Dominican University

Dominican let me use a coupon to enroll in a summer class. Apparently the coupon was only for California teachers which I did not see. They let me do all of the work for the class then wouldn’t give me a grade until I reenrolled and paid more money at the end of the summer. Getting a refund for the money they had already taken was a complete hassle. I was so fed up with it that I didn’t even reenroll nor will I ever take a class from them again! Completely unprofessional and the worst experience I’ve ever had with a university.

I am a current student at Dominican University. So far, my experience at Dominican University is mostly positive. I have no complaints except for the Admission office (cranking clerks: P). Dominican University is a small campus, but if you involved in clubs or other organizations, your college experience will be great. My professors are amazing and they do take their time to answer questions or concerns. I graduated from NIU and my experience at Dominican University is completely different; however, I am very happy with this school. I am surprised to read post from people who never attended Dominican University, but will post negative comments based on someone else’s campus experience.

It was probably the best 4 years of experience at DU! Met some great friends over the 4 years and still connect with them after graduating a year and a half later. I loved how the professors at DU made connections with their students inside and outside the classes. Even if you took their class a semesters and years later and no longer they’ll still see how you’re doing and make conversations with you. They are also great instructors and always made the time outside classroom to have extra help with the assignments and exams.
Only problem I had with DU is chart wells, ResLife, financial aid and student accounts office (not only when they took my grants away, but when I paid them with all my money and it shows online that I did, they’ll still call you saying they never received it and threatens you that you won’t be enrolled to class and realized that did receive it after 5 mins later, dumb asses).

I came here to discuss returning to school, I met with Mike, he is awesome and very knowledgeable. Fingers crossed, I will be enrolled here by Fall 2015. Thanks Mike for all your help.

This review is specifically for the ONLINE masters in Education. I was not impressed by the courses at Dominican. Class by class was hit or miss as far as the instructor and curriculum went.
My biggest issue with this institution was the fact that they had me pay $ 200 for an online portfolio (to be used later as marketing tool for employment to showcase my work), and four months before finishing my coursework, Dominican decided to yet again «restructure» the online masters program and not use the online portfolio. So I spent over a year uploading assignments and following a rubric for the degree that by the end of my time with Dominican they decided to no longer use, and all of my uploaded information was useless and gone.
I did have some great instructors and some of the coursework was interesting, but I would say only 33% of the covered material was actually useful for taking it into the workforce. Also, overall their customer service and communication greatly lack.
Lastly, when I came to campus for graduation, I was shocked that people pay that much money for such a small, OLD institutition. Many of the offices need remodeling, and look more like jail cells than instructor offices. I would not recommend Dominican.

Excellent professors. I have to agree, «Education is what you make of it. The professors provide the tools and it is up to the student to do the rest.»

Education is what you make of it. The professors provide the tools and it is up to the student to do the rest. Other reviewers who have given it a negative review may not have put in any effort. It may be no Princeton, or even Michigan State, but it is an all around good school. The professors are approachable and caring. And it is not an easy ride at all! My M.A. in Education degree was vigorous and I learned a lot.

Unlike other reviewers, I am not a Dominican graduate. But I thought I’d offer my $ 0.02 as someone who lives nearby and who has interacted with the school a bit.
PROS:
–Programming. From an outsider looking in, it seems that DU has done a great job with getting speakers and performers to come to campus. Most recently, I attended a talk by the author of a book on North Korea, which was excellent. The Performing Arts Center is great for a relatively small school in the middle of the suburbs.
–The campus is really pretty. My parents even got their wedding pictures taken here many years ago.
CONS:
–Academic reputation. Dominican is known as an «easy» school with academics akin to a glorified community college. There is no academic rigor to this third tier school. Yes, it is accredited, but I doubt anyone in their right minds would come here who have a shot at better schools (and could afford them).
–A lot of people commute. From what I’ve heard from DU students, this creates a distinct lack of community. Lots of students go home on the weekends, too.
-«Inspired minds. Amazing possibilities.» From what I have heard, this is a joke. There aren’t too many internships or research opportunities to be had. There are certainly possibilities, but they are reserved for the lucky few.
–No name recognition outside of Chicago area. Name recognition in Chicago is bad because people around here know this is not a good, rigorous school. No name recognition outside the area is bad because employers will assume the worst.
If you have to go to Dominican for financial reasons, then my recommendation would be to go to a good graduate school. I know one bright person who did just that, and I’m sure she’ll be just fine career-​wise. If you can manage that, then your undergrad here will be practically forgotten when it comes time for applying to jobs.
Overall, I’m sure this is a decent school for students who do not aspire to more for their educations and want to sail through college. And as a community member, again, I’m thrilled by the performing arts and speakers that come to Dominican. However, I know I won’t be attending this school for my master’s degree when the time comes.

