Bradley University Top Questions

What are the academics like at your school?

Brittany

Because Bradley is such a small school it is very easy to know professors names. Students study hard and are competitive in the classroom. Public Relations is a great major and the communications department is amazing.

Dana

Academics at Bradley are great. Again, because it's a small school most or all of your professors will know your name. My favorite class was probably, painting. I'm an art major but I wasn't required to take it. But the teacher was great and she really gives you personal attention. My least favorite class was Oceanography. For a 300 level class there was WAY too much information to retain for each test and the tests were the only grades in the class. Students study to varying degrees, depending on their major(s). Because I was an art major, I spent my time doing artwork instead of studying. But I had lots of sorority sisters who were nursing, accounting or English majors and they spent a lot of time studying. Class participation is very common, but again it depends on the class and your major. Bradley has high academic requirements for it's students. They expect a lot out of you and that makes you work harder and achieve more. The education at Bradley is definitely geared towards getting a job. They have a great career center and professors are always willing to talk to you about job opportunities in your desired field. Bradley really prides itself on the amount of graduating students who graduate with a job.

Jody

My favorite class by far was british writers. It was in the afternoon so I could get a nap in before class. The teacher was very entertaining and above all the sotries that we were required to read were of a variety that made reading them not so bad. A lot of people don't know how to study coming into college, so to start off the year I don't think there is too much studying going on. But by the end of the semester on second semester I saw a change in people to start studying more. The library was quite the hotspot during that period of a crunch time.

Reese

Professors know you by name, generally due to the small class size. Participation ensures a solid grade. The education is more geared toward getting a job - I'm a senior and I don't feel I'm nearly prepared enough for a career in my major.

Carolyn

I love my Finance professors, lots of competitiveness to get good grades, geared towards getting a job

Vanessa

Teachers will push you most of the time and care about their students. For the most part they expect a lot from you and want to see you succeed. But yeah... but like anything else there are exceptions...

Cody

I really like the Communications department because all of the professors I've studied under have had a wealth of knowledge and experience with all of the software applications we've used.

Laura

Professors know your name and remember you, I have even had the same professor multiple times within my major allowing us to also develop a friendship. Most of the major classes get right to the point of your subject except for a few education classes. The gen eds are more pointless and taught in a lecture hall.

Brittany

bio classes are hard... chemistry dep't needs better teachers. some classes are mis-labeled... i took soc 300 "Ppl and Cultures of the NonWestern World" and all we talked about were musical styles of tiny underdeveloped villages in Africa.... not what the name leads you to think of... it is competitive... class participation is decent... some professors very helpful... Dr. Craig Cady is the best teacher at Bradley... a total genius, a great teacher, and someone who will sacrifice his time to help you understand anything... personally, i would consider him a friend.

Kyle

Come to the school if you plan on being a Communications, Engineering (minus civil- that department is in serious need of a revamp), or an Accounting major. The rest of the majors are pretty awful. I went as a civil engineer, against the advice of many people I knew. I transferred to the Business school 2 months later, as a finance major. It too was a mistake. I know every finance professor and none of them seem to have any valuable real world experience, with the exception of professor Funkhouser. Take him for as many classes as possible. I have been very impressed with the school's accounting program (Finance majors have to take 3 courses in accounting, so I learned how that Major operates.) I would transfer to it, but the field is too detailed for myself. I have no passion for it. I am also too far committed to the finance major to transfer at this point. If you are planning on attending Bradley for Finance, I strongly encourage you to look at state schools. Northern has a program that I have heard is a slight bit better than Bradley's, and it is much less expensive.

Aaron

Small classes, which sounds nice, but makes it rather difficult to register for anything until you're a junior. High professor availability, the opportunity for academic competitiveness, and the concern shown by the staff are really the stand-out points of Bradley.

