Cleveland State University — Attraction in Cleveland

I began my career at CSU in fall 2019 in electrical engineering then switched my major to EET during the 2020-21 academic year, graduating in May 2024. Overall, CSU is a good school, a lot cheaper than many other institutions yet still offering a quality education. While some of my professors were subpar at best, I also had many great professors who went the extra mile to connect with their students and make lectures interesting and engaging. I also met people from all walks of life and have made several lifelong friends.

The reason I rate CSU only 4 stars is because of how the current leadership is running (and ruining) the place. During my time at CSU, I was a residential student, having stayed in Euclid Commons during 2019-20 then again from 2020-21, and in fall 2021 I moved to the Langston, which at the time was NOT owned by CSU. A year after I moved there, much to the dismay of its residents, it was acquired by CSU in an attempt to transform the university into something it isn't: a residential campus. CSU has always been a commuter school since its establishment in the 1960s and I feel like the current leadership is trying to change that. Since CSU's acquisition of the Langston, not only has rent drastically increased, but tenants are also subject to the same BS rules imposed in the dorms, and each floor has RA's who will enter your apartment/unit without warning (which I'm pretty sure is illegal) and clearly have nothing better to do with their lives than make everyone else miserable. There's also security vehicles that drive around at night with strobe lights that shine into the windows. While I understand the need for the security vehicles, can they please be more considerate of people who are trying to sleep and maybe turn off their lights?

While I was able to extend my lease at The Langston 6 months post-graduation, I was forced to vacate a month early as I wasn't willing to pay $800 to keep my garage space the last 3 months. $800 SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? FOR 3 MONTHS??? That means I'm paying almost $270/month just to park my car! Not to mention the rent for the apartment itself is already over $1k/month. A bit outrageous if you ask me, especially when prior to CSU taking over the rent was under $900 a month INCLUDING the garage!

With that aside, overall I had a great experience at CSU. The campus is decently sized, and all the main buildings are connected by the "Innerlink", which is especially convenient during the cold winter months. I regret not taking advantage of more of the programs offered to students, and wish I had spent more time at the state-of-the-art rec center. The good news is, if you don't mind forking over more money to CSU, the rec does offer an alumni pass (I think it's $44/month, which isn't bad), although depending on how far you are from campus it may or may not be worth it. Just know if you plan on living on-campus, you may want to consider checking out other nearby housing, as it may be less expensive in the long run. Rumor has it CSU might sell The Langston back to its original owner due to financial difficulties they won't tell you about, which would probably be for the better.

P.S. If you need to take physics, I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Ulrich Zurcher. He's hands-down one of the best professors at CSU. His exams are tough, but he's extremely passionate about the subject and really cares about his students. I had to retake PHY221 not once but twice, and it was because of him not only did I pass, but I gained a better understanding of...

Ever since I started at CSU, things have been an absolute mess. None of the departments seem to be in contact with each other very well, so it often times causes confusion and conflicting information. A lot of the staff members are hit or miss. Mostly miss. I've been paired with a lot of staff members who don't seem to care or respect students and would rather give you the runaround for information, ultimately causing time related issues for the student. Mr.Almony from the All-in-one services department is a good example of this.

Additionally, a lot of staff members in important positions are not qualified at all. A good example is my current academic advisor. When first contacting her, she seemed confused as if she was never notified I was a student she was paired with. I had to give my student ID and information about my major multiple times over email because she forgot. Then she made an appointment for me that I never approved then asked me where I was at the supposed appointment time. Y'know, the one I never made! Then just recently she suggested a class to me that directly conflicted with the time of my other class. How does this even happen?

Don't bother going to the CARE team either. I promise you, they do not care, they will cause you mental distress, and they are only qualified to redirect you back to the departments you were just at. I was paired with Ms.Camilya who spent the entire session shutting me down because I had concerns about how I was being treated in a different department. She took my frustration as attitude and thought it was necessary to project and give unsolicited life advice while treating me like I was an incompetent child. She also tried to pin the blame on me for supposedly misunderstanding a detail regarding financial aid. "You're angry at yourself so you're taking your frustration out on people who don't deserve it" are some of the exact words she said to me. If she had just spent the time listening to what I had to say, I would have explained the reason I was frustrated is tied back to not being given information in a timely manner by other departments. This prevented me from being able to make a decision about classes before it was too late to drop them, causing a financial burden. I walked out of that office crying my eyes out and feeling more uncared for than when I went in. She needs some serious training when it comes to handling student issues and should not be on the CARE team. There should NEVER be an instance where a student is silenced in a department that is supposed to listen to student problems and coming to resolutions.

Just today, they removed U-Pass for students which is also unacceptable in a university that has a majority commuter population. The President's response is also unacceptable as they should have had a plan that would allow students to get reduced or free RTA passes.

The only good thing I can say about this university so far is that the professors I've had and the classes I've been taking are enjoyable. There are also a few good faculty members, but they are very few and far between it seems based on my experience so far.

If you have a choice, don't come to CSU unless you enjoy being stressed out all the time because no one is...

I am an alumni. B.S. Chemical Engineering 2008, M.S. Biomedical Engineering 2012. I chose CSU as my undergrad school over Case Western because Case is ridiculously expensive and I received a full scholarship to CSU. My mother told me I could choose whatever school I wanted but if I passed the scholarship up for 40k+ a year in debt she would kill me. Thanks mom, you were right as always!

The Chemical and Biomedical Engineering departments are outstanding. Great faculty, small class sizes, professors that legitimately care about the students but also won't put up with BS from students that aren't taking their own (or their classmates') education seriously. The head of the BME department at the time had a major impact on my life. He personally took interest in helping me get a full scholarship during the second year of my M.S. (Choose Ohio First scholarship), helped me land a Teaching Assistant position AND a fantastic internship. THANK YOU!

CSU is not perfect though. I had some bad professors (and also excellent ones) in the math and physics departments. That is hard to avoid at any school. Many of the school departments are much, much bigger than mine so you may lose some of the personal interest from professors when your graduating undergrad class is more than 12 like mine. I tried to make use of the career center multiple times but they were not helpful in job searching. Also the Fenn College of Engineering (now the Washkewicz College of Engineering) building is woefully old and dated. It's so bad that in my second year in 2006 a metal fence had to be put about 10 - 15 feet in front of the building facade so no one would be injured by the crumbling concrete. I wish I was joking. The engineering labs were also filled with old equipment, the classrooms were missing technology that is standard in other schools like projectors. Note that this was all before the very generous donation from Mr. Washkewicz so I hope things have improved. The only other complaint I have is that my graduation requirements changed a couple times during my B.S. and I had a VERY difficult time finding out if I was on track for graduation. In fact I wasn't sure that I was going to graduate until I got confirmation about a month before graduation!

Even with these complaints I had a great experience at CSU, which is why I went back for my M.S. after briefly considering Ohio State University. It was my professors and department that made the decision easy, they had a great positive effect on my life and I owe a...