he force me to teach myself since he doesn't teach".

Alexey N. Nikitkov, a Russian Professor teaches Accounting Information System. How would you rate a professor if he is absent for half of the semester (no exaggeration, not even a little) because he was sick for 1 month and his daughter was sick for another month? FYI, basic accounting information system refers to basic accounting software such as Sage 50 and Quickbooks. I was a college student (at Mohawk, very good school) before I came to Brock, and we used to have A FULL SEMESTER worth of course load dedicated in learning how to use Sage 50 in respect to processing daily transaction. At Brock, you spent 200 dollars to buy the textbook, and guess what? You teach yourself.

Norman Chasse, CPA designation holder, Accounting Professor specialized in auditing. TBH, his teaching was good compare to other prof @ Brock; however, refuse to admit own mistake, and fail to understand very basic accounting principle. e.g., change in depreciation method is not change in policy, I hope Mr. Chasse can read this and never tell students that change in dep method is change in policy.

Secondly, advisers and course registration. It is unfortunate that I had attended 3 post-secondary schools over the years, and needless to say, Brock's advisers just do not want to help you.

Some of the students @ Brock may be prioritized in terms of registration for a course solely based on how much they are going to pay Brock in the future. For instance, if you have ever applied for post-grad study at Brock , you will likely be the first one to pick a course REGARDLESS whether you actually go for graduate study or not, and this means paying $200 for application of graduate study will let you register for course first, and lots of others who do not pay that amount are screwed because spaces for lots of accounting courses are extremely limited. Last but not least, giving the fact that Brock is among the lowest ranking on Mclean's Unveristy list EVERY SINGLE YEAR, I personally have no clue how the adminitrators at Brock justify charging students higher than schools like University of Toronto. Rotman of Business (UT's business school) charge first year student taking full time couses $ 7,708.35 vs Goodman of Business (Brock) charge $8,453.50 FYI, the only reason I attend Brock is because they gave me the highest transfer credits allowing to graduate faster, and that is the only upside I can think of.

In conclusion, avoid Brock at all cost, it is just not worth it.

A poor...

I'm going to say that Brock University is the one of the worst university I have ever attended. First, the number of classes become smaller as the year progressed and students are harder to register for that course. As a result, they have to ask for an override or if not then, they have to wait until next semester or the year after to register for that course. Second, the website quality is poor, and students have difficult time locating the information on the website. It is not user-friendly, and for example something simple like exam schedule is hard to find.

Third, there is an inconsistency in the quality of professor. Many professors seem to read slides off from the powerpoint, and do not explain what is happening. Some cannot even speak English well and still became professor. Comprehending the language is a crucial part in the learning environment, because students would not understand what the professor says and often result in misunderstanding. The seminar ran by TAs can be often frustrating. For example, I had one TA who was always late for 10 to 20 minutes, and sometimes he never came. TAs seem to forget that they are in a professional role and standards role of quality must be met.

In addition, many academic advisers are inexperienced and helpless. For example, you register for one course because they told him so and later realizes that it was an unnecessary course to take and often it can be a hard course which will result in the person's failure to meet the academic achievement.

Moreover, it is of course, the student's duty to keep up with the minimum average required however the department abruptly changes the required average with no notification which makes students difficult to stay with the program. There is no period of notification so be prepared for yourself for sudden change in the required average.

This is something more personal, but the learning atmosphere at Brock is very different depending on what program you are in. The business department is very study-oriented whereas other programs are party-like and a student may not be able to focus. So, choose the program very carefully or you might end up following your friends and go to St.Catharines downtown every weekend to drink which will result in failure of academic performance.

The school facility is very bad in appearance, and so if you are kind of a student who wishes to go to school with a great facility, Brock is not where you should go.

The undergraduate program I would recommend to go for is Accounting, Concurrent Education, and Nursing. Anything else, it is better off if you just attend the other school.

Also before you are going into university, think whether you want to go for Masters or Ph.D. Then, you should choose a major which would help you to get into Masters.

You can also use Brock as a way to transfer to the other school. People say when you are in 3rd year or 4th year, it is better off to graduate, and I do not believe that. If you think that it is necessary to switch the school because you did not like the learning...

If you ever look up the ratings for Brock University in terms of its standings among all universities in Ontario, it will always come up in the middle of the rankings. This university certainly isn't the University of Toronto, but it isn't like Collège La Cabriole. Its honestly a hybrid between the two in terms of quality.

First, let's start with the positives;

This university specializes in biomanufacturing, health care, environmental and social sciences programs. Everything else is practically a "pass" degree that you get just for the sake of having a degree to get into another graduate school and/or have an actual degree to list on your CV.

The university is medium-sized, which makes it easy to get around campus, and it has plenty of places to hang out and study. I'd personally recommend the tower levels of the library as they offer a variety of private and small-group spaces. Another benefit is that you can also go anywhere in Brock (except for East Academic and residences) by staying inside, which is a huge benefit during the winter and rainy days.

Extracurricular programs are decent and more of a place to meet and socialize with like-minded people. If you already have friends on campus or from classes, however, I wouldn't recommend them.

The gym and swimming pool are not top-grade, yet they still offer a lot for you to do and enjoy. I personally use it every other day and then afterwards go into the mini-saunas they have in the locker room.

Now, we go on to the negatives of this university;

As I said earlier, unless you're getting a degree in biomanufacturing, health care, environmental or social sciences, don't expect a top-notch education. Every other degree aside from these four areas of study is just a pass degree for the sake of having a degree. All other programs are standard "copy notes from pre-made slide-show, study said notes, and complete other standard assignments on time" programs. I would know since I'm a Film Studies major, and I'm only using the degree to get into Sheridan and get some ACTUAL film industry experience/connections.

The food and textbooks are incredibly expensive for what they offer, and you don't even need half your textbooks (as long as you're not in any of the four main courses I mentioned) to pass your classes. Only get textbooks that you actually need to pass your assignments and you're good.

School spirit and the "student body" is a joke. Again, most people are only there just to get a "pass" degree, so they don't put much effort into actually promoting school spirit. But hey, as long as the university has something to put as an update on their social media accounts...

In conclusion, if you're planning on going to Brock for biomanufacturing, health care, environmental or social sciences (or just a simple "pass" degree for the sake of having one), you picked the right place. If not, then PLEASE...