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- Feb 27, 2013
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I'm a 2nd year student and want to share a few simple truths with you regarding KCOM (ATSU Kirksville), because I believe it matters where you choose to spend a quarter of a million bucks. Main highlights: I was admitted to several schools, chose KCOM because of its name and history, and loved my first year for the most part. Then, things changed at the end of last year with the appointment of a new Dean (Margaret Wilson, a local family doc with ZERO experience as an administrator), and now I wonder if perhaps I should have gone elsewhere. So, if you're a competitive applicant, you may benefit from the following thoughts:
1.) If you have the option, please STRONGLY consider attending your "2nd best" school that lets you in, whichever one it might be. If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now about how things work here, I would have accepted my spots at VCOM or Nova Southeastern.
2.) KCOM has an amazing history, an honorable legacy, and a sound mission - all of which I'm proud to claim as my own now. And, our graduates perform quite well both professionally and otherwise when we leave, which comforts me to a degree.
3.) The administration USED TO BE very attentive to our requests, concerns, thoughts, and comments, which rocked (past tense).
4.) Now, however, I have to post this anonymously because our administrators here have blatantly told us that they will "crack down on" any student who cautions potential applicants regarding these things: a] You will never know the correct answers to any exam questions you're unsure about, b] You absolutely cannot directly contact professors via email and will be called into the "principle's office" if you choose to do so, c] administration will never explain to the students their reasoning for changing major academic protocols "mid-swing." For example, our block exams (computer-based multiple choice) occur every 3-4 weeks, EACH ONE lasting 3-5 hours and encompassing 6-8 subjects. When I started here, each exam lasted perhaps 3 hours, included perhaps 4-5 subjects each, and we could review the exam questions and correct answers the next week. They changed ALL of this on us DURING this academic year with ZERO explanation.
5.) The kicker = we are FORBIDDEN, by the dean herself, to ask the reasoning behind these changes. In fact, she showed up today during a lecture and literally spoke to us as if we were children (tone of voice, word choice, etc.), where she issued to us her WARNING that we are not to question their methods.
6.) An even BIGGER kicker = this is how the KCOM works concerning EVERY issue, and if you so much as question the purpose, reasoning, or method behind any change, you are threatened with disciplinary action.
So, do yourself a favor. Ask STUDENTS for their perspectives, and then go with your gut when choosing a school. The administration will say whatever they need to say in order to attract the best. Here's one of the alphas wishing he had chosen differently.
1.) If you have the option, please STRONGLY consider attending your "2nd best" school that lets you in, whichever one it might be. If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now about how things work here, I would have accepted my spots at VCOM or Nova Southeastern.
2.) KCOM has an amazing history, an honorable legacy, and a sound mission - all of which I'm proud to claim as my own now. And, our graduates perform quite well both professionally and otherwise when we leave, which comforts me to a degree.
3.) The administration USED TO BE very attentive to our requests, concerns, thoughts, and comments, which rocked (past tense).
4.) Now, however, I have to post this anonymously because our administrators here have blatantly told us that they will "crack down on" any student who cautions potential applicants regarding these things: a] You will never know the correct answers to any exam questions you're unsure about, b] You absolutely cannot directly contact professors via email and will be called into the "principle's office" if you choose to do so, c] administration will never explain to the students their reasoning for changing major academic protocols "mid-swing." For example, our block exams (computer-based multiple choice) occur every 3-4 weeks, EACH ONE lasting 3-5 hours and encompassing 6-8 subjects. When I started here, each exam lasted perhaps 3 hours, included perhaps 4-5 subjects each, and we could review the exam questions and correct answers the next week. They changed ALL of this on us DURING this academic year with ZERO explanation.
5.) The kicker = we are FORBIDDEN, by the dean herself, to ask the reasoning behind these changes. In fact, she showed up today during a lecture and literally spoke to us as if we were children (tone of voice, word choice, etc.), where she issued to us her WARNING that we are not to question their methods.
6.) An even BIGGER kicker = this is how the KCOM works concerning EVERY issue, and if you so much as question the purpose, reasoning, or method behind any change, you are threatened with disciplinary action.
So, do yourself a favor. Ask STUDENTS for their perspectives, and then go with your gut when choosing a school. The administration will say whatever they need to say in order to attract the best. Here's one of the alphas wishing he had chosen differently.
