Kennesaw State University - Marietta Campus

As a graduate student that went through 1 year of bachelor in this college, I will say three things: - The tuition is affordable and they really want international students to feel included and this for the best. - The variety of people and genders makes it a really interesting place on the cultural side - The end result is not the best as the tuition might be higher than the one of Georgia Tech but the net salary after completion of the degree is way lower. It is a fair experience overall and I am a really critical person but more can be done to make this college better.

I graduated from here with a BS in Mechatronics. It's a good school for engineering in general. Professors in Engineering Department have real industrial and research experiences. level of difficulty is not as high as GT, which leave students with time to invest on their own projects and researches. They try to invest in lab equipment more which is a good thing. Engineering students, who graduated here, do get job offers.

While this campus was under the leadership of Dr. Lisa Rossbacher, the former Southern Polytechnic State University campus flourished. It was one of the best schools in the state you could enroll. Students were challenged to think critically, to demonstrate practical knowledge, and theoretical knowledge. After graduation many of the students were immediately able to find employment. Under the failed leadership of the Board of Regents they forced a merger with Kennesaw which did not have these excellent standards. Kennesaw is more about enrollment and numbers then focusing on student achievement and academic excellence. This led to the change of the curriculum of the computer science program in which I was a graduate student. I left the graduate program because I could not see the value anymore after the merger. The curriculum seemed to be a complete repeat of the undergraduate degree I had completed at Southern Polytechnic State University. I decided to seek employment rather than continue repeating my undergrad.

The school itself is great. The professors are extremely knowledgeable, and the courses offered are much more practical than if you went to Tech SPSU has always prided itself for being a more project-oriented school, whereas Tech is more for theoretics. However, this school is well-known for having some of the worst non-educational departments. The administration is lousy they'll redirect you somewhere about 3 times before they send you to the right place, the people working the financial aid are incompetent morons it took me about 4 hours one day to try to get an answer from them which they didn't even know, and they made it very clear by their rudeness how much I was inconveniencing them, though these types of mouth-breathers are pretty prominent in the Atlanta area/south in general. The police force on the school are sometimes very invasive, and sometimes completely unaware of what's happening It took them 2 days to get rid of a few students throwing a football around in a full parking lot. However, and I find this the most important, when I lived on campus, it took approximately 9 months for a certain Tara Adams to replace the carpets in my apartment, something I was promised upon move-in. She constantly pushed back my "re-evaluation" date after I told her the carpets were disgusting, and in too horrible condition to justify the 9 grand I'm paying annually. It wasn't until it became a noticeable health issue that I brought this to the Director, Chris Bruno, who made the carpet replacement happen the very next week. Another big issue was when I made multiple complains to the office at least 4 or 5 that my EXTREMELY OBNOXIOUS roommate was staying up late at night shrieking like a 13 year-old at other people in his multiplayer games, which was always extremely profane and went on anywhere from 5PM to about 3AM. I have multiple records I presented to them as well. Nothing ever happened, and apparently, he has been through 3 roommates in 3 years, and has seniority in the room. Much of the staff needs to be fired and replaced with people who give a damn, as the housing department does not need to be run by someone like Tara. Nor should we be forced to use the financial aid department who did not know what a 529 account was. The only reason I'm rating this so high is because I think the education here is much more important than pedantic inconveniences with this school's award-winning staff.

I see that there are mixed reviews and I expected this because this school is only good for engineering majors. I graduated from SPSU in May of 2012 with a Civil Engineering degree and I got a job in less than 2 weeks. Now looking back, I realize that SPSU prepared me for my field and they did a great job covering all the topics in civil engineering. That's been said, if you work part time and you would like to take full load, this is the school for you. You don’t have to believe my review, just go to the Engineering department and you will realize how helpful they are.

