John Carroll University

Wonderful university. Beautiful campus, talented staff. A great place to send your child or receive an education yourself.

I’m happy I got to spend time here and wouldn’t trade those years for something else. This university provides and promotes a safe and welcoming environment. The professors, advisers, deans, etc. that I interacted with were all very friendly to me, made a point to get to know and remember me as soon as possible, and provided any assistance requested always very willingly and with a smile.
For being a smaller school there are many departments and services offering opportunities to all students from Campus Ministry’s many offerings to student led groups. Whether through the club within your major (shout out to Psi Chi) or Greek life (shout out to the Eta Epsilon chapter of Beta Theta Pi) there was definitely an opportunity for involvement if you were willing to accept it.
The school is located in a great area a short drive from downtown Cleveland. You have access to great restaurants, great shopping, a state of the art health club, 4+ other academic campuses, many local housing options, and quick access to area businesses and health systems (for internships).
There are many areas through the various campus academic and nonacademic buildings that offer great quiet study areas — in addition to the library and your dorm lounge. Wifi worked for me well campus wide, mobiles worked well in the dorms and if you wanted a desktop Mac or ‘PCs’ those were available as well.
Over my time there of course there were small annoyances such as parking issues and the like, but looking back, I can say the university seems to have a good long-​term vision and that all of their construction and improvements (which may have had associated annoyances at the time) have led to a more beautiful and well maintained campus than the day I first stepped foot on it when I was still an 8^th grader. Well, maybe everything except the food.
All in all I loved it and recommend it. If you are a prospective student go for a visit day. If you are a community member check the event calendar and give something a shot whether it’s a play or a guest speaker open to the public.

Went to the Neon Tree’s concert here on an invitation. The campus seemed well maintained, security was amazing. I would like to see more things here.

has a good reputation in c-​town. yes, professors will notice if you miss class. you can walk into the financial aid building, knowing nothing about student loans and walk out fully funded.
classes are sporadically arranged. hopefully you are very good at logistics, so you can plan out exactly when to take which class, as some items may only be offered once every two years.
admission standards are very low. i know they school is losing money, they seem to be letting in anyone and letting them coast. widely known as a cover-​your-​ass mba program. some professors are nice, some are extremely arrogant and pompous-​playing favorites. cheating is rampant, especially among undergrads. grad classes are ridiculously easy. some of the papers i turned in would not have merited a C in high school yet earned me a 97 here. LOL.

I went here for my education classes (Case Western has a joint program with JCU) from August 2003-​December 2004. I took a total of 5 classes here. I was a commuter student and the extent of my involvement in non-​academic activities was limited to buying tickets for and attending the Ben Folds concert, so take this review with a grain of salt (especially if you’re a prospective student – I’m sure I would have liked the place a bit more if I lived on campus and made friends outside of class)
I highly recommend taking education classes with Dr. Kelly – he was one of the most influential professors that I ever had in my life. During my student teaching experience, he was incredibly supportive and understanding while simultaneously encouraging me to stretch myself. When I’m writing the story of my life, he will definitely be someone that I will consider as a major influence on my life. I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to study under him again.
I do wish, though, that the student body was a bit more hard-​working and intellectually curious. While I met some fantastic people who really worked hard in their classes and sought to make the most out of their educational experience, many of the students did not appear to place much importance on critical inquiry\critical thinking and discussion of ideas in class. I went here during the 2004 elections – one of the most contentious and monumental times in recent American history – and my frequent attempts to engender class discussion about the candidates’ education policies were met with either apathy or hostility. I would hope that the campus is a bit more engaged with the rise of Obama! Also, when we did class presentations, I frequently thought, «You’re really going to turn in *that*?», especially when I knew that they were capable of better work. I know I sound like a snotty elitist liberal, but it’s true.
Two very nice things about JCU are the close parking and the free printing. (The free printing may have changed, though). I went to Case Western, and the commuter lots are far away from the majority of the class buildings. JCU’s commuter lots were adjacent to the important buildings, which was very nice when I was running late (which happened almost every time I drove there). They also had unlimited free printing in the libraries\computer labs, which was a nice change from Case’s low limits on free printing.
All in all, I was pleased with the education that I received from JCU. I wouldn’t recommend it to a free-​thinking, artsy, out-​of-​the-​mainstream type of person though…

hit: strong education with great professors and small class sizes. miss: some professors are crazy. hit: campus located in residential community with everything needed in walking distance. miss: bars in walking distance. hit: beautiful campus and architecture. miss: parking. hit: living on warrensville miss: cops on warrensville. hit: «reading days.» miss: the bathrooms at quinn’s.