UUÖ±²¥

Paying to go to this school is a lot like going to a fancy private salon to get your hair done. You expect the service to be exceptional and personable, and while it is the latter, service can barely be what you paid for. I went to this school for two years before going somewhere better. For one thing, it's literally in the middle of Over-Rhine. The first first minutes of freshman orientaion is spent on talk on avoid gunshots, your phone being stolen from your hands, pan handlers, and being killed.... Read More The building has obly one entrance, which is safe, but usually only one or two security guards and sometimes they aren't present when they should be. Even when they are, they will let people walk in sometimes, if it isn't too suspicious. The dorms are in two different buildings; one across the street from the school, and another a few bocks down. I will say the newest ones are very nice. Each room has ab upstairs and downstairs, full laundry and kitchen supplies(full sized) and you can grill, bake, and fry things on your own stove. However, the older dorms are further down, about 2 blocks from the school atheare falling apart. They are in a more secluded area of OTR, and there are a lot of abandoned buidings near by so drug situations can be frequent. As for the school itself...I will say the class set up is good. They put emphasis on knowing how to discribe and explain your work via writing as an artist, and why it's important. However, the curriculum for each subject is a little overdone. You spend the first year as a freshman doingprojects that touch on themes of each major, but it isn't very challenging. The many students are competitive in nature and you can easy get caught up in this rat race of art that gets you nowhere but more stressed. Be cozy up to teachers before you settle in class. They have about 2 different teachers teaching the same class and you have to choose the one that teachs the way you'd learn better. The teachers are friendly, but not very helpful. They buddy up to most students, but if you don't do thinfa their way, many times they will push against you. Even if you show how and why your method may work. Most students are nice, but won't talk to you unless forced...and that is just the nice ones. Many are caught up in their own little bubble, and tend to not communicate, especially if you are underclassmen and they are older. Many are not friendly and you may find yourself sitting alone during lunch. There is an independant restuarant that used to operate downtown, but has moved into the school, serving as the primary sorce of food. The food is actually pretty tastey and a great price for the portion sizes. The obly issue is that some students work the restaurant at times and theyaren't very attentive or hygenic all the time. The best days to get food is when the owner (big guy with a beard, can't miss him) is or a select full of the student workers. Luckily there is sone great, cheap places around like Subway and Venice on the Vine. There are little to no extercurricular activites or clubs. And the few there are would be hard to get into because they are usually grouos of close friends. Students(and staff) aren't always considerate of other cultures or people of color, as I'll put it. It can be hard to find a groove, or fit in if you aren't a grossly indpenant, determined, rich, hipster-esque white person into boarderline offensive objective artwork. It is a good school program, and the projects in studio classes are pretty beneficisl, but everything is in a protective bubble. Even the internships. Everytings is local and it can be difficult to impossible to be noticed for your work when 100 other students are doing the exact same event, convention, or internship. The internships don't connect you to anywhere you csn start a full , many times. The school's studio classes are actuascy pretty beneficial. The figure drawing as well. However, it can be difficult to excell in the school, and the issues listed will bother you greatly if you aren't someonr who's independant, has money, able to aquire many materials quickly and frequently, and good with paving your own way. While the teachers are known to baby students and do some handholding, it often times is not helpful.

Do not waste your money. Professors are not motivated, they do not teach you well, and I felt like I am wasting my money and time for the classes. The food they provide on the campus is pretty much junk food such as pizza, burger, chips, cookies, and it is so expensive, and the dining hours are very limited. My friend got 10 pounds during her stay at Purchase. The book store does not have enough supplies, and more expensive than a local store. There is always a party and drug stuffs going on every... Read More night.

Columbia is a great school for networking. It’s a private art school so the majority of the people you meet are creatives. Everyone has a background or experience in something. When you make friends, you have the ability to help one another through natural collaborations. As far as the academic side, it was okay. Best thing about the school is that the professors work in the fields they teach. I was already familiar with my major going into college because I had hands-on experience working in music.... Read More Overall, it’s a good school for expanding your network and social contacts.

(WARNING: Long review coming through) Let me start this review off on a positive note: The campus is very easy to get around, and while it may be a bit of a pain walking in sub-zero degree temps, everything is relatively close by, and they gave me a lot of options as to where I wanted to live on campus (Freshmen have a choice of 3 different res-halls, one in front of the arts center, which was where I was at, another by the gym, and another, well, no idea as I don't have the campus map in front of... Read More me, but moving on...) About half of the staff I encountered were very friendly and knew me by name whilst I was still going there; right off the top of my head, I recall my adviser was extremely easy to talk to. But hey, don't think I'm done here just yet. Onto the bad: To get the ball rolling, the dorm I was in was extremely dingy and compact. The one night (yes, you read that correctly, I only lasted TWO DAYS here) I was moving my stuff in, my roommate and I could hear the people next door like the walls were made out of tin foil, and while they weren't being party animals or anything, it was ridiculous. I had to put my WHOLE DRESSER into my closet space just so I'd have enough room to rearrange my space. Keep in mind, I didn't bring a lot with me, just a couple duffle bags, a few smaller rubbermaid boxes full of school supplies and winter clothing, and a guitar. Worse yet, the janitorial staff are busy cleaning the only bathrooms in the building AROUND 9:00 IN THE MORNING, and I had to wait about an hour at least before I was able to use the restroom and take a shower, despite the small size of the bathrooms. The next issue, and I know college books are expensive, but Luther's cost of school supplies was approximately $750 for ONE SEMESTER (You can thank both my Art and my German class for the bulk of these expenses). which could pay for one month of rent in Glendale, AZ, just to give you an idea. Moving on, the freshman orientation session (mind you, I've been to a couple at other schools that I was unable to afford attendance) was a complete joke. Other schools take hours out of the day to get the incoming students prepared for campus life, basic necessities such as student ID and meal planning, and help them sign up for clubs and student organizations, whereas here at Luther, the main focus seemed to be on things to do in Decorah and treating us incoming freshmen as children, giving us the metaphorical "naughty index finger" and telling us what we can and can't do on campus, as well as scolding those of us who didn't have any prior knowledge of the ridiculous amount of online programs we had to sign up for before the very next day when classes started (most schools only have one, or two at most, Luther has four). They failed to mention necessities and how to obtain them, such as the laundry card I only found out about in conversation with my roommate, and the mandatory student ID needed to get into the res-halls after the faceless ones expired (mine literally expired 2 days after orientation as I was hauling my stuff back to the family car after getting a full refund on my tuition). Bottom line, this school does NOTHING to prepare incoming students for their experience. To add insult to injury, the professor I ended up with for my art class (NOT my adviser) was rude and obnoxious. The dining hall's food is frozen and reheated trash. There is absolutely nothing to do outside of class, unless you belong to the Lutheran faith, in that case they have a chapel. There are no clubs to my knowledge, and it's extremely difficult to have any sort of social life (obviously studies are the main concern, but human interaction is part of the college experience, which Luther severely LACKS). In short, if you enjoy feeling lost, isolated, and completely ripped off, come to Luther, by all means! And enjoy a Norse-head cookie while you're at it (honestly those were probably the best thing about the whole college haha)