First off, I transferred to SPSU from a community college in central Georgia. That being said, my comparisons are based on my former school experiences. It seems as though SPSU went through a major staff realignment 3-4 years ago. While the professors are no less than amazing, the school still suffers from bad practices in the business side, which seem to be fading as the "old guard" are beginning to retire and move along. Academically this school has been very challenging. As a mechanical engineering major, I have been put in the same courses as students at Georgia Tech, MIT, CUNY, and Cambridge, with many of the professors holding degrees from the same universities. I have been no less than challenged, from my introductory graphics class taught by a 22 year veteran Lockheed manufacturing engineer, to my upper Senior Capstone course which is critiqued by multimillion dollar contract earning professor. The campus itself is very pretty. unlike other schools around, the campus is "closed" by a large ring road and forests. It is very odd to find someone walking through campus that is not student or staff. There is a small gym, which is planned to be replaced in the next few years, along with a 25 yard pool, baseball fields, volleyball and basketball courts, and a very unique 9-hole disk golf course. As for housing on campus, I must give them a thumbs up! In the past our campus housing was run by a contracted corporation which no less than destroyed any relationship with the university. Since 2011-ish the campus has reverted to a department run staff. The RA's on campus have always been awesome to me and tend to go out of their way to make you feel at home. Many of them are from out of state or abroad and try their best to comfort those who are homesick with fun little activities multiple times per week. The apartments are hit-or-miss, depending on your roommates; as many kids are transient students coming from abroad to learn English through the ELS program. The food is pretty bad, overpriced, and the meal plans are difficult to work around as the cafeteria is only open for limited hours. closes at 7pm if I recall, while most engineering labs and courses are afternoon and night based. However, there are a small selection of kiosks and restaurants on campus, but expect to pay $10 for a burger and fries, along with waiting for 20 minutes. Job placement is the one thing that I commend SPSU for, regardless of major. While many colleges rely on prestige, SPSU has a reputation among the local manufacturers for making hard working, practice-based students. My first semester at Southern Poly I went to the counseling center begging for some sort of job to help pay the bills. Within 1 month I had a job working on campus as a student assistant. Fast forward a year and I now have a well paid internship at Georgia Tech Research Institute. Many of my peers and friends have been working since their freshmen and sophomore years as drafters, machinists, and interns at local business; all thanks to the amazing staff at the counseling center. Overall, I think SPSU has done very well, given it has only been around since 1948, with it's present form really only taking shape since 1963. I have met numerous engineers who have jobs at research labs, construction companies, consulting firms, and the whole spectrum of work. All of them tend to thank SPSU for the practical and hands-on approach. I see SPSU growing rapidly in the next couple of decades and while they still do not hold the public eye like schools such as Georgia Tech or Carnegie, the momentum that SPSU is carrying may soon push them past other schools who ride on their prestige, rather than their progress.

I am a Mechanical Engineering Senior going into my last year at SPSU. I have been here for two years, my experiences have been tremendous. This is my third school I have attended. I also switched majors three times since high school. I must say, if I had to do it over again I WOULD HAVE STARTED HERE AND FINISHED HERE. If engineering is your path this will be the right place. Teacher to student ratio is great, if you apply yourself and work hard you will succeed. Most classes in the engineering field are project related, so you will learn how to work on real life problems in class. I have found no "real class" to be easy, however they challenge you in a direction that will help you solve difficult problems in the field. I took and engineering position over the summer for an internship, and I found myself reflecting back to the things I learned in school to solve difficult problems in the company. Finally to sum things up, most of the engineering majors are ABET accredited or are becoming ABET accredited, that alone should be a testament to the academic standards set for SPSU students. I am a proud student of Southern Poly and know it is laying a foundation so that I may succeed throughout my career.

As someone trying to further my education by transferring to this university to get my bachelors, and as someone who will primarily rely on online classes and never having to actually come to the campus, I must say communication with this place needs improvement. I called three different times during normal work hours and tried 4 different numbers under the directory and never got in touch with anyone. Communication needs improvement.

Current student. Highly recommend not eating at Stingers, cost $12.75 a meal and food it literally terrible. Kennesaw Campus has the 4th best food nationally. Great engineering, architecture, and Construction Management programs. Professors are very hit or miss.

Really enjoyed my time here. This is a school that is focused on the student more than research, which is a good thing. It also is a school that cares for non traditional students. Evening and online classes allow students with other things going on in life to still get a degree.