As a parent who partially paid for Dominican in the late 1990s, I dislike it for a variety of reasons. It should be noted my husband is a professor of philosophy and teaches at several universities in the Chicago area, so I am very familiar with more than one campus.
I partially blame our daughter for not keeping her nose to the grindstone, for drinking and partying when she should have been studying, and for man chasing when she should have been studying. She did eventually earn a BS in General Studies, after a stint in the military. If Dominican would like her address so they can continue to chase her down for the loan she never repaid– the loan about which we knew nothing and she signed herself– then contact us and we will be happy to supply it.
All that said– At the time, there was NO discipline or real supervision in the residence halls. Underage undergrads were allowed to freely drink. I walked in on my daughter’s roommate doing her boyfriend. They did not seem to mind that we were there. Even when moved to a private room, both young women were allowed to be nothing less than pigs. The place was filthy and nobody cared. Many of the dorm rooms are converted cells for the sisters, so they are dinky. Cleanliness needed to be enforced!
There was a rapist on the campus when my daughter attended. Security was a joke, and the school tried to keep the rapist’s presence a secret from parents.
The Sinsanawa Dominicans are not sweet little Catholic religious who are habited and reflect Church teaching. Too many of them are radical feminists with chips on their shoulders. The nurse’s office supplied contraception, some in the form of «cute» condoms made to look like lollipops. If you’re not Catholic, you may not understand that the Catholic Church teaches sex outside of marriage– any sexual intercourse– is wrong, and contraception and abortion are morally offensive. Also, the Mass was very touchy-​feely at the time, with one of the sisters proclaiming the Gospel (which is to be proclaimed by a priest or deacon) and giving the homily (ditto). This was not a place for conservative, or even mainstream Catholic young people.
The professors and instructors are generally very good, if liberal. Food was so-​so, but if you’re expecting college food to be anything less, well, that’s why pizza delivery does so well in college areas.
My advice? Keep the kid home for a couple of years and send him or her to community college. If Dominican makes you a good offer, and you think a Dominican transcript will assist your child in life somehow, then have the kid commute. You would do better at Lewis or Benedictine, both of which have stricter dorm rules and aren’t quite so flaky. I have younger children, and they will *not* be attending Dominican.

Excellent professors. Very poor customer service to their students on the part of staff at Dominican.
The biggest offenders, in my opinion being IT, Career Development, Residence Life, the Wellness Center, and Chartwells, the food services provider, and those are the majority of organizations at Dominican.
The Wellness Center actually lost my immunization records, and then charged me a fifty dollar fine for not having them.
In terms of graduate school, they are not being thoughtful about lowering acceptance rates of students to reflect current hiring trends… If I could do it again, I would choose a different school.

I went to this school for 4 years of undergrad and 2 years of my mba, I was very happy with the experiences that I got here, the people that I met as well as the value received. The school does have a high cost, but if you get a scholarship it ofsets it drastically.

Yes, it is a private catholic university and their tuition may scare you. But, they do provide great financial aid packages and, if you continue on to one of their graduate programs you get a 10% Alumni Tuition discount. When I first started, the university was predominantly white but with the recruiting the admissions has done in inner city high schools there is a large Latino population. So, diversity has grown in the last 6 years. That’s always a plus. My only concern would be the fact that the university has grown too fast. Housing is limited and students are getting frustrated with the politics behind residence life. I suggest you visit the campus and do some research on any program you are interested in.

