The Evergreen State College Top Questions

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

Lia

Although there are parts of the school that promote expanding one's consciousness, occasionally there is a prevailing answer to something incredibly fluid.

Bronson

The stigma people outside of our school associate with it. People often make the mistake of assuming that Evergreen is a party school or a "fake school" because we don't have grades and we try to break away from the traditional educational foundation with a non-competitive approach to learning. I and many of my peers are proud to be attending The Evergreen State College and it's very frustrating to be completely undermined and ocassionally dismissed because of the fact that we are a liberal state college.

Jennifer

the heavy usage of marijuana. It can seriously effect the learning environment.

Amelia

Dealing with and ensuring you have all necessary paperwork and have spoken to all the necessary people for switching programs, dropping a program, receiving or returning finacial aid, etc. can sometimes be difficult and recuire a bit of running back and forth between offices. However, that is mostly time consuming. In addition, people who prefer the structure of a standard university or college may not be as comfortable at Evergreen, as a large majority of the learning is student driven.

Denae

Because it's such an open and liberal campus, there are a lot of different opinions and views. However, some of the students seem a little pompus and arrogant as well as ignorant in talking to other people.

deborah

Because of size it is difficult to have a huge variety of classes. however as they retain an interdisciplinary approach to classes the connectivity is greater ie real life connections that are so necessary in building sustainable lifestyles and the means to support them.

Kathryn

If a student is not ready to focus entirely on forward movement and self education they likely will struggle to succeed. The independant learning styles at Evergreen not only encourage students to take responsibility for themselves and their knowledge but guides them to accept these attributes as part of a successful life.

Peter

The school isn't heavily funded. The school is a state funded school, but it can very easily lose support due to it's avid activism on any subject imaginable. I don't think that affects morale of activist groups on campus, but it may have some deteriorating consequences on the status of the school in the eyes of the , further creating distance between the school and the community that it serves. It's an endless spiral-down of a problem that seems like it has to be constantly being handled with care.

Christopher

The food is pretty mediocre.

Alexandra

Too much of an emphasis in useless knowledge and theory. I want more real life knowledge when it comes to business.

samantha

The tuition is steadily increasing, I hear rumour of budget cuts further escalating and talk of Evergreen becoming privatized which is really disturbing in thought to me, since it's such an accessible, eco-friendly, sociopolitical liberal place where many visionary thinkers begin networking and creating their own projects... privatized, really? I'm also afraid of the liberal arts, expressive arts as well being further pared down... Overall, I want Evergreen to maintain the integrity of student-teacher collaboration, utilizing and emphasizing student voice and responsibility with narrative evaluations and freedom in pursuing Independent Learning Contracts and Internships....

Nora

Administration doesn't reflect needs and wants of student body.

Aaron

Well, I don't worry about it so much for some reason, but we use Evaluations instead of grades here at Evergreen, so transferability between colleges is an issue for some.

Monica

The seminars can be very frustrating because in theory, they work, but in practice, they tend to be awkward and unproductive.

Anna

The school administration seems slightly patch-work disorganized at times.

robert

I think maybe the worst thing about TESC is time. Very greener answer I'm aware, but time just moves here (on campus). Class will comsume your life in a way I never knew it could. One day I'm attending class for the first time and the next its a new quarter. What I am saying is make sure you have something solid outside of the school to keep you grounded in the real world. TESC has its own bubble and sometimes it's hard to pop for a new student.

Danielle

Honestly, I can't think of the worst thing about my school. I suppose they could work on their updates, especially when it comes to weather. And Food quality and prices could always be improved.

Sheila

It is pretty easy to get into Evergreen. They have a high acceptance rate, but a low retention rate. My opinion on the correlation between those two numbers is that there are people at Evergreen that didn't get in else where, and for the good reason that college isn't for them. There are a fair few students that don't take learning seriously and don't realize that even though it is easy to get in is not congruent with the work load (i.e. you have to work just as much as other students, maybe more).

Christie

The body odor that some students have. The inconsistancies in some of the course descriptions, and what the course actually covers.

Shareen

The food here is way too expensive.