Alex

Two of the best things about Bradley are its class sizes and the student-professor relationship. Usually only the gen-eds (and just some) are found in one of the three lecture halls on campus. These are not the normal classroom settings found at Bradley. Most classes have around 30 students enrolled and the professors are very good about knowing names and having class involvement. Students usually do participate, some of the drier classes (beginning economics, operations management are a couple of examples) are a little more lecture oriented and less student participation. Overall, Bradley is known for its academic excellence. I think Bradley is ranked #6 nationally for academics - that may not be the correct ranking but it is definitely up there. People know about Bradley and it has a very high reputation. Most students - business college and nursing college especially - have jobs lined up before graduation.

Claire

I love my major and the professors in the com department.

Garrett

Chemistry department has great teaching staff. Expect for lecture, all teachers know your name. GPA is important and competitive for main point of grad school and keeping scholarships. Challenging in engineering classes(Physics, Calculus...) Most classes are well balanced with grading scales to make difficulty less of a factor.

Jordan

The CS classes I'm in have gotten really small just in the 2nd semester. My last two classes had like 10 people in them or less. The Gen-ed classes are usually huge, like my Psychology and Western Civ. lectures which had 3 or 4 teachers sharing a lecture hall, taking turns giving lectures. Every Friday was discussion day with your individual teacher. The teacher are all really nice, but this one in the CS department is slightly hard to understand. And he handed out floppy disks. In 2008. I'm sure it will all make sense one day.

Stephanie

I love the class sizes at Bradley. The biggest class I have taken had about 100 kids in it, and most of my classes are much smaller than that. Being a Nursing major, I have to study alot to keep my grades up, but it kind of depends on your major as to how much studying is required of you. The students in my classes care alot about their grades, so we are all really competitive and comparing GPA's and all that. I feel my education at Bradley will prepare me for a career in Nursing better than most other schools I could have attended.

Jessica

I'm mostly in Constance, where the music classes are, and the music department faculty are wonderful! My experience so far at Bradley (just finished sophomore year) has taught me that the faculty want students to suceed and want to help them along the way. The music department does a sophomore review which is supposed to help gauge your progress and your plan for the rest of college. It was just another experience that showed me the professors do care how students are doing. I've also had wonderful professors outside of music classes. I haven't had a "bad professor" experience at all.

Lorie

Classes are relatively small, some professors suck some are good, some classes are just plain unnecessary...

Christina

Academics... Well, last I heard Bradley ranks number 6 in top schools in the mid-west. This doesn't surprise me. I could ham it up, but i'm not going to lie. Bradley was HARD!!!!!!! Not just hard, REALLY hard. I busted my ass and barely managed C's. It's the complete and polar opposite of anything that my highschool was. Things are not handed to you on a silver platter. In highschool, your teachers have degrees in education, they know how to teach. In college, you're teachers have masters and doctorates in their fields of study, they have probably never taken an education course in their life. This holds true for many colleges and universities. The reality is, in college you will have to teach yourself. I learned this after first semester, unfortunately. I did have a few good professors, but I also had some of the worst. My Biology classes have been the largest with I would say a maximum of about 80 people. You will find that your general education classes are the largest because everyone is required to take them at some point. In my other classes though, my teachers do know my name, and that is partly because of class participation. As far as studying at Bradley, it's a wise choice. Although you may not always want to, when you are just sitting around watching TV or something, just keep in mind there is probably something that you could be studying for. Bradley is a very competitive school, a minimum GPA of a 2.0 is required by the University, and for specific departments such as nursing or business or engineering these usually have their own specific GPA requirments that tend to be above a 2.0. You may be thinking to yourself that a 2.0 is easy, not so much. My freshman year I took 17 credit hours and ended up with a 2.43. I graduated with a 3.5 from highschool and 26 on my ACT. A 2.43 for me was a shock. If I have any advice it's to never take more than 16 credit hours your freshman year and to take as many of your general education classes at a community college. Coming into school I thought I would be fine with 17 credit hours, but it was just too much. And what really brought my GPA down was general education courses that I did not do well in. If you take them at a community college they do not affect your GPA at Bradley, and they will generally cost you around a quarter of what you would pay at Bradley.