I wasn’t really sure how to grade this because of my mostly negative experience.
Professor and class wise, the teachers are excellent. i really enjoy my classes and love learning.
However, the people ruin the experience. I am currently still attending Dominican and feel like I am in high school all over again!!! The girls are very bitchy and many will not befriend you out of jealousy and insecurity. Its very, very difficult to find real friends here because of this. There is way too much drama and just really rude, nasty people.
I would have preferred to go somewhere with a better enviroment because it definitely takes away from the experience.

Glorified community college pretty much sums up Dominican University for me.
Really, I’m no Ivy Leaguer, but I expect any university, and especially its graduate program, to provide me an education that does more than rival the humanities classes from my freshman year of high school. Beyond the fact that the curriculum and instruction is seriously lacking, much of the staff acts as if they are babysitting students. One curt, older, lady in a track suit, donning a drill sergeant demeanor, comes to mind. I realize I may be coming off as a whiner, but it’s pretty infuriating to give up large sums of money for classes that have taught me absolutely nothing. Still, DU manages to take up a significant amount of the little time I have in a given week, with boring, uninspired classes and endless busy work.
I would truly never have chosen Dominican (I would like to say that their poor reputation precedes them, but let’s be real, what reputation?). Unfortunately, the organization I work for requires that I get my certification there. I can guarantee I will NOT be completing the optional second year Master’s program. I’d probably learn a lot more and have more cash in my pocket if I was just able to take the courses at a school like NEIU. I’d also have fewer creepy, religious emails sent to me. Ick.
Thank goodness I’ll be done in less than a year and can eventually move on to a real institution of higher learning.

I thought finding this school was fate, but oh, I was soooo wrong. My career interest isn’t very common, so to discover one of the six accredited schools in the country with a Master’s program in the area was just up the street from me was a dream come true.
Unfortunately, red flags began popping up almost immediately:
–I was waiting in the hall for my first meeting with my adviser and a woman was walking down the hallway asking students, «Where are you supposed to be?» and then telling them to get to class. I was suddenly having flashbacks from middle school of teachers asking to see my pass when I was in the hallway walking to/​from the restroom. And yes, this woman asked me – a grown adult who is almost 30 — where I was supposed to be and why I was in the hall.
–At orientation, I was the only student in my cohort that had ever written a paper in APA format or compiled a literature review (both of these were required of students beginning in my junior year of high school and all through my undergrad education).
–Several of my classmates were quoting Wikipedia as their only source on papers and presentations. *Ahem!* Wikipedia is NEVER acceptable as a source!
–My adviser had me wait in the hallway for an hour and twenty minutes beyond our scheduled appointment because she needed to finish up a paper. I offered to reschedule multiple times and she insisted I remain in the hallway until she finished. Ten minutes before my next class was to start, she had me take a seat in her office and said, «Okay, now remind me of who you are and why you’re in my office.» I was there to discuss my international field placement options, which should have been known as I’d specifically scheduled a face-​to-​face meeting to discuss this at her request at least a week prior. Regardless, deciding which developing country to spend roughly three months in is hardly a topic anyone would want to breeze through in under ten minutes.
+If you decide to attend DU’s GSW program, I highly recommend waiting until at least the end of your first semester to declare your area of focus as this determines who will be your adviser. My classmates told me Coq (gerontology focus) and Stoops are excellent.
+Additionally, my adviser refused to permit me to take more than two classes my first semester (From my understanding, other advisers do this as well. So starting in the spring semester offers little benefit to students). I’d started a semester early so I wouldn’t have many classes while doing my international field placement. I’m just grateful now for her decision because I’m out far less money. But nonetheless, it shouldn’t have been her call. I’m an adult and I had a 3.7 overall GPA in undergrad. I’d attended undergrad full-​time and simultaneously worked as I had to pay my own way through school.
–Standards in the classroom were ridiculously low. As Joe F. stated, «…the degree mill feel is felt from day one.» I honestly couldn’t shake the sense that I was attending a ridiculously overpriced community college.
–A mass e-​mail was sent out from the internship coordinator stating some internship sites wanted nothing to do with Dominican students because they were so unimpressed by the resumes chock-​full of grammatical and spelling errors. Keep in mind these internship sites didn’t want to hire FREE labor from this graduate program. Just imagine what it will be like for students graduating and looking for paid work from these agencies.

