Grand Canyon University (not located in the Grand Canyon by the way) literally saved my college career.
During my senior year of high school, I slipped up in one class, and just like that, all my admission letters were pulled from me. I heard about GCU through a friend and if it was not for him, I probably would not be in college right now. However, after three years here at GCU, I have come to realize that GCU is not always as "grand" as it is advertised to be but there are also some amazing things about GCU that certainly are "grand."
Pros:
1. GCU is in a good location.
Some people may say that GCU is located in a "ghetto" area, but this area is slowly changing because of GCU. The value of properties are rising, the crime rate is going down, and the amount of students and families allow for money to go into the community. However, when I say that GCU is in a good location, I mean that it is close to practically everything. Around GCU, in a ten minute time frame, there are places like Walmart, Dutch Bros Coffee, Sonic, a paintball arena, and other businesses.
2. GCU is less expensive compared to other schools.
The tuition and living expenses for GCU are roughly $32,100. The out-of-state tuition and living expenses for ASU is roughly $42,363. The estimated tuition and living expenses for NAU is roughly $38,300. These values are without financial aid, and just to re-iterate, estimated values. These are just the three schools in Arizona that I know of, but they still show that GCU is less expensive than other schools. Even though the price is in the $30,000's, the tuition for GCU is still saving you at least $6,200.
3. There is always something to do on campus.
GCU makes sure that its students are never bored. Here at the school, they offer many intramural and club sports, exercise classes, karaoke nights, bowling, and more! There is always music on throughout campus, which I think, makes every walk to class fun! Plus, through all these events you can make some really great friends.
4. Basketball.
The basketball teams have earned and definitely deserve their own category as a pro for this school. Not only is basketball the heart of the sports on this campus but the games are always so fun! I have been here at GCU for three years now and I always look forward to basketball season! The vibes at these games are just so great and its really nice to be around people that will dance the night away to all the songs that play during the games! (Give a quick shoutout to the band, cheer, and dance!).
5. GCU is Christian-based.
For some people, this is a big deal. Here at GCU, you can attend Chapel on Monday's and The Gathering on Tuesday's -- I feel like this is pretty nice. There are a lot of people who grow up within the Christian faith but have a hard time expressing it at school. At GCU, this isn't a problem at all. There are community outreach events, two churches located adjacent from campus that anyone can attend, and Bible Study groups people can join. Another thing is that all of these events are completely optional, so even though GCU is Christian-based, they always give the students a choice!
6. GCU is a private school.
Personally, I love the fact that GCU is a private school. When I was in high school, touring college, I remember being amazed at the fact that GCU had a gate around its campus! I know that sounds silly but when I toured other universities in California, I noticed that anyone was just able to walk on campus and cause chaos. At GCU, Public Safety officers are at the gate entrances to check student ID's and make sure that the visitors entering campus are not going to have a negative impact.
7. Free Apparel!!!
I am not sure about other universities, but GCU always has something free to give out! Whether it be shirts, headbands, banners, scarves, or socks, if you attend a sports game, you will most likely be given something free! Who doesn't like free stuff?
8. Degree Programs
GCU offers over 200 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs and has eight different colleges. One of these degrees is Forensic Science, which is my major. GCU is one of maybe three schools that I have found within California and Arizona that offers Forensic Science as an undergraduate degree. My point to this is that GCU has a wide variety of degree programs a lot of other universities do not offer.
9. The professors care.
In high school, in all schools really, you always have teachers that will tell you that they do not care if you pass their class because "you chose to take it." Here at GCU, the professors make themselves available to you anytime they can. They provide office hours, and if you can't make it to those, most of the professors allow you to make appointments with them after hours. The professors will work with you out of class, and a lot of the professors take the time inside of class to ensure that everyone is understanding of what is being taught.
10. Online Programs
Looking off of the GCU website, there are approximately 33 different degree programs that are offered solely online. This means you can obtain a degree without having to leave the comfort of your home!
Cons:
1. There is never any parking.
Normally I am not one to complain, but if I pay for a certain parking area I should be able to park there! The one thing that GCU has always messed up, is parking. The school takes away parking spaces to build things like new sports arenas and apartments. Those things may be nice, but they are not really needed, especially since there are a ton of students on campus that are trying to obtain parking spots.
