Boise State University — Attraction in Boise

I am a senior at at Boise State.

Overall, my experience with BSU has been decent. I have had some good times and bat times over the years I have been here. Much like alot of reviews you might see, this is a commuter school. It is not focused to give you that stereotypical "university" experience. The majority of students, I am included in this category, are non-traditional students above the age of 25. Many people attend BSU to get a second degree, or pursue a new one. I am former military, and am getting my B.A. in English. BSU is the type of place that you will only really get out of it what you put into it. If you are just there, attending class, and not much more, you really wont get anything out of it. But, it is possible to have a good experience here, you just have to put alot of effort into participating. BSU really is nothing that special. From being here for 3 years now, taking classes in most fields offered at the university, it is pretty clear that the funding is not really focused on the academics. Perhaps someday it will, but that is just not the case right now. Many of the buildings and classrooms are very out of date, and have extremely minimal technology. Quite a few of the classes I have been in still have nothing more than a chalkboard. One thing to note, to potential future students, there are very minimal services offered on campus. There are a handful of restaurants and 2 coffee shops. besides the coffee shops, all of the restaurants on campus are closed around 3-4pm. This does come as a pain from time to time, but I would be particularly more annoyed if I had to live on campus. There are very few computer "labs" on campus. And by labs, I am meaning full facility computer labs, with printers, scannors. During peak times, it can be extremely difficult to find a computer. Things can get very expensive on campus. Be advised. Often times prices for food on campus will be at least 25-40% more than the same products off campus. Graduating in a typical 4 year window is just about impossible here. Because BSU hires mostly adjunct faculty, and does not fund programs adequately, required courses in degree programs are only offered at certain times of the academic year, and are not guaranteed to be offered. They are subject to funding and availability of staff, which is continually problematic. Much like many people I know, I just ran into a problem of my own, when I was informed that my senior seminar class would not be offered this upcoming semester due to lack of funding, which will prevent me from graduating on time. Last, the administrative department at BSU is relatively hard to deal with. They often do not have straight answers to alot of questions, but in time they will eventually get back to you. It is always a slow process with them. Overall, BSU has given me what I have sought out to obtain, which I can't really complain about. I will have to say if I had the option to go to another college, I most likely would have. I do not feel that my academic training I have received thus far has been particularly high quality, but probably not the worst. If you are looking for a higher quality institution, I would recommend Oregon State University or University of Oregon, which are not too far away. That being said, I am glad BSU is here, it beats not having anything...and...

I earned my Masters in Educational Technology from Boise State. I can't speak for other departments, but I will vouch for the EDTECH Department. Honestly, I can't recommend Boise State's EDTECH program highly enough. I quickly learned that BSU's online classes are pretty much guaranteed to be top-of-the-line and employ best practices, because best practices in online teaching is a big chunk of what is taught, and the professors practice what they preach.

There has not been a single class where I haven't learned material I could apply to my job. The program is ideal for teachers, but is not necessarily geared toward them. In my classes we’ve had teachers, business managers, corporate trainers, and all sorts of people. The program is highly project-oriented, and they encourage you to come up with projects in each class that you can directly apply to your job and current teaching. It has been an absolute thrill being in every single class, and I'm not embellishing when I say that. The professors are knowledgeable, and encourage collaborative, constructivist learning. And they just make it FUN to do the work, and it's highly educational at the same time!

Boise State is a pioneer in educational technology, due to the way their department is organized. From what I understand, they don't receive much, if any state funding, so they depend entirely on attracting new students and keeping ahead of the curve. They're able to deliver cutting edge courses like mobile learning and Second Life classes, or whatever happens to be current in educational trends. And yes, it is affordable, but don’t let the price fool you. They operate as an instructional design consulting firm as well, and produce classes for other school districts and educational institutions. They just launched their new 3d Game Lab (one of my Second Life classes was a beta tester), and are now using it for both curricular and extra-curricular workshops for teachers. The EDTECH Department has its hands in a lot of exciting projects, and I’ve even gotten involved in some through the Graduate Student Association, and have been able to work with some of the brightest and most innovative educators I’ve ever met.

My only complaint is that I don't currently have time to take more classes. But this is the only online ed tech program I've found that has a paid graduate assistantship program, where you can teach and aide for the university part-time and receive a full tuition waiver. As of this writing, they just got their EdD online and I intend to enroll in the program in the near future, especially if I can get the graduate assistantship. Also, as if a Master’s degree isn’t enough, you can also earn a graduate certificate of your choice while doing the M.ET. program.

In my opinion, you’d be crazy NOT to choose Boise State’s educational technology program. It truly is a rewarding, thrilling, top-notch graduate program, and it's recognized widely for its research and contributions...

An amazing place to acquire an education. I fully believe that anyone that enrolls in Boise State can achieve what they set their minds to. The professors can provide anything you need (as long as it’s not the math department).

I spent so many years at this University. I started at this university as someone who had already known the area really well. I thought I knew all the ‘ins and outs’ of any community BSU had to offer. I was as partially right as I was mostly wrong. The community here may seem like one that isn’t serious in most social ways but that is only because every student has a need to connect at this university outside of their studies.

If i have learned anything from outside my studies it’s that the people are a major portion of your studies. The small connections we make could mean so much to us in our careers down the line.

Stay at BSU and study hard. Talk to as many people as you can. Advance your future how you want. If this university isn’t for you, consider transferring and stay. You will have a great time with all of the people you connect with. You will find your way through avenues of education you may have never thought interesting to you. You might also find something you are good at that you enjoy, something we are all searching for.

Whether it’s higher education, a nice place to spend hiking in the summer, a place to connect with communities of people you would never talk to otherwise, or simply a place to learn. Boise State University surprised me with all of those. I was greatful to spend so many years there. If you are considering applying, I say go for it and don’t look back. Looking back is fiscally responsible, but looking forward might reveal other things we have all been searching...