Brooklyn College

Although BC is not known as a top college out there, I found it to be up there with the best. They really care about all the students. I got a great education there and highly recommend it.

They will do whatever they can to slow you down and make sure you don’t graduate on time. Registering for classes has been an issue during my entire stay here. Important classes often overlap each other and offer only 1 section, essentially cementing you to the college for at least another year because you can’t take both. Why a year? Because the classes are often only offered once a year, and to make things worse, the classes are usually SMALL. They do NOT care at all. The advisers will constantly recommend you not take more than 12 credits. They want to keep you here forever. This instruction probably comes from above their heads. At the end of the day it’s a cash grab. This is the biggest scam since schools forcing everyone to take remedial classes.

Dirty, tiny «dorm» room in a dangerous part of town for an outrageously high price (higher than NYU). From what I’ve seen, this place looks like a real estate (slumlord) parading as a school.
Zero assistance from anyone in the financial aid area. Unsure how they stay in business
(as the main revenue stream seems to be dorm rentals, not education). Costs are about 22k/​yr for room and board, and about 12k/​yr for tuition. Classes are better than the «dorm», as good as a Community College

I’m a proud graduate of the City University of New York both undergraduate (Hunter) and Brooklyn.
I earned a Master of Science degree from BC in 1974. That was quite a while ago and I still remember some of the wonderful teachers. I never had a problem interacting with the staff in the offices. The teachers always had appointments available. I used to ride my bike from another part of Brooklyn where I lived to the campus. It was safe. I hope it’s still that way.
I am very sorry to read from so many current students that things have changed dramatically and not for the better. Perhaps these disenchanted people can come up with solutions instead of just complaining.

Amazing campus and ground. Gorgeous aesthetic fFacade. The inside of the buildings however are old and remind me of a dirty old high school. There are barely any study lounges for students to relax and socialize. The level of education isn’t the best. Unfriendly professors who aren’t the least bit interested in mentoring their students.

I was in the music department and earned about 60 credits while at Brooklyn College. I’ve also had the displeasure of attending Queens College for half a semester. So, basically if you are in the arts, I would avoid all of CUNY. For starters, the Core curriculum will take away any time you have between classes. Lecture classes with an average of 200 students were common. I think the Professors at the Film school are even worse than the Music department, but I’m not sure which is worse. So, my review is a warning for any potential students in the arts to stay away from CUNY. I finally went to a decent, but private art school and actually benefited from the experience.

Brooklyn college! I adore you so much! In terms of scenery I would rank it number two right behind Kingsborough community college. The professors on campus are ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ some can be awesome others could be a total pain. The curriculum depending on your major can be rather demanding at times but worth it! I recommend this college!

This is my second semester and I’m starting to wonder how this school is even accredited. Its basically a glorified, poorly run community college. Attending classes here feels like being in the 13^th grade, complete with actual bullies, students who talk through classes, and teachers and staff so disheartened by an awful work environment that anyone employed here for more than a few seconds has basically stopped making any effort at all.
Undergraduate classes are taught at a pretty low level. You won’t learn much. And grading is often arbitrary. So, while its easy to earn a B, earning an A is based on your ability to decipher the convoluted puzzle presented by your professor and luck. Trying to get help from them during office hours is usually a waste of time. They’re not even required to hold office hours so some don’t and others just sweep you out the door.
As others have mentioned, the class registration is made to be so difficult and class seats and sections are so limited its unlikely you’ll be able to graduate on time no matter what you do. Every time I try to enroll in classes I get some error message preventing me and by the time I’m able to induce any staff member to help me, at least one class has closed out.
Attempting to interact with staff here and induce them to do their jobs is an experience on par with interacting with the customer service of a cable company or the staff of the DMV. Emails aren’t returned. Basic services that other schools across the country provide are just not provided here including things like a new student orientation or a career center. (The «Magner Career Center» here is really just a room. The staff direct you to the center’s website, which only displays error messages.) You’re very much on your own to find employment or internships in a unfavorable employment environment while the students/​graduates whose schools help them hold a considerable competitive advantage. So by the time you have graduated from this school (and a small minority do) you’ll be in a poor position to be employed since your resume won’t have the internships or relevant work experience that other schools’ students will have. You’ll basically have a useless degree.
The library lacks even one room for quiet reading so studying here is virtually impossible. The students just use it like a student lounge. The other day I saw a group of students playing poker with music on in there. There are a lot of computers in the library, as paid for by your technology fee. But mostly students just use them to watch movies and play video games. Ive learned to just hunker down on a bench on an upper floor of a lecture building anytime I need to read or study.
The tuition is certainly lower than private universities. But so is it at all the other SUNYs and CUNYs. I had previously gone to SUNY Geneseo which is a functional college where I was able to learn things and graduate in four years. This doesn’t even compare in terms of what you get for your money. On top of the tuition there are a lot of fees that go towards what, I’m not sure. Activities and clubs that are invisible. And services that don’t exist.
The one bright side is the exterior appearance. The modern buildings are unfortunate. But the three brick buildings that were built during the 30’s are nice-​looking on the outside. And the grounds crew seem to be the one department that put in real effort. You won’t find one piece of garbage on the lawn or a flake of snow on the sidewalks, oddly enough.

