Spring Arbor University Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Kristian

I would, without hesitation, say the worst thing about Spring Arbor University was the lack of ratial diversity. I strongly believe Spring Arbor did not deny students acceptance to the university based on race; however, I also do not believe they strived to broaden their racial diversity on campus. The region Spring Arbor is located happens to be a very Caucasian dominant area. While that is not innately problematic, I do believe students were not generally privy to perspectives outside the white race.

Sarah

The worst thing about my school would probably be the pressure to be in a relationship or to be happy or perky every day. If you don't feel okay about yourself or life at a moment, you are different.

darold

the worst thing about my school is some of the rules. in my opinion you should know right from wrong and be able to make smart choices and living with the effects of these choices. some of the rules are silly.

Sarah

The worst aspect of my school is the distance it is from my home. It is about two hours away from my friends and family at home. With the price of gas and being a college student, it has become more and more difficult to make the drive home.

Kyanne

the mandatory chapel and the visitation hours in the dorms. We are adults and should in turn be treated as such. If we can go to school and choose what we want to do with our lives then we should be able to make some basic life choices with out the school constantly looking over our shoulders.

Kathryn

There is no "worst" thing about Spring Arbor. I believe there is always room for improvement, but there is nothing I dislike about Spring Arbor. I truly have found the right school. The people at SAU are like family to me. I can not put a price on the gifts I have recieved in being a part of the FLE program at Spring Arbor. I always knew I was smart, but it took finding SAU to awaken my passion in life.

Nicholle

There is honesly no "worst thing" about my school. I love everything about my school. I guess if I have to say something I would say the guy to girl ratio. The guy to girl ratio is 60:40. Also the university is located in a small town, however I do not mind that. On the weekends to find something interesting to do you usually have to go to Jackson but other than I do not think there is anything else.

Alicia

Some of the rules turn people off. Some of them, for people like me, are exactly what people are looking for. We have strict policies about men visiting women and vise versa and strict policies about drug and alcohol use.

Autumn

How easily it becomes to get in the same routine with the same people day in and day out. It is difficult to stay connected with the outside world. This school is located in a rural community and it is easy to forget that there is an outside world just because of how lovely it is in the "Spring Arbor Bubble."

Mishell

There is almost nothing bad about this school. I was not really excited about the study abroad trip that is required of juniors. I have seperation anxiety and dont like the idea of being away from home for three weeks while I am in another country. I also feel at the same time that it will be a good experiance for me. I need to become detatched from my roots with my family just slightly, so that I can grow and become the person that God wants me to be.

Emily

The cost. I have had so many friends and roommates that had to transfer due to financial reasons.

Beth

I have only been at Spring Arbor 1 semester (now) but have not seen anything really bad. I love the classes, professors, and fellow students.

Lance

The cost becasue it is 29,000 dollars a year and I come from a poor family that cant help me with it and there are not that many ways to get money here.

Daisy

The worst thing is that we are disconnected from the city, yet we are so close. There is no public transportion so getting to walmart (5 miles away) and the mall can be a task especially as an incoming freshy.

Sherry

It is hard to maintain a life outside of school while attending this school.

Sarai

The mission of the school is very strongly religious. This can be both good and bad depending on what you make of it, and it is a small school. So once again, this can be either good or bad depending on your preference. Another bad thing is the lack of a football team.

Alison

It's expensive! That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's been difficult for me to pay my own way through school.

Rebekah

The worst thing about Spring Arbor University is the price of tuition. It is a fantastic University and it has so much to offer but it is still quite expensive for students to attend. However, the community/atmosphere is the best I've ever experienced and I am so blessed to have this opportunity to be a SAU student.

Tiana

The only thing that is a bit disappointing is that there is not a lot of established businesses around campus such as Cold Stone Creamery or Taco Bell...but the plus side is that I save money by not going out to eat or going shopping.

Mariah

The worst thing about this school is the fact that a ton of people leave on the weekends. If so many people didn't leave then it would be much more fun on the weekends on campus.

Brooke

It's so expensive. I am consistently struggling to find a way that i am going to pay for this next semester. The first year is usually really good for financial so you think you'll be alright and the next year it seems to plumet away. I have several loans I will have to pay of when I get out of school. I am terrified I won't be able to pay them off because I won't be able to find a job that pays enough.

Megan

The price is the worst thing about the school. Since it's a private institution, funding/opportunities are more limited.

Michelle

I take all of my classes on-line the time involved is sometimes excrutiatingly painful.

Marisol

All of its fields of study are not fully developed.

Jennifer

The worst thing about this school is the bubble everyone seems to be in. With this being a Christian University, some students are so sheltered and they have no clue what is going on in the world around them. I'm not from a Christian home, so I know what happens in the real world and I wish some of the students would get a dose of it sometimes.

Kristina

The worst thing about Spring Arbor is that the student body is predominantly white. This does not allow for much interaction between people of different races and so students here are not able to gain perspectives from people who differ greatly from them. They do not get to understand the trials of people who are not in the majority.

Jessica

I think that this school puts more importance on getting incoming students and not on the ones currently attending, this shows in our low retention rates.

Kristen

The worst thing about Spring Arbor University is the food in the dining commons and the maintainence. The food is normally exotic and greesy. Many of the students I think would prefer traditional american type food rather than much of the spanish dishes they serve us. Also the maintainence department is not the quickest at responding to problems. If something is wrong in a dorm that needs fixed right away there should be someone on hand to fix the problem, normally it takes them a few days. Other than these two small problems everything else is great!

