Seeking Opinions About Wayne State from Alumni or Current Students

[AGinthe313]

My son is in the process of narrowing his college choices -- one of the schools on his short list is Wayne State. He’s already been accepted to Wayne, as well as Michigan State, Western, and a few other schools in Illinois and Ohio. He’s undecided with regard to a major, but he’s leaning towards Accounting.

Anyway, I was hoping that some of the Wayne State alum or current students on this forum could provide feedback regarding their time at WSU. How would you rate your overall experience from an academic and social standpoint? If you've lived on campus what did you like or dislike about that experience? Thanks in advance – I’m looking forward to your feedback.

[belleislerunner]

What school is the cheapest option for him, considering student aid/scholarships? That's where he should go.

The public accounting firms start all new hires with similar degrees [[i.e. bachelor or masters) at the exact same starting salary so a Wayne State degree will land him an identical salary as compared to a MSU or Michigan or Georgetown or Kalamazoo College.

If the focus is on social interactions - that will depend wherever he feels most comfortable - but that won't impact his earning potential.

[Ray1936]

Acquiring and handling student loan debt will certainly give him a crash course in Accounting. Best of luck to him wherever he goes!

[TheUsualSuspect]

Cost is a consideration to be certain, but the ONLY consideration? That's tough...

My oldest [[22 now) daughter was offered a full academic scholarship at WSU. She worked hard to get into UofM, but received nothing from them but loans. As she was intending to major in health sciences...she took the WSU scholarship and lived on campus for 3 years. Dorms for 2 and university apartments for the 3rd. She returned home for her senior year to save money, as she is now working her way through the Masters of Occupational Therapy program. She would tell you she enjoyed her time at WSU. She will graduate with zero debt [[smart and lucky girl) and a fine education.

My middle daughter was offered the same scholarship to WSU, but chose MSU, along with what will be about $15K in student loans. She got into the MSU Nursing program and LOVES MSU and the beautiful campus. Two different girls, two different situations, two happy outcomes.

WSU dorms are modern and state of the art. They have shed much of the commuter school image and draw some VERY smart kids to their health sciences and engineering programs.

I graduated with my Engineering degree from WSU in 1985, but lived at home and commuted. I enjoyed my experience....and from what I can see...it's only gotten better.

[sumas]

My husband and I are WSU graduates with extended degrees; We liked it fine. My only dumb story is I got massive tickets parking on the streets nearby.

[Lowell]

I am a big fan of WSU chiefly because of location, location, location. It is smack in the middle of the cultural center of metro Detroit and Michigan. It is within walking distance of the DIA, historical museum, numerous art galleries, live theaters, libraries and other cultural institutions. It is in the midst of the energetic and rising areas of the city, medical institutions, business incubators and more. It is in a realistic, worldly-wise setting. That can be good and bad but for a young person to mature, the challenges, opportunities and diversity of WSU is the real world vs. the coddling campus bubbles other Michigan universities and colleges and offers important intangible features the other don't.

I have walked the walk to having attended it [post grad] and recommending to my son, for exactly the reasons above, who graduated form it.

[Malcove Magnesia]

I really want to say good things about WSU but I have to be honest: when people look at my resume, they only notice my U-M degree and they never make any noise about my WSU degree.

Outside of the Detroit area, there's is absolutely no name recognition.

[Willi]

Wayne State is MOST definitely recognized outside the state. I worked in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey receiving great praise for attending a WELL known top notch university in Michigan.

People around the USA know damn well what city college provides in contrast to living way off at Moo U. Not everyone watches football or cares about it...and it has zero to do with credentials

Party schools versus Working Serious Education

[nain rouge]

I know quite a few WSU graduates. My fiancée went there, actually, and I lived in the Cass Avenue area for awhile. I think it's a quality school and a very unique location. I had a lot of fun in the area, and all the grads I know from there have had little trouble finding jobs.

That said, if I was going to school to be an accountant, I'd go to Michigan State. It's more distinguished and enriching, and the East Lansing/Lansing area is pretty fun for a young person.

Western is a lot like Wayne State, except it's in Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo is a lot smaller than Detroit, but it's a nice little city, and if you wanted to move away from home without the pressure of Big 10 academics, you could do a lot worse.

[Warrenite84]

I am a WSU Alum.-Finance. Secure parking is pricey, a fair amount of local crime, but the WSU cops are fast and a deterrent.

There are professors of all flavors there, good, bad, political, self-absorbed, lazy, knowledgeable, charismatic, etc.. Had some great experiences in learning from some teachers and TA's, and some rotten experiences too.

Don't be too wrapped up the "urban environment learning experience". Hype that doesn't increase your paycheck. Culturally, lots of art and museum stuff. Might be interesting when LRT goes online.

Good luck in your choice.

[RickBeall]

I am a WSU Grad. I enjoyed going to Wayne and the real city ambiance nearby.

I was drawn to the city. What sort of experience is your daughter looking for. I'm a city mouse. My sister went to Ferris. She is a country mouse and now lives in the UP. Different flavors of education.

[G-DDT]

I majored in parking tickets.

[sumas]

I majored in parking tickets.

I majored in parking tickets and poker. Did well with each.

[ParisianLesion]

Wayne State is MOST definitely recognized outside the state. I worked in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey receiving great praise for attending a WELL known top notch university in Michigan.

People around the USA know damn well what city college provides in contrast to living way off at Moo U. Not everyone watches football or cares about it...and it has zero to do with credentials

Party schools versus Working Serious Education

I'm calling total BULL on this. I graduated from WSU and I can tell you it's barely recognized outside of Metro Detroit. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the recognition factor speaks fairly to the quality of the institution, it's just that there are so many schools... the big money 1-As and Ivy League schools are the ones that get the attention. Heck, I received my undergrad from LTU, which is a much higher quality institution than WSU, and even fewer people have heard of that school outside of very specific A/E circles.