Hmm, where do I even begin with Brooklyn College? I transferred here back in Fall 2013 and I can’t say my experience has been a breeze thus far. The administration here is TERRIBLE, to say the least. The people working at the registrar&bursar are extremely nasty and rude. I’ve heard some feedback about other departments but it’s ashamed that the administration within the Business department is disgraceful. The woman who answers the phone sounds like she hates her job. I’ve called numerous times to ask for a professors email or office hours and the same woman says she doesn’t know and can’t help me. Oh, I’m sorry but last I checked I was calling the business department so who can help me then?
If you have any financial aid questions, GOOD LUCK. The tap coordinator is almost impossible to get in contact with. You could leave 20 messages and still never get a response, how wonderful is that?!
Class registration is a mess. The departments offer the smallest amount of sections and seats especially for the most popular majors. Don’t even bother with an over tally either because the likelihood of getting one is slim to none.
Now don’t get me wrong, the professors are pretty good. I’ve only had one bad experience with a professor so far and it’s safe to say I will never take a class with her again. I don’t mind attending BC because of it’s convenient location but I definitely want to avoid coming back here for grad school.

Outside of the school is very nice but the staff is rude and unhelpful. Stay away from the seek program for financial aid or else you’ll be one of the last people to register for classes. Also the benchmarks are annoying. Community is good but to me, this school was not what I expected: which was to be helpful to students to get through college life here. I don’t know how this school was rated one of the best, apparently I was fooled.

I give it 4 stars because it is a nice school, the professors are good and you can learn a lot from the classes. However I had trouble with Cuny First and now I made a petition about it. If you could pass the word along and sign it that would be great.

Worst school I’ve ever been to. Ever. Good luck learning anything except how to hate bureaucrats.

This college is close to my home so that was a plus. Besides that be careful what major you sign up in.
Brooklyn College has great majors in relation to writing. If you major in social science courses like, Political Science you will definitely learn something. Most of the teachers will be very helpful.
Business Department has a lot of ups and downs. Beware of some professors. Even when they are praised on Rate my professor as being great teachers, a lot of them end up being sucky professors, because the finals are departmental and half of the stuff you learned during the semester do not apply to the final.
Brooklyn College has the worst and most heartless accounting departments, I have ever been ashamed to be majoring in. The faculty does not care. They are not helpful. The college does not offer tutoring for most of the advanced accounting courses. In most of the classes the teachers run on about their lives, they then end up rushing through the materials. They pile students up with homework, which most of the time does not relate to anything learned in class. You will end up seating at home crying because you have no idea what the heck you’re doing. The teachers just do not give a F**k about the students.
In fact most of the professors at Brooklyn College are only there to get paid. They really could not care if the student fails are passes. I transferred from university and it is really a huge difference. At university the professors just seemed more interested in helping. I guess since they are banking in a private institution they know they have to show they are working. Not at Brooklyn College. They pressure students into doing teacher evaluations, that honestly mean nothing. I cry myself to sleep because I am stuck to complete one more year at this hell hall. Sometimes you will catch teachers walking through the halls with their heads down because that’s how much they hate being there.
Choose wisely before deciding on this place.

