Montserrat College of Art — Attraction in Beverly

If I could give this place zero stars I would. Let’s start from the beginning.

On my first tour to Montserrat in 2021, I was told many things that would soon be turned to lies. “Your guaranteed housing in the student village your first year” “We are very generous with aid to ensure our students can attend school” “We are always here to help and answer questions”. What they make seem is a very positive portray of the school is a facade. After touring the school and applying in 2022 I was accepted at their acceptance day. News flash: Everyone at acceptance day is accepted because the school has such an incredibly hard time getting people to apply, so they’ll take anyone who shows an ounce of eagerness.

After being accepted I had requested to view the dorms since I am disabled. I was given some stupid excuse that they were being cleaned or renovated. Of course I didn’t fight that and just went on my way. Thankfully I was able to hunt down current students on instagram who graciously sent me photos. It was nothing but alarming. However, I still decided to take the chance since the room were not from my building.

I lived in the Abbott location and didn’t even find out I was living there until a week prior. Found my suitemates maybe 5 days before and had to scramble to get to know one another. It was an absolute hell since none of us got along (they really don’t pay any mind to your preferences in the survey for rooming). Thankfully my roomate was nice and we got along okay. I moved in on the day that was listed for me and was left to wait over an hour since no one wanted to show up on time to help us. The day was nothing but chaos and was extremely inaccessible.

Once we were finally allowed to move in, the place was filthy, shower coated in mold, water brown, lots of belongings left behind from previous people. The rooms are actually a joke. They are smaller than an average single for a double and try to force three into one of these as well. You’ll usually have 8 suitemates in the house dorms (there’s like 7 houses) if you can’t get the village. The worst of it all was the trespassing issue. Constantly strangers from the town of beverly would try and break into our fence. There was even a homeless person living right under my window at a point. When I brought the is all up to the school the president sort of laughed it off time and my parents and had no interest in doing much. He even referred to these trespassers as the schools friends. When I tried calling law enforcement they wouldn’t come out to a house that I was paying to live in, because someone was trying to break into my property. I finally said enough was enough and left. The facilities of the school it’s self of nothing to bat an eye to. All the teachers I’ve had are just purely rude and have no interest to teach. I’ve been degraded multiple times by several and was able to receive any help from an advisor to assist me.

In the end I left and transferred to MassArt and I have truly never been happier. I actually feel like my needs are put first and my SAFETY. Unlike Montserrat, MassArt actually answers their security line and they get there in a minute. I’m not told that “it’s not big deal”. I’m actually cared for and treated with basic decency. Please be very weary about attending this place. They’ll probably delete this knowing their track record but this is true information that needs...

At the time that I was there, there was a woman directing the financial aid office that was renowned for the terror she caused, and had not only failed to remove extra charges on many student's accounts (art kit, mostly) but gave false information about loans and financial aid. (This means they were burdened with student loans THEY DID NOT NEED) There was also several safety concerns around the ventilation, issues with the lack of a decent meal plan, and student safety issues. The head of the animation department (Blyth) is another person well known for acting unkind and almost vindictive to her students. On several accounts she was caught lying, manipulating, and pitting students against one another.

All in all, there were maybe three good, professional professors at this college, who themselves were limited due to the number of fresh-out-of-high school students who seemed to care very little for their professors, the rules/safety concerns (don't put turps in a water bottle, the teacher tells us TEN TIMES) or for any of their fellow students. I saw most of my class year leave this place for better colleges, I saw students in tears over the additional and unnecessary loans added to their bill, I saw students being treated with uncalled for disdain, and I saw teachers being treated much the same. This college is a mess, to sum it up nicely. They fool you with their tour, and the gallery spaces, and their programs to get students out and working in their field of choice. Perhaps one out of three succeed, but the rest either don't care enough, or are smart enough to move on to another college as quickly as possible. Perhaps, in the few years since I have left, they have somehow managed to fix up everything nicely, but somehow I doubt it. At its core, Montserrat College of...

Fantastic school with a very personable staff. The professors are accessible and invested in their students: they go above and beyond to help their students succeed. There are tons of resources available to students who need it. From what I’ve seen, most of the complaints come from students who don’t put much effort into their work or do things at the last minute - no institution can magically fix a poor work ethic. A successful art career and art education is rooted in time and effort spent, but some people seem to think they can skate by with minimal effort and succeed, which is unfortunate. That said, some of the technology, such as the printers, could use some updating, but overall im very happy with my education...