Elizabeth

The classes are generally small except for some large gen ed. classes that everyone has to take. These classes usually top out at 100 tops.

Ryan

My favorite thing about Bradley is the Chemistry department. Every single teacher in that department knows my name. They really go out of their way to help you out and really care about how you're doing, both as a student and as a person. I missed a week of school last semester because I was sick. The week I came back I couldn't make it through a day without a faculty member stopping me in the hallway to ask me how I was feeling. The teachers post office hours, but most of them are willing to see you any time they're not busy. They'll sit and help you, many of them for as long as it takes for you to understand the material. The Chemistry department also offers opportunities to gain very valuable research experience. I've gotten to know my research advisor well and gained an idea of what research as a graduate student will be like. Earlier classes are taught in big lecuture halls, but upper level classes are small. Even though the classes taught in a lecture hall were big, I never felt like a teacher didn't have time to answer my questions out of class. Most of my negative experiences with a class at Bradley have been in the general education courses. Many of them are poorly taught and I gained little knowledge that will ever prove useful.

Justine

teachers are very helpful

Dale

Bradley is a good academic school. Some majors are harder than others, but a lot of them try to make sure you have a well-rounded education. I'm a Health Science major, and I was required to have a minor or other concentration, plus I had to take a business class, a teaching class, and a human relationships development class, and two of the three dealt with those issues from a healthcare point of view 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the time.

Jill

I love the class sizes. I've been in classes of close to 70 and had a class of 6, including myself. The size of the class really depends on the type of class it is. Gen Eds are typically bigger classes and classes focused on your major and higher level classes tend to get rather small. Most of my teachers would remember me if I approached them and said hi, semesters after having them. I try to make it a point to talk one on one with my teachers at the beginning of the semester and I have no problems asking them for help in any way. Teachers are extremely understanding in all situations and teachers, in general, are extremely fair.

Paul

You do not have to be really smart to come here, but you have to work hard.

Emily

Because Bradley is a smaller university there may only be one professor who teaches a class so if you have a problem with them, you're pretty much screwed. There are a lot of required general education classes but Bradley is good about transferring them in from community colleges.

Lee

Every single professor I have had has known my name. Even professors that teach in lecture halls. I will probably keep fairly close contact with some of my professors after I graduate. Depending on the classroom and the course, most students participate in classroom discussion. And after class, nearly all students can talk with one another. Most of my classes require a good amount of studying to maintain good grades. In all honesty I would say I havent had to study for one or two classes. All students are very competitive and any way you can set yourself apart is helpful.

Allison

Bradley provides a great academic environment. While there are a few classes that are conducted in lecture halls which may have over 100 people in them, the majority of classes have around 20 students. As move into the 300 and 400 level classes they become more seminar style- having closer to 10 students. This enables professors to give individual attention to the students. People at Bradley study as much as they want to. You can usually get by without it, but if you want to do well then you need to work hard. Class participation is encouraged and sometimes will affect your grade. The Department of International Studies is fairly small. The professors are incredibly smart and very friendly. It is easy to build a relationship in which you are on a first name basis with them. You can be as involved in the major as you want to be. Some people just go to classes, others hang out in the main department office and chat with one another and the professors about school and the world and fun random things. There is always coffee available in the IS office.

Sarah

Bradley is extremely well known for its Engineering. A Bradley engineer is really sought after. I roomed with 3 female engineers and each had jobs in the works before the start of 2nd semester. I learned something important in every one of my classes. One I really enjoyed outside my major was Japan:Religion and Culture. The professor is amazing, and he is so interested in student learning. He insisted upon learning all of our names and talking to all of us. He made a class about Japan so interesting. I would have loved to take his trip to China for his Chinese religions class. I studied within the biology department with intent to attend medical school, which I am. My faculty all knew me, regardless of whether I had actually taken a class with them. The Biology faculty are truly interested in student success. My adviser told me when I left that he expected to hear from me. Not only to check in, but also to give him suggestions for improving the curriculum. If that's not interest in student success, I don't know what is.

