Hiram College

I transferred to Hiram from The University of Akron in the summer of 2012 and don’t think I’ve ever made a better decision in my life. The Weekend College (WEC) at Hiram is a fantastic program for working adults that has courses every other weekend for 7 weekends and then a 3 week session for three Saturdays in a row. They have a broad range of degree programs available for the WEC students, including the all-​important business programs.
The administration of the WEC is really what makes the program phenomenal. I don’t feel like I’m trying to figure out a foreign language when I’m registering for classes, and the advisors ACTUALLY advise about the courses you need to take. Even better, unlike my previous college, I’m not getting assigned to a new advisor several times a semester. To be perfectly honest, on my first visit to Hiram before I had enrolled, I was in tears (of joy). No one in the university setting in administration has EVER taken the time to get to know me, much less was interested in HELPING me accomplish my educational goals. I was floored and felt at home from the first day I set foot in the WEC office.
I’m an Accounting and Financial Management major, so most of my experience with the courses there are within that program. I have taken several courses outside of my major (Gen.Ed requirements) and all of them have been phenomenal. The professors are responsive and interested in furthering your career, not just teaching a class every other weekend. I have had two professors that I don’t particularly care for, but everyone else seemed happy with them. The exceptionally nice part is that you’re in small classes with fellow students who actually care about their education, and they are actually interested in getting to know one another. Because most of us are working adults, class discussions are actually valuable since their experiences aren’t limited to frat parties and their waitressing jobs.
One of the options you have as a WEC student is to stay in Gray Hall on the weekends that you’re in class. This is great, especially for people like me who live 40ish miles away. I stay on Friday and Saturday nights usually (getting up at 6am on a Saturday and then driving an hour for my first class in the morning is NOT appealing). The dorms are… well, they’re dorms. The beds are kinda terrible and the décor is definitely lacking, but considering that it saves me 80 miles of driving on college weekends, I’m definitely glad that it’s an option. Most people in the dorm are fairly respectful of the noise level, but the traditional college students can get quite noisy. Thankfully, they tend to drop the noise level by around 11pm, so it’s not too bad. Plus, a fan for ‘white noise’ makes sleeping through their fun easy.