Seattle Pacific University Top Questions

What's the most frustrating thing about your school?

Odette

The most frustrating part of the school is lack of adequete transportation to get to the city. I have spent countless times searching and begging for coins in order to take the bus. At the University of Washinton, their ID card is their bus pass. I feel like for the amount of money that we pay it should be simple in order to have something as simple as transportation.

Victoria

The most frustrating thing about Seattle Pacific is probably the choice of location for their on-campus dorms. I live in Ashton Hall, which is the highest point on campus and an absolute pain to travel to and from classes (especially if you have bad knees like me).

Krista

At Seattle Pacific University, there is a phenomenon that we like to call "the SPU Bubble." Even though the school is located in the vibrant and interesting city of Seattle, I often find myself staying on campus a lot of the time instead of exploring in the city. I know other students experience this issue as well! I don't know why there is this "bubble," but it is definitely a goal of mine to experience more of the city next year.

Maci

I chose to attend a private school but it is very expensive. I wish there was more scholarships or grants available for students who are in a position like me.

Quinton

The cost. It is my intention to get through undergraduate school without any loans, so finding way to achieve that can be very hard. Seattle Pacific is a very expensive school and even with the best scholarships they offer you'll stil be paying more then half the total cost of attendance.

Sarah

Seattle Pacific University is a very expensive private college and so it is sometimes hard to find enough money to cover all the expenses it entailes despite the generosity of the university in its gifts of scholarships. There is also some classes that I wished were offered at this university that might be offered at a bigger public college, however all the important classes are available to take here so I am content with the selection and variety for the most part.

Aysha

The most frustrating part of my school at this point is the cost. It is taking a lot of work to try to pay off the 39,000 dollars a year it is going to cost. Most scholarships are "need-based" which basically translates into "if your PARENTS have low-income". I was hoping with the cost of the school they would put more scholarships out that I could apply for. At this point it's difficult to find anything because my family is "middle-class". If the schools cost wasn't so much then my stress would decrease.

Zachary

The most frustrating thing about this school are the required University courses. These classes are religiously affiliated and discuss christian elements of spirituality. While i agree with much of the content within these courses, I believe it is wrong to discuss spirituality primarily from one religious view point. This makes it far too easy in my opinion for administrators to teach to convert rather than inform (even without them necessarily noticing it). If these courses were taught through a variety of different spiritual perspectives then i would undoubtedly be less frustrated about be required to attend them.

Sarah

The cost of money is frustrating since it is a private chrisitan school so the cost is through the roof. Also I don't feel that the school provides enough money in scholarships to students in need. Finally what is frustrating is that the academic scholarships are not changed each year to stay in proportion to the increase in tuition and I wish the scholarships were increased to stay in proportion to the increase in tuition.

Emily

The most frustrating thing about Seattle Pacific University is how expensive everything is. I just received an email from the president of the University explaining that the rates of tuition were going up "for my benefit." Room and board, tuition, books, art supplies; it all adds up.

Shelby

The student body is small. However, this is also a good thing.

Kaylyn

The cost of attendance

Sarah

Most frustrating thing about my school is that it is small so their are not many places to eat on campus and they all have limited hours of operation. Their limited availability makes it difficult espeacially on weekends to go get food before they close.

Alanna

Sometimes it is dificult to get out of the "SPU Bubble", which is a blessing and a curse. The community aspect of the school is nice but it is easy to become extremely involved with SPU and forget about the outside world. I suppose it is important to be constantly seeking out outside opportunities to serve in the greater Seattle area in addition to the SPU community.

Shannon

The most frustrating thing is that if you get into a bad group of friends and it's a year or two into college it's hard to make new ones because people tend to close their groups to outsiders.

Ajia

The most frustrating thing about my university is the overall cost of tuition and fees. It is a private Christian university so it is expected that it cost a lot and they do offer a lot of scholarships, yet still for many students its a struggle and therefore the unversity size remains small.

Charis

The ratio of girls to guys is about 3:1, but I don't notice this very often.

Katie

The most frustrating thing about the university is the fact that there is a limited number of people with the knowledge, resources, and supportive background to have the opportunity to experience this education.

Leah

I feel like they don't help you search for scholarships if you need more money, they just push loans, but that could be the same way with most schools, I don't know.

Kirsten

The hardest thing about spu is the lack of things to do on campus. I wish there were more fun and purely social events. Most events on campus are for learning purposes. The gym areas are in poor shape and the school in general could use a little more school pride. Sporting events are poorley attended and the school lacks an updated fellowship area for student gathering.

April

The "bubble" that surrounds the campus. It is sometimes very difficult to feel like you ever really get out into the "real" world. It's almost like the students and the campus are really self-involved, even though the school tries hard to push an "engage the culture" agenda.

Kathryn

The most frustrating thing about my school are the limited opportunites given because it is a smaller school. I also strongly dislike the long distance from the university to the soccer field.

Felicia

That they have strict rules such as floor hours and no-drinking policies. It is nice because it keeps people from drinking or doing drugs in the dorms, but at times it is a bit extreme, especially for people over 21.

Amy

It is really expensive, and the cost of tuition keeps rising. I had to take a few quarters off because it was too expensive, and now I have to commute because tuition rose again.

Joshua

I am so glad you asked. Imagine yourself at your desk, working diligently on a paper . You are just moving to a new paragraph when, WOOP WOOP WOOP! Yep, you guessed it, the fire alarm goes off. Agh, now instead of finishing that paper that is due tomorrow you have to go stand out in the freezing cold parking lot and wait for the fire dept to check the building. And the worst part is that everybody already knows it was just some burn't popcorn! Education or safety, really, it's not that tough.

Nikki

I am trying to fulfill all of the requirements for a VERY demanding and competitive major, nursing. I am not in it yet because I still don't have all of my generals done. It is very hard and frusterating to know even if I work as hard as I possibly can, I could still not get it the the major because they only let a couple people in.

Laura

The cost.

Brittany

The dorms are seperated by girl & boy and there are set curfew's for when the opposite gender can visit.

Sara

The price of my education has continued to go up, but there has not been any growth in support of those already enrolled here (so my financial aid means less and less every year).