Use public transportation parking is horrible The college offers free GED and ESL courses. There is a recreation center that has 2 weight rooms. There are indoor pool, racquetball & basketball courts.

Horrible college and CUNY needs to start getting with the future. I have been in this school for about three semesters and it’s the worse I’ve been through. I transferred from Kingsborough Community College which in all honesty, I thought was much better than this place. I did not find Brooklyn College courses difficult at all, it was all the same thing. The problem is the damn professors who are WORSE than my previous college.
On a more personal, I am quite disappointed in myself to have already spent over $ 9,000 in tuitions in the last semesters I’ve been here in this school. It was such a waste of time and the professors are so extra. MasteringBiology for Biology? As if everything else isn’t expensive already. Like I said, I wasted my own time and regretted it. The curriculum here is intense and they do not give many options for academics. This college is just like any other NYC college with a 3.5 star and yeah I get we all have bad experiences everywhere, but if you’re going to go to a horrible college in this city, might as well go to one that actually HAS options like City Tech and City College both offer a variety of majors you can choose from. Brooklyn College limits itself to medical, some computer science and barely any other thing you may want to do…
With some pros, Brooklyn College has very convenient bus stops, a very beautiful campus and the courses are not very difficult if you are coming from a community college.
Of course, there are more cons: College is filthy. No toilet seat covers. Always out of paper towels in bathroom. Ingersoll smells like dead animals on the second floor all the time. No chairs to sit anywhere. You cannot enter library with a ID card with a sticker from last semester (what?) The staff and phone people are rude and hang up on you after they THINK they helped you. There is no AC in some parts of the buildings. There is almost no WIFI everywhere except the library and almost no phone service anywhere except outside. The BK College portal is sloppy and messy, and CUNYFirst makes it worse. Instructor feedback reports never load.
Projector/​laptop/​biology equipment s always wrecked or non-​working. They charge you money to print anything even half a piece of paper. Dangerous, annoying, busy street to cross to the other side. You cannot enter computer labs at all.
I don’t know how some of these professors were hired here. A lot are unreasonable and overly strict. I had one who gave questions about a topic she hasn’t done yet and she still graded us for those questions saying she’s the boss.
If you’re paying out of your own pocket, tuition is still pretty steep here but a lot cheaper than many places you might consider going to. For a school that I was told that focuses a lot on computing majors, their academics is very limited for everything and doesn’t even have a graphic design degree offering. It’s all culture and history and language academics.
And lastly, Bedbugs. yes. bedbugs everywhere. BEWARE.
Update 5÷15÷2014: Now just so everyone knows how cocky and extremely tedious professors are in this college, I was taking a biology course exam. This professor’s «rules» were no questions during exams, period. When I received the test and flipped the page, I realize that there was a VERY bad error on the test, where the front and back both had the same set of questions. When I raised my hand to speak to someone, her class assistants there to help hand out tests kept saying «no questions». At that point, I really wanted to punch either of them in the face. When the exam ended, I handed in the test and tried to tell the professor. She said «Not now. I’m busy and don’t have time to answer questions.» Yeah. this is what happened to me.
Might I also state that I don’t want to sound racist, but the faculty here tends to be more helpful to students of Jewish faith based on my experiences. If not that, then they care about absolutely no one and aren’t helpful. Any recent 2014 poor reviews will reflect to me here. Like another reviewer said, rarely do people actually graduate from this college. I’m one of those who transferred OUT of Brooklyn College.
EDIT 9÷3÷2014: My sister attends this college and she is required to take an online quiz for a class that’s worth 5% of her grade. She takes the paper home which states DO NOT USE Google Chrome or IE as the quiz ONLY and I mean ONLY works on Firefox. While I can argue that *most* people nowadays don’t bother with IE, Chrome is quite popular. This may be great for people who don’t care, but any kind of web content that is dedicated only to one browser, in my opinion, is poor standards. and a hassle.