Devin

Bradley has really good academics with each major focused toward giving students an advantage to a good job or enter Graduate school. The curriculum tries to build well rounded students and has requirements that will actually help you in the future instead of classeswith information you won't use. Almost all teachers take the time to get to know their students and required advising sessions and teacher office hours help keep you on track. Study Abroad is amazing and because Bradley is private, it allows them to provide more funding scholarships and opportunities for students to study abroad. It is not much more to study in Europe for a semester, or a few weeks then it would be to study here.

Andy

Professors definitely know your name. My favorite example is a professor who learned (and still remembers) the name of every student in a general education class with over 80 students. The professors sincerely care about the students and do their best to help with class advising, career counseling, and overall support. Usually every department holds some sort of social event during the year for their students like picnics, pizza parties, or bowling trips.

Mario

Academics are great. Most professors are excellent professors. I wish some professors showed more enthusiasm during class.

Dani

I would say Bradley has a pretty strong academic reputation. Classes are usually small so you can't definitely can't skip class much because your professor knows your face. The faculty is very dedicated to their students and are usually always willing to spend time with you outside of class if you need extra help.

Chelsey

The professors at Bradley make an effort to get to know you personally. But if you go to their office hours and get extra help if you need it, they will definitely know you. Has for how often students study, it really does depend on the major. My friend who is a criminal justice major only studies when it comes times for tests and things of that nature. But my friend who is a mechanical engineering major and myself, being a health science major, have to study every night, no matter if there is a test or quiz the next day or not, because our 2 majors build on the material that is learned at the beginning. So if you don't master it, you don't master the material to follow. The health science major is the major you declare if you would like to go onto Physical, Speech, or Occupational therapy or a field like that. The department is very nice, and Sharon, the secretary is amazing! She has helped me through many problems. As for spending time with professors out of class, it depends on the class and if you personally want extra help. The education at Bradley is definitely geared towards getting a job. We have a Career Center on campus that is always having job fairs and internship fairs to let the student body know what is happening outside the Bradley bubble.

lauren

Coming to college i was afraid that I would be sitting in a huge lecture hall and the professor teaching about 100 students at once. But here at Bradley it's completley different. The professors know you name and want to get to know you as a friend. They are always there to help when needed and are very well educated

Jane

Class sizes are small and you can get to know your professors and get extra help

Paul

I think its great that the class sizes at Bradley are small. The average class size is 23, with only 1{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes being held in lecture settings. (as I said, I work in admissions and give tours, so I'm full of all sorts of little facts) Even in a lecture setting the teacher can still get to know your name, since a lecture setting might be 100 people, which compared to a larger school is nothing. Some larger schools have lecture classes of 700-1000 people. I think the professors at Bradley are the best of the best. They are hired not to lecture to their students, but to create a learning environment. Not a note taking environment.

Heather

The professors become your friends as well as instructors. They truly care about you as students and your successes. They are always available for more help as well as counselling. Personally, I am in advanced nursing classes and I spend most of my free time studying. Bradley is a very studious school. Most days, the library is packed with students hiding away to study for their classes. The education that I have received thus far from Bradley, has prepared me for my future career as a RN. I work as a CNA now and the theories and skills I have learned at Bradley have helped me tremendously for my job. I do not feel as though I lack in education.

stephen

Class size is like high school, only some classes are large. Once you get into higher level classes, class size gets smaller. Because class is smaller, some professors have attendance as part of grade which most big schools do not even care if you do not show up. Professors are nice and most are good, not all. Biology department is pretty good. So is history. Hear math and physics department is terrible though. Students in your major start to become competitive, at least for science majors, during sophomore year.

Blake

Bradley has a very competitive atmosphere. The Business College is very good and has a lot of very good professors. The sciences, maths, and engineering schools are difficult. The teacher - student interaction is top notch and the professors are readily approachable if you need anything. Professors are required to have 3-6 hours of office hours so that professors can get in touch with them.

