Queens College, City University of New York — Attraction in New York

I graduated from QC in 2013, but am a bit ambivalent about the school even after 3 years for a few reasons: as a transfer Biology student who didn't meet the ridiculous transfer requirements, I was forced to re-take various classes I had no desire or need to. Their goal was to make a well rounded adult capable of communicating in various fields, but as a Biology undergrad, working 50 hours a week, and desperate to graduate, I had NO NEED to learn poetry, classical music or art. By forcing me to take dozens of useless credits in outside fields, that ended up costing me a lot of money, I was unable to take classes I ACTUALLY WANTED AND NEEDED for furthering my career such as advanced statistics, programming, etc. I took no pleasure in those courses, so what was the point of taking them? But the school is cheaper than most and offers a good deal. Another major complaint is about the Biology department itself: signing up for classes back in those days required one to be in front of the department at the earliest time possible when registration began since online signup wasn't possible, and later on when it became a reality, the system for transfer students still didn't recognize you had met pre-reqs forcing you to travel into the department. If you weren't there early in the morning in a line, most likely you wouldn't be able to sign up for a class you needed for graduation, making it impossible to graduate in time! The secretaries WEREN'T NICE, and the actual head of the department is to this very day the most socially awkward and insensitive person I have met in higher education. In fact, rudeness and exasperation was a constant part of the campus life. If it depended on faculty alone (all departments), QC would deserve 5 stars. The classes were definitely tough, but the professors (barring a few) were for the most part spectacular with well designed and interesting courses. In the Bio department: Take anything by Baker, Waldman (excellent), Boissinot (hard to understand), Lahti (excellent) and Vesanen (careful of Vesanen! - he's known as the toughest professor at QC teaching Anatomy and Physiology and Immunology - rumored as the toughest courses in the entire school; he's also not very understanding of students); stay clear of these if you can - Melendez, Savage-Dunn, Fath, (mostly because they simply present the material in the most boring way possible) Ma (rude, not helpful, uninterested, awkward, now the head of the department) and Zakeri (She does good research and I thought her class was unbelievably interesting BUT thoroughly disorganized; I refused to even waste my time talking to her due to her rudeness and lack of respect for students who raised valid points during her lecture. She was the only professor at QC without a working syllabus. That is BIG NO in the...

I’ve attended and visited various CUNY schools, Queens College is currently the worst on my list.

What i’ve noticed is that transfers students face more difficulty in Queens College (QC) than New students (attending QC right after high school). Transfer Students always want to make sure their on track, taking the right classes, questioning why they have to take courses they’ve already taken, needing an advisor, etc. Fine, you can say we’re quite needy. I’m sure new students face these issues as well; however, they’re just not as needy as us. However, we’re never getting a direct solution to those simple issues.

Our issues are constantly ignored, there’s no administrative staff willing to help. Seems like they make bets to see which one can get rid of you quicker by sending you to another department or treating you like an imbecile. There’s a huge risk with the professors you take and the hours available for classes. Some professor know the material by heart & are Amazing! Other professors are completely useless and ignorant, you’ll pass the class and will not even know what you should’ve learned. I rarely see security around the campus & the public safety office seems like a complete waste. Some times there’s no guard by the gates. No guard asks for ID upon entrance or walk around the building.

If this is a real “bang for your buck” school, then I must be too cheap for not investing more money on valuable...

This is a great school, I loved it, but I have had a false bill on my records. I have always paid my bills except the last semester which was in 2009. And every month, I checked and they told me, that is all I owed. Well in December 2013, the registrar lady told me I owed in 2008 and 2005. I told her, that is a lie...even the bill they sent to the collection agency was just my last bill bill (2009). But she was defiantly arrogant and self-righteous in having me to pay something I already paid for. She insisted I bring a proof that is probably over 5 years and it was already cleared. I mean I was at the bursar every month since 2005...how is it I would not have known it or brought to my attention or a mail or a phone call till recently. Do yourself a favor, and go to another school. You don't want to finish paying and 10 years later, they still stamp a bill in your name and demand proofs. This is the worst scheme and nobody is willing to do anything even though they understand the situation. The president is unreachable and the bursar people are rude...otherwise it is a great school,...