2. There needs to be more food options.
When you have your first year at GCU, the food is very comparable to Heaven! I mean, come on, there is a Chick-Fil-A approximately five minutes from where you live. However, as you go through the years, the food starts to sound less appealing. There are roughly 12 food places on campus, and this may seem like a lot but these food places are usually going to be the same for your entire college experience. However, there are times where a food place is switched with a different one. For example, Jamba Juice used to be Mojo Bowl and Market Bistro used to be WOW, which also used to be Parmesan. Oh, and GCBC used to be Peet's Coffee which used to be Starbucks. Once you have a certain food too much, the appeal for it starts to go down. At least, this is how it is for me.
3. There needs to be smaller class sizes.
The one thing that always made me a little upset is whenever I read a statement regarding how GCU prides itself on having small class sizes. Within my major, my smallest class size has been 12 people, being my Organic Chemistry lab; my largest class size has been roughly 60 people. I have had only one class that has had less than 25 people, and I take about seven classes each semester. When you do the math, that means I have had approximately 35 classes with a class size larger than 25 -- way larger. This is a big issue.
4. The acceptance rate.
As of 2015, the acceptance rate for GCU was 58%. When I first applied to GCU, I remember thinking that I was not going to get in because before my freshman year, the acceptance rate was around 30%. Within the passed two years, the acceptance rate for GCU shot up by a good 28%, and it seems like all GCU does now is just accept anybody who applies. The 2017- 2018 school year alone welcomed 1,500 Honors students! My freshman year, only 500 students were welcomed. In two years, the Honors college grew by 1,000. Sure, that may seem like a good thing, but when you look into it, the Honors program is supposed to be hard to get into. Now that the school lowered the Honors policy to having a 3.25 GPA, anyone can join.
5. The construction.
There is a reason as to why GCU's nickname is "Grand Construction University." It seems like the school is always building something. In the past three years that I have been here, the school has built a new soccer stadium, baseball stadium, three or four new apartments, a few parking garages, and two new faculty buildings -- that is a lot to build in just three years. There is constant noise from all of the construction, and there are even times where the construction blocks the signals on our cell phones. Most of the time, the construction is just a big inconvenience.
6. The WiFi.
The WiFi here at GCU has always been slow, but since the school is rapidly growing, there are more students that use the WiFi servers, hence the WiFi is even slower now. The homework won't load sometimes, the GCU app crashes, and trying to pull up PowerPoints in class is just a nightmare when there are 60 other people in the same room as you on the same WiFi.
7. GCU is "money hungry."
Since GCU is rapidly growing, the school does not provide certain items anymore. For example, a new item this semester is that GCU no longer gives us $5.00 for the library printers. On top of this, GCU tries to get as much money out of us as they can. If a student locks themselves out of his/her room, the student has to pay in order for someone (who isn't their roommate) to open it. If a student either loses his/her student ID or someone steals it, the student has to pay to get a new one. Students have to buy textbooks even though textbook charges are included within class charges. Every student gets charged for a healthcare fee every semester even if they never go to the health office. These are just the little things that I have noticed that GCU gets away with.
8. Adjunct Professors
Personally, every time I receive a class that is taught by an adjunct, I always have a hard time in that class. In case you don't know, adjunct professors are those who teach at the school part-time. For this semester, I have both Honors Pathophysiology and Organic Chemistry I taught by adjunct professors, and it is just absolutely terrible. Most of the time, adjunct professors do not know what they are doing, they don't have office hours because they don't have offices, and they are very un-knowledgeable. I wish GCU would just hire more faculty instead.
9. Student Service Counselors
There are good ones and bad ones, and I have had each. However, the bad ones definitely outweigh the good ones -- so that is why the SSC's are a con. They are supposed to be there to help us, yet most of them can't even answer our phone calls or emails. Once they do, it is usually a few days to a week later, and they don't even answer your questions. My SSC is always out of office so every time I try to contact her, an automated email gets sent to me saying that she is away and to talk to another SSC. Like I said, they are here to help us, and yet most of them make our lives harder than they should be.
10. Scheduling
For the most part, a lot of the classes work out. However, there is a good chunk of classes that you do not have a choice for because of different classes. For example, this semester I am taking Organic Chemistry I. I wanted Professor Grubbs because I heard that he was the best at teaching it. However, I couldn't take the class with him because he taught at 7am and I already had a class at 7am which was only offered at that time. So, because of the lack in scheduling for one class, I had to sacrifice getting a good professor for one of the hardest classes on campus. Needless to say, it sucks.
Overall, I love GCU. I am glad that I chose to attend this university instead of another one. The cons are me being "nit-picky" with what I believe GCU needs to change. Even though there are the same number of pro's and con's, the pro's definitely weigh more because no matter what, I can say that I love GCU and I am proud to be here.