[AGinthe313]

Thanks for all of the input. Having lived in the Midtown area, as well as the Westside of Detroit, my son is comfortable with the city setting. On Friday he visited Western and he absolutely loved the campus. We travelled to Michigan State on Saturday and he loved their campus there too. On Sunday we walked around the Wayne State campus, which he is already somewhat familiar with. His initial reaction after seeing all three [[within a three day time span) is that the liked Western the most. All things being the same [[living on campus), the tuitions all appear to be relatively in the same ballpark. There may be additional scholarship opportunities for him at WMU and WSU over MSU, based on his GPA and ACT scores. I was going to suggest U of D to him [[my alma), but their costs are a little out of hand. As much as I’d like him to stay close to home [[Wayne) and have the opportunity to experience college in a major city environment, he really likes Western. I could pull the “I’m paying for it” trump card, but at the end of the day I want him to enjoy his college experience. On the bright side, he’ll be able to use the train to travel home from Kalamazoo – something like $25 for a one way ticket as a student. He just needs to beware of the occasional crazy knife carrying passenger. Thanks again everyone.

[Bham1982]

Wayne State is MOST definitely recognized outside the state. I worked in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey receiving great praise for attending a WELL known top notch university in Michigan.

People around the USA know damn well what city college provides in contrast to living way off at Moo U. Not everyone watches football or cares about it...and it has zero to do with credentials

Party schools versus Working Serious Education

Not an MSU grad or WSU grad, but I find it difficult to believe that WSU has a stronger national reputation than MSU.

Perhaps in some niche industries, but I don't think Wayne is really solidly national in terms of reputation [[which obviously has nothing to do with school quality, but I am still surprised that you were working in New York and Connecticut and received "great praise" for a Wayne State degree).

I mean, Ivy League grads are a dime a dozen in the NYC area- they're really yawning over Harvard grads and fawning over WSU grads? You're probably exaggerating just a little.

[Willi]

I just said WSU was RECOGNIZED as a solid major state university.

Any Fortune 500 company headhunter/recruiter is going to know which schools around the country have some true real credibility and which ones are offering mediocre education.

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities
in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education,
and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions,
the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life
in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world

A degree from WSU is truly ON PAR with any other state university in Michigan.

http://research.wayne.edu/rwnews/index.php?cat=12

WSU is well known for something else other than sports, like football, basketball, etc.
- and that actually counts in industry when seeking employment!

[belleislerunner]

Come on now, arguing over how many people know a school out of state is a testament to your social circles. How many welders across from your aunt in Winston-Salem have ever heard of WSU. Probably zero. How many doctors at Emory University in Atlanta have - probably 85%. One knows schools based solely on Division 1 sports [[March Madness etc) but another knows schools for graduate reputations [[law/medicine etc). Neither intrinsically good nor bad. Just the reality.

You can never win an argument over which school is better, more prestigious or better name recognition. There are no absolute metrics on which to measure.

It's like arguing whose kids are cuter, your neighbors, your cousins or yours.

Just enjoy them all for what they are. Just like college.

[Willi]

It has nothing to do with social circles
And everything to do with Industry/Companies

The people hiring know WSU because its been associated with Detroit since the 1860's.
That's reality, industry, manufacturing, etc.

There are "rankings" for educational prowess
and rankings for the sports teams which mean fiddly poo in an interview based on credentials

[Mackinaw]

I went to Wayne freshman year only, then transferred to UM, my dream school. I look back very glowingly at Wayne and always recommend it. The faculty was generally excellent and the facilities very, very good. I loved being in midtown Detroit every day too, using the Detroit Public Library and supplementing my history/art classes with DIA visits. It was a year of tremendous growth, and probably much more healthy growth than had a landed in a more typical campus scene at that age. When I got to Michigan, which I also loved, I was able to keep the less important or unimportant aspects of big campus life, like greek rushing and binge drinking, their proper place and not at the center.


The honors college at Wayne is even better, if your son is admitted to that. The curriculum for freshmen often centers on or relates to Detroit in some way, too.


I commuted from the far east side, but would have moved there if I stayed longer, and would recommend living on or near campus for most kids, particularly after their second year.

Overall, I think Wayne is a stronger institution than all that you've named, and thanks to its location and culture, it promises much more growth for your kid than the other state schools.

[mkd]

If he's going for accounting, only five schools in the state are AACSB accredited in business and accounting: CMU, GVSU, MSU, OU, and WMU.

Also, when going through the recruiting process myself, I don't recall seeing many WSU students at events for the major firms so they may not recruit heavily there.

[Willi]

Rethink that statement above
http://business.wayne.edu/about/aacsb.php

Do people check anything anymore
--- or just talk up a bunch of nonsense....?

http://business.wayne.edu/about/fast-facts.php

Scroll to bottom of that last link
for a reality check of the facts.

[mkd]

http://www.aacsb.edu/en/accreditatio...TES&F_State=MI

There's a difference between just business accreditation and business AND accounting accreditation. You can learn about that on the AACSB website.

I guess people don't check anything anymore.

[Willi]

I guess the guy with a MBA couldn't figure out if the accountant screwed up the books
....yeah, right

Accounting at Wayne State University is a department UNDER the Business title, so its merely redundant under certification guidelines

I sincerely doubt any recruiter would care.....

Either the person passed
the CPA exam or not,
received a Masters in business/accounting
or they did not.

I think they will check those items....