Chantal

I believe the worst, and sometimes best, thing about TESC is that you get out of this school exactly what you put in. There is little help in terms of finding a career path, or academic advising, unless you directly search it out, or otherwise know exactly what you want to do. A little more guidance for choosing courses to match up with a career field would be helpful.

Andrea

Little to no diversity in the students.

Paul

Very abstract and theoretical course material in many cases with not enough practical applications for future opportunities.

Rebecca

I dont think Evergreen always lives up to its "status" as a small personal school. Also I think it's really easy to get lost at Evergreen, sometimes you just feel like your not doing anything and that you have no purpose.

Heather

heavy drug-use culture

Chad

Nothing.

Brian

The inconsistent workload between classes of the same class credit value is sometimes a bit frustrating.

Bailey

Our school doesn't have very good funding and it's hard to get into the art classes. I struggle with the system they use for getting into classes because it is not a traditional school.

Marta

Not focused enough on careers. Liberal arts degrees don't mean much these days. Make sure you know what you want when you come in.

Joe

People are too relaxed. The Students obviously are often lazy and unattentive but I also find many of my faculty are this way as well.

Emma

Evergreen doesn't have the best selection I would hope for when it comes to program choices. The programs become more focused in the later years (junior, senior) but for freshman it was difficult to find a program I was truly interested in. However, Evergreen does offer 2 or 4 credit classes that are more specific, so that solves the problem of wanting to take subjects that don't relate.

Catherine

The program system is a good idea, but sometimes one can get stuck in a program that is not ideal for what one is interested in. It is important to know the professors.

Eric

The food services on campus, although there is one good place. Also, the amount of drama between students and staff.

Sarine

The lack of "real world" skills, no technical education (too heavy on theory in certain programs), SEEMS CUT OFF FROM REALITY. The media department just spent a lot of money on a new media center, but they're still giving outdated workshops on HD cameras. My PHONE has an HD camera! They loan their few HD cameras out with much suspcision and care, as if they're RED cameras. They're proud of their new center and their "famous" media program, but it's laughable. You have to be a self-motivated to learn anything.

Connor

The ability of students to be uncommited to activites around campus

Cassandra

The worst thing about Evergreen is sometimes people think they are so open minded and progressive, that they close their minds to common beliefs and ideas.

Victoria

See the above and add academic counseling to the list.

Anna

The worst part about Evergreen is the cafeteria. Not a deep analysis, but in all practicality it is the thing I feel needs to be said. Prospective students, please heed my words: get an apartment with a stove; invest in a microwave; buy as few block meals as possible; anything to avoid making the trek over to the Greenery for mediocre foodstuffs. Not that a meal with friends can?t be tasty and fun, it?s just that the last thing you want is to be stuck with only block meals at a time when no meals are being served.

Alicia

The one thing I have a complaint on with my school is the parking. I wish there were more spaces available and more information on car pooling.

Erin

Some students may require more structure and external discipline to succeed academically. For them, the inherent flexibility and autonomy of an Evergreen education may prove difficult.

Tanya

One thing about this school is that it gets a bad wrap because everyone thinks its a hippy school, that kind of bugs me cause then some people may not give it a chance. One other thing is the same courses are not offered all the time so if you pass one you may not get a chance to take it.

Susan

It is a bit remote and because the falculty has the opportunity to mold the curriculum it is always changing so you might not find a program they offered one year the next year.

Tyler

The worst thing about my school would have to be the difficulty finding and entering relevant programs. My school has sixteen credit programs rather than four and two. This can make it though to get in the right program for a students graduate school requirements.

Melanie

I thought the worst thing was that it was a small school with no PAC-10 football team, but I suppose other students wouldn't miss it.

Shayna

Lack of structure in graduation requirements, class registration, and club activities.

Michael

Lack of structure. You plan your own educatoin, which is awesome, but if you need structure and guidelines, this is not the school for you.

sara

the campus food is awful and way spendy!!! campus housing needs work! it cost to much to live on campus and go to school if you are an out of state student.

Christopher

Has a strong sense of community, but this makes it somewhat difficult for transferring students.

Tara

It's reputation.

Charlie

People make the assumption that you don't have to do class work at Evergreen. When I have a seminar class and no one has read the book it's hard to learn anything.