I decided to attend Dominican out of convenience, and I ended up having a wonderful experience. I pursued a Masters of Science in Accounting at the Brennan School of Business and found the faculty and professors to be top notch and the campus accessible, not to mention lovely and rich in history.
I worried a little that I wouldn’t fit in as I’m not Catholic, but I shouldn’t have been concerned. I found the student body to be surprisingly diverse and I was fortunate to have classmates from China, India, Brasil, and Turkey who could share their varied experiences.
The study abroad programs to China and Europe were amazing experiences and I thank professors Rosenbloom and Condon for continuing to organize these programs. I hope to be able to attend future trips to South Africa and Rio as an alumni as Dominican was able to open doors I would never have gained access to on my own.
I will never forget how Prof Alonzi actually made Economics interesting, nor the amazing world of Organizational Behavior that Prof. Low introduced me to. Professors Winikates, Hug, and Secker helped me become the accountant extraordinaire that I am today. Above all, I really appreciated that all my professors had real life experience in their fields and seemed more concerned about making sure we were actually learning than simply handing out grades.
I enjoyed the café adjacent to the computer lab on many occasions. That Dominican is also known for their library science program contributes to their having a top notch resource center.
I loved seeing the nuns in the Great Hall in Lewis and found the old buildings full of charm and character.
I think a bigger university might have attracted more recruiters, but nonetheless, I did get an internship via Dominican that led to my first accounting job at a wonderful firm, and I’m thankful for that.
I continue to be impressed as they’ve offered honorary classes to graduates and a wonderful lecture series on business ethics and other topical issues.

this is a good school in a good location. i am in the graduate social work program and i am in my second year. at times i do not learn anything in class and the entire program is geared twards older adults, which is something that they do not tell you when you first sign up

I regret making the decision to attend Dominican every single time I go for a class. Thankfully, I’m almost done with my graduate degree.
I went here thinking that the private school environment would provide enhanced opportunity, more caring staff and faculty and an experience that would resonate for years to come. Wrong.
Things Dominican doesn’t do well:
1) communicate
2) customer service
3) provide meaningful learning opportunities for graduate students
The combination of the three just make for a miserable experience. The faculty and staff each take turns beating up their customers and it’s just not right. (Note: just because they are students doesn’t mean that they’re not customers!)
Dominican has more of the feel of a public institution than a private one. If you think you’re going to get more value for your additional expenditure you are wrong.
The graduate student body makes up roughly 50% of the campus and the degree mill feel is felt from day one. This isn’t a place that will see one cent of my alumni dollars. I will also never advise a friend or foe to attend here.

A good place for an undergraduate education. The size of the school proved to be a major advantage! The professors are very open to your ideas and plans, they are always there to help you. When I attended D.U. we had a lot of international students on campus. Since we didn’t have cars, we were kind of trapped together on campus, but it turned out to be a great experience. I’ve learned a bunch about various cultures from around the world, as well as from all over the midwest :-). During the weekends, at the time, most students would just go home to spend time with their families. The international students, however, would venture out into the city and explore Chicago. They were really great to hang out with. If you’re looking for a community feel, this is a great campus. When the weather is nice, the neighborhood is a wonderful place for walks and runs, and even biking or rollerblading. It can even be quite romantic with that special someone!

i can honestly say that spending money for a mediocre education at dominican is the biggest mistake i’ve made in life thus far. though there are some amazing and personable professors here, i can also attest to some being downright unprofessional and frustrating to deal with. if i could apply for a refund, i would… forreals. harold washington would’a done me better.
that being said, this school is a good place to be if you like a small campus (filled predominantly with white kids from small towns), or if you like being able to get to know the staff and faculty on a more personal level than simply by name. the campus is quite nice, but since they stopped the shuttle from running from campus to the green line, you’re kinda stuck there unless you have wheels.
the squirrels on campus are nice. that’s a plus.