Sydney

The food becuase it stinks really bad, makes you smell, and binds you up. I can't stand the food, and the faculty and administration stink as well because they expect you to have the capacity to do all this schoolwork and still have energy for extracurriculars. The faculty is insane and not very understanding.

Rebecca

Spring Arbor college is very good in welcoming and making students feel comfortable. The two bad things that i would say about spring arbor is, one the food in the dinning commons is not al that great. You get some days where the food is good and other days you are stuck eating a salad. The second thing bad about this college is the weekends are pretty boring if you stay on campus. Unless you have a car and can drive to Jackson, the weekends for most students are spent doing homework or watching movies with friends.

Sara

Once in awhile a professor will give a student grades based on their thoughts rather than on their actual work. The grading is sometimes too subjective and needs to have higher, more set, standards.

Kai

The worst thing about my school is the lack of job placement assistance and the opportunity to have professionals from a variety of careers to come and lecture at my school.

Myranda

I consider the worst thing about my school to be the cost. Spring Arbor is very expensive. However, different amounts of scholarships are given out depending on your high school GPA and ACT score. Because of this, even if a student does not have much money, Spring Arbor is affordable.

Britni

I can honestly say that the worst thing about Spring Arbor University is the food that is provided in the Dining Commons. It is usually either over-cooked or not cooked enough. I often feel like I am eating a microwave dinner instead of food that provides all of the nutrition I need.

Sydney

The worst thing about Spring Arbor University is that it is newly accredited, and so some of the academic programs have not been well-established. The professors in these programs do an excellent job in teaching, but because some of these programs are so new, it poses challenges to the students. Some worry whether the degree from Spring Arbor can compete with a degree from a school that has a long history of academic excellence, like some of the public universities in Michigan.

Madeline

There are several classes only offered every other year or every three years. This doesn't leave much flexibility in one's 4-year plan. Because we're such a small school, there aren't many professors to teach more than one section of something, and it's frustrating when your schedule is so difficult to plan. Sometimes you have to give up classes you're interested in just so you can meet the requirements for your major.

Rebecca

I feel as though I would have liked to have been able to make more of my own choices, rather than being told by the university how to do things. The not being able to live off campus until a certain age really hurt me financially.

Lloyd

The worst thing about Spring Arbor University is how expensive it is to attend the university. I consider this to be the worst thing because there are many students whom are not able to return year after year due to the high price tag of the University's education. It is not easy for people to be educated when they have to worry about how much money they owe to the school and if they have enough money to come back the next semester to finish classes. This becomes a distraction and hinders an individual's ability to learn.

Michael

I would say the tuition cost is the worst thing, because I live on my own and have a hard time paying for school and supporting myself!

Rebekah

The worse thing about Spring Arbor University is it's lack in diversity. As much as SAU tries to raise student awareness of other cultures and different perspectives, that is really hard to do unless you actually have a multi-cultural campus, filled with people from all over the world. I am a missionary kid from Kenya, and for me, the worst thing about Spring Arbor University is the lack of different people with different perspectives.

Joe

The fact that I just transferred to the school. This is the worst thing because I feel very lost and the feeling of starting all over, building connection over again, meeting new friends, getting use to the different environment, the feeling of isolation and the overall transistion in general.

Amanda

I don't think our school does a good enough job of integrating transfer students, and or off campus students with the main body. There are all sorts of awesome community and group events if you come in as a freshman that help you become a part of the body, and feel included. However, it is more difficult if you transfer in, because you are not a part of a small "Core group" that does things together, and encourages one another. You also miss out on the Cross Cultural Trip requirement if you transfer in later than Sophomore year.

Jasmin

There's really nothing bad about my cool. I enjoy it a lot.

Chelsea

The worst thing about my school is the cost of attending there. I know a lot of people that would love to go to Spring Arbor but the cost of tuition makes that nearly impossible. Tuition costs are even affecting whether or not I can attend all four years.

Ashley

The worst thing about SAU would probably be that there are never any delays or days off during bad winter weather. It is a small campus where you have to walk everywhere and it is difficult in the winter.

Kaitlin

Spring Arbor University has many strengths, however, it also has some weaknesses. The greatest problem with attending SAU is the finicial burden. Because this is a private school, tuition is very high. The school does offer a great amount of financial aid, but that can only get you so far. I feel that finance problems are the biggest reason people have to leave or choose not to attend SAU.

Emilee

The worst thing at this school is the cost. The sticker price is shocking, and financial aid is decreasing.

Erin

people need to learn to lighten up and enjoy the little things in life. it should be ok for someone to walk around in an animal costume without getting strange looks. people at spring arbor are afraid to be different sometimes and they need to learn to have a little fun even if its strange.

Stephanie

The worst part about Spring Arbor has nothing to do with the school. The school resides in a small township named Spring Arbor Township. The only thing that is truly in this township, would be the University. When looking for a place to go and get off campus for bit, there is nothing close by. However, find an upper classmen with a car, taking a trip to Jackson could be in the works.

Steve

I have just begun my education at Spring Arbor University, my first impression is that I am very impressed. The adult learning environment is centered around an inspired productive process. For me personally at this time, as the father of five children, I find the cost of tuition will be challanging. The college is structured and staffed in a matter where the student's time is able to be solely focused on education, the staff has made logistics flow seemlessly. This structure is necessary as an adult learner and will be justly expensive.