Saginaw Valley State University — Attraction in Kochville Township

I graduated from SVSU in December 2023. I will try to answer/update a lot of the points people have brought up about SVSU.

Parking: The parking can be crowded even though there are huge parking lots. It can be frustrating especially if the weather is bad or if you have to be there late. However, if you’re arriving at 11 AM just accept the fact that you won’t get a spot in the lot close to your class and you’ll have to walk (5 minutes maybe) so dress appropriately. Just be glad you don’t have to pay for parking.

Salt/Plowing: In the winter they plow the sidewalks pretty regularly, but I would wear waterproof shoes because in between the cars can have deep snow from people cleaning off their cars and also because the plow can’t get the sidewalks entirely clean, usually half an inch of snow is left after the initial plowing. Some spots are slippery because of this so be careful. Salt only works at certain temperatures so that might be why it appears the salt is doing nothing. Typically once the snow goes away the salt is very abundant.

Teaching/ Classes: This really depends on your degree. Everyone is required to take classes such as Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, and Biology to get their degree. The Math and Physics Department is on parole for being so bad. I would recommend taking these classes as Delta as a guest student, the credits transfer over to SVSU and Delta is so much better at Math and Physics. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Biology: Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology. The Biology department is good, but as in the work force, it is divided into Cell/Molecular Biology and Ecology. This is great because it allows students to take classes that are more relevant to their passion, however, if your passion is Ecology, most of SVSU’s money and time is devoted to Cell/Molecular so it can be very challenging to find classes that fit in your schedule without conflicts, or classes that are offered period. However, if you TALK TO THE CHAIR OF YOUR DEPARTMENT they will HELP you. Please don’t sit around waiting for it to work. Overall, many of the teachers care about students and are excellent, but like anywhere there are some that don’t.

Academic Advising: I have heard many people complain about this. My recommendation is to go to academic advising your first two years every year, then in your third and fourth year, start doing academic advising with the chair of your department. The chair knows exactly what you need to take in their program, so once you have the Gen-Ed’s down, see the chair and they will guide you through what you need. They also tend to know what classes may be offered a year out which is helpful. You really can’t expect academic advising to know the specific details of every one of the programs.

Cost: I would recommend taking any classes that transfer over at Delta if you don’t have financial aid because Delta’s classes are ~$100 cheaper than SVSU’s per credit. If you do have financial aid, you can’t split it between the schools, so do as you see fit. It is typically $1000 or more for a 3 credit class not including books at SVSU.

The Bookstore: Don’t buy books from the bookstore. They are over priced and lately they have been having issues getting the books in. Even if you have Financial aid, don’t buy them there because it’s not a free $500, anything you don’t use is refunded so save your money and shop Amazon rentals, Chegg, and EBay. Even check the library, sometimes they have books you need for your classes. Also, make sure you’re shopping at least a month before classes start because if you procrastinate and you get your books late that’s your fault. Also, I would recommend waiting a bit in some classes or talking to people who took the class before because a lot of the teachers list books as recommended, but they never use them. In my last year at SVSU I spent $0 on textbooks, I got them all from the library.

SVSU is a great school if you ask for help in many places and take your education in...

I went here for my undergrad several years ago. It was a great value relative to the competition. Realistically, the vast majority of people live locally and are commuting. But if you're like me and lived further away when you went to school here, odds are you won't get a better deal for living on campus. The normal tuition was the cheapest in the state, at least when I started going there.

They also have almost-studio-apartment-sized dorms that you can rent out for just yourself, or spacious townhouses to share with one bedroom per person. They're much nicer dorms than most other campuses, especially compared to places like MSU.

Now here's the main caveat to this though. As I said earlier, it's very much a regional/commuter school. You won't find much activity at night here. And while there are clubs and extracurriculars, there will be less overall involvement compared to schools where most students are there all the time. While there is some local activity that connects to the school, there is no real college town to walk to from campus. This is especially apparent if you live on campus and don't have a car. For much of my education here, I was carless and was unable to go anywhere outside of what the campus had to offer.

Still the campus itself has a convenience store and various restaurants, and that made things much more livable until I owned a car later on in my schooling.

Class sizes are small with it being a smaller school, so you can talk to your professors easily and receive personal help and attention as needed. I majored in computer science and my professors were good overall. You get some good ones and some bad ones of course though. That's how it is anywhere. But I'm happy with how my education went. They have a good teaching...

Currently I don't go to this university, but i'm considering applying in the summer. Yesterday (4/21/18), I visited the university to know more information about it. I like the size of the campus, and the various organizations you can join to improve your campus staying. Additionally, I like the different dorm room layouts you can choose from. However, I thought they could've improved on their cafeteria food. I tried the breadsticks and they were so oily! The cafeteria offers other food options to choose from though. The campus features a built in convenience store, Starbucks, Papa Johns, and Einstein Bagels.

Edit: I actually became a student at SVSU, and have been staying here for the past five months. I love how they don't have a fraternity or sorority on campus. Personally, I tend to think that those organizations are more destructive, than actually helpful to the surrounding community.

One major dislike I have about SVSU is the cost of attendance. They stress that they are the most affordable university in the state of Michigan, but I realized when coming here, it costs roughly $20,000 to attend for a year (including room and board). Because of this factor, I'm transferring semesters. Even with financial aid, it's still expensive to attend.

It can cost you anywhere between $30,000-$90,000 for four years, if you are an in-state student. They do provide a lot of job opportunities on campus, if you want to decrease that cost. Some professors are hit or miss. The food at SVSU could be a lot BETTER! it's always the same three meals: sandwiches, burritos, and like a random...