Spalding University — Attraction in Louisville

TL;DR: It's a private university, not great, not bad, but kinda bad, but mostly frustrating enough for me to leave - and I'm a military veteran student with consistent A or B grades. I attended some undergrad here in pursuit of a PhD in physical therapy. It's okay in some ways, but I decided to leave because I found the overall experience to be unsatisfactory and very frustrating both in and out of the classroom. STEM classes are brutal in a 6-week format unless the professor is exceptionally good at it.

About half my professors were somewhat incompetent (as in couldn't provide basic definitions for certain things, in one instance; another was straight up incorrect info being presented as fact which I proved in 30 seconds when challenged - it was political in nature which shouldn't even be in the classroom to begin with) or stubbornly forced cumbersome and unnecessary practices like refusing to release study material or assignments ahead of time or failing to provide extra practice material. For instance, one professor made the week's assigned readings and homework available to view on a Monday afternoon, but required it be completed by Saturday night. That's about 36 hours per week of denying me access to the material. As a working adult especially, that is a wildly disrespectful of students' time - and this professor did not budge when I or any other students asked about it while never shutting up about their own accomplishments. The undergrad courses are in a 6-week accelerated format, so that kind of blatant disregard for the students' time is completely unacceptable. I have since transferred to another university.

Oh yeah, and one professor in a health science class who was also a registered nurse required students to answer questions about sensitive health data into a group spread sheet, then emailed the entire class with the key indicating exactly who answered what. It was a major breach of confidentiality, and they should not have been allowed to ask such questions to begin with, imo. I reached out the chair, and they didn't give a single crap. So, you know, probably don't trust an organization that has zero regard for health data and confidentiality. I even tried to get an alternate assignment a couple times because of this very breach of confidentiality, but the professor refused and instead kept arguing with me about how "it doesn't matter that they're not a licensed therapist" and I still have to answer about private, personal mental health and other information.

To be fair, there were some good professors, and the one that stood out the most to me was Dr. Doyle. She handled her biology course with superb finesse and expertise. It was definitely one of the most difficult courses I've done, but she was always on point in terms of providing a clear and concise syllabus, scheduled assignments, exams, etc., so you could prepare, plan, and succeed as long as you put the work in. If every professor conducted themselves like her, then this would be one of the best universities in the state. Dr. Doyle should give a masterclass in teaching college courses.

I was going to just let it all go without a review, but hearing about the plights of some friends dealing with some nonsense at Spalding made me reconsider. For such a small class size, it seems the trend among some program leadership and professors is to be irrationally stubborn and inflexible and like I noted, disregard confidentiality and punish you with grade penalties for objecting - but perhaps that's just the human condition. Oh, and the dean loves to send out mass emails to students about the flavor of the week regarding politics, and it's always one-sided. Get over yourself, lady. Your job is not to dictate politics to the students. I don't like the business structure of universities to begin with, and I definitely have no tolerance for one that shoves political jargon down...

This school has been the biggest waste of a year and $40,000 of tuition, room & board, and supplies. If I could give it 0 stars I would and I would highly suggest had anyone planning to attend here rethink their choice. Just because they give you a scholarship does NOT make it worth it. There are plenty of other schools that offer the same degree for a better quality of education. Staff(professors, advisors, financial aid, food service, etc.) are all rude. I wish I was joking. Staff of all types are either blatantly rude or just ignore you when you have concerns/questions. As a freshman having to live on campus(Morrison Hall), Residential Advisors(RA’s) are extremely disconnected and don't keep confidentiality on problems they are suppose to, causing gossip and unnecessary tension. Morrison itself is also filthy. Residents do not clean up after themselves and each floor is always trashed and common areas(such as the basement/kitchen) are constantly having items broken/stolen by other residents. Quiet Hours are a joke and most RAs claim handling situations, “aren’t there job”, leaving assistance unreachable do to staff only being obtainable from Monday-Friday from about 10-4. We have been out of hand soap in 2 dispenses in the shared bathroom for over a month. I WISH I was joking. I wish this was some sick prank. On top of that, the idea of a 6 week class is fine until you have an underprepared professor, or have zero take away from the class itself. Due to the sessions being 6 weeks and have 3, per semester with a week in between it also makes it impossible to transfer after one semester. Since there is a split between session 3, and winter break. Making other university’s semesters start/end about 2 weeks different than Spaldings. Meaning, you would fail up to 2 classes if you decide to transfer mid year. If you are considering starting here as an undergraduate. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE reconsider. Do not waste your time or your money. There are other schools that would be worth the extra hundreds-thousands of dollars. Do not waste...

I had an appointment there today. The staff I talked to during the appointment were great. I left my phone there by accident. The building my appointme was locked. I couldn't all them because my phone was inside. When I tried to get help from students and staff outside they were all stuck up and ignored me. I think one may have called security on me instead of helping me. After about fifteen minutes of this a student helped me get in the building to get my phone. I hope all the staff and students who were rude and ignored me get treated the same way next time they are somewhere...