Andrew

Study and Study hard. No matter how easy people tell you your major is. Classes are not like high school. The teacher will teach the concept and then you have to put in the extra hours outside of class to really understand what you are doing. Helpful hint If you are planning on taking micro/macro economics, or Calculus I/II/III or Differential Equations, take them at your local community college and transfer that credit in.

Ann

Classes are pretty small-- even lectures are barely 100 kids and professors do know your name even in those. They are pretty flexible and have a lot of office hours for your convenience and will set up any time you need extra to meet with them. Bradley also pays for two and a half hours of tudoring for anyone who wants it on campus every week so thats really nice. The library is kind of old and sucky but everyone studies there-- no one checks out books from there though. Not that anyone checks out books these days anyway. Classes can range from pretty tough to pretty easy it really depends on your major. Engineering is what bradley is known for and thats really really really tough. But education is one of the easiest majors on campus. The nursing school is pretty good too. DO NOT TAKE MATH AT BRADLEY! there are only a few english speaking teachers on campus and chances are you will not get them. it is impossible. I'm in the health science program with a minor in marketing and i love it. The science teachers are really good at Bradley. Classes are definately hard but the teaching staff is very good.

Taylor

I am in the Foster business of college studying Business management and administration. I think the classes are fun and there are good teachers. There are also bad teachers at Bradley but hopefully you can stay astray from them while attending Bradley. I have noticed from a number of professors that they really care about how well you do and understand their class, they will help you out of class if you have a problem. Bradley also offers free tutoring for almost every subject. I have noticed that many of the classes are getting hard at Bradley but you can expect that of any university at the higher level of classes. I have noticed that their are some classes you can take as gen ed's to get your gpa high. Ete 115 and ART 131 are the two easiest classes I think Bradley offers.

Ainsley

The classes are small for the most part, excluding intro level classes. For intro classes, expect lectures or small classes taught by TAs (dont listen to the info guides they give you, you WILL have classes taught by grad students.) Not very competative. Most professors are awesome, I haven't had a single awful professor yet. Biggest major is engineering. I'm in the honors program, which I highly recommend to anyone who is looking for a deeper college experience. It takes work, but its worth it, and you get the best professors (Dr. Fuller is the best!)

Aaron

As a journalism major, I had some problems with my curriculum because it (and other majors in the department) is technically a communications major with a concentration in journalism (or related field). That meant I took a lot of classes that weren't necessarily specific to journalism, which at time felt like a wast of time. Because class sizes were so small (especially classes in my major) most of my professors knew me by name, which was nice. I did not "study" that much, but I did have to work on a lot of projects, papers and story assignments outside of class.

Justin

Class sizes are smallish (30 people), most professors actually care, and there's plenty of resources at your disposal. Don't expect to glide like so many expect to. I didn't work much in high school at all, just kinda coasted. I'm lucky that I was bracing myself for college, because the slap in the face was harsh, and I knew many people that weren't as fortunate. You wanna be here, you gotta earn it in certain degrees. Don't be discouraged though, that's a common thing for most colleges. Just prepare for it.

Alexandra

Most teachers are great to work with. Because I am an education major, I work more with those teachers than any other. I enjoy having them, and as long as you listen and read what you need to, you will get pretty good grades. Also, the teachers love when you talk to them outside of class. So, take the time to get to know them and you may find out why they structure their classes they way they do. This will put you at ease to ask more questions and participate in class and outside of class.

Cameron

All of my professors actually knew my name. My favorite class I really did not hav eon eI enjoyed all of them for different reasons. The academic requirements are a little long but its preparing us for the real world in every class that we are required to take.

Kaitlin

There's so much individual attention. There are less then twenty kids in some of my classes. The professor's overall are smart and helpful. I'm an education major and my professors are absolutely amazing. Classes are small and discussion oriented rather then lecture oriented.

Dale

Professors generally know my name. If it's a class where assignments are weekly or so, then they do. If not, I don't think they do unless I would have to meet them or talk to them about something. I've noticed class participation is similar to high school - only a few participate, but they never shut the hell up when they do, and the whole class keeps looking at each other waiting for the loudmouth to finally quiet down.