I graduated here wayyyyy back in 2002 but I recently attended in summer 2013 for precalculus. Here is my experience:
PROS:
Fairly cheap tuition cost (great value for the dollar — this is the most important for me — VALUE $$)
Lots of commuting options (bus, train, drive, bike ride, walk)
Fairly liberal professors (outside of sciences of course). You can speak your mind and not be called out for it. At least I did — making lots of politically incorrect statements while the students scoffed but the professor tolerated it.
Good student clubs to fit your own interest (your own ethnicity, religion, hobby, etc.)
Great looking girls from all races here. Many are friendly! About 10 girls for every 4 guys is what I consistently see. This is great if you want to snag yourself a hottie (or two! hehe!) without much competition ;)
There are also cute boys for all you girls to mingle with. I mention this because dating is an integral part of being in your 20s. Young people like to have a boy or girlfriend and a relationship at this time. Don’t discount the social aspect of your college years. Enjoy them.
CONS:
There is a small amount of bureaucracy here but it’s far better now in 2014 than it was in the 90s and 2000s.
Ugly school colors — burgundy red (old people color) and that hideous logo that looks like it was made out of nail polish by a junior high school kid.
Student housing (the campus housing) is contracted out by BC from a sleazy landlord. You can read the reviews online about him and management of the property. Do not stay there. If you want to stay nearby, just rent out a real apartment with real tenant rights. It’s actually cheaper than student housing.

This is a school that is sometimes a hit and many times a miss — here’s why:
PROS
Some really invested faculty — I’ve had professors who are extremely passionate about geology and education, and it makes the course a good learning experience
Scenery — this campus is really picturesque and stands out starkly from the neighborhood
Small class/​seminar size is convenient — you can definitely get to know your professor
Well-​stocked library system with beautiful interior, top technology, and convenient inter-​library loan system
CONS
Some questionable faculty…
Frequent website issues with Portal and Blackboard
Terrible surrounding neighborhood — Flatbush/​Bushwick
Not many great food options on and around campus
Terrible permissions/​registration process
Right next to Midwood high school means a lot of trolling teenagers
Small class selections
Bottom Line — If you experienced a big, top 10 academics traditional college setting, you will find this school to be too easy and not very exciting. On the flip-​side, if you are not the most prepared for college or want a good commuter school, this would be a better fit.

I love my alma mater, especially after the renovations and facility upgrades. I never did enjoy the grounds itself, always running from one class or event to the next. Yes, Brooklyn has grass! I can’t forget to mention the lily pond. The library is absolutely amazing, so is the West Quad and Student Center. I can’t speak on the faculty, but the professors I had in the Journalism program were great. Some of the classrooms are a bit outdated but I think it preserves the College’s rich history. I am a proud alum!

I’m Alumni and I graduated a while ago but I enjoyed my time at Brooklyn College.
This isn’t a party school, it is a straight forward, no nonsense institution that caters to the commuter class kids.
Can it be easy here to get good grades? Of course, if you decide to take the minimal amount of credits and fool around in art appreciation then spend your time sunning yourself on the quad, yes, it will be stupid easy. But if you are serious about your major there are loads of opportunities to take accelerated courses and extra credit sessions with the Professors. I highly doubt that everyone finding it so easy is a super genius, because if that is so, why aren’t they at Yale or Harvard? That being said, many fellow classmates I knew did move on to Yale and Harvard for graduate school.
When I attended, the campus was just beginning to build itself up. There are many buildings that are now beautiful that were really old fashioned when I attended.

I’m an Alumna. How can you not love this place! Considered the poor man’s Harvard… Meaning you get the biggest bang for your buck. Definitely pleased with the education I received.
FYI– Everyone knows Masters of Arts in I/​O Psychology is the best program at BC (#imjustsaying) lols