Portland State University

[NicoleM88]

Was anyone able to attend the information session at PSU last week? Care to share your impressions? (Also applies to anyone who has visited / studied in the department!)

For students that are going to be attending in the fall, have you found housing yet and how are you handling that?

[futureslpinca3]

I went there for my undergrad. Housing in the area is very expensive, and if you plan to live off campus, parking is horrible if you plan to commute. It is a downtown area so all street parking is metered and they oversell parking passes so you arent guaranteed a spot in the parking garages. As for the program, it is okay. I didn't learn as much as my friends who went to other programs. Also, if you are out of state, tuition is very expensive so keep this in mind

[kayyyyy_]

I went and visited the campus a couple years ago because my cousin lives in Portland but didn't specifically visit the program because I wasn't applying at the time. The campus is right in the middle of downtown and parking is crazy. If you're totally a city person than I would recommend it but living in a huge chaotic city just isn't my thing which is why I didn't end up applying here. My cousin lives about 15 min away from downtown and it would cost us an arm and a leg for parking and about 45-an hour commute when it was hectic. I took the bus in once and it wasn't too bad and dropped me right off by the campus (you also have that option). Other than that, Portland is amazing. It definitely has a piece of my heart and I love it there, for visiting, not living haha. 

[NicoleM88]

Thanks for your replies! The city of Portland definitely is a big draw for me, and I appreciate knowing about its accessibility. I'm aiming to get by without a car, so hopefully parking should be a non-issue in my case.

futureslpinca3, your comment about what you learned is really giving me pause. Do you think the courses weren't designed well? Or were there faculty that you didn't like? Do you think grad students would have the same experience?

[joannly]

I have a sister who decided to go to Portland State University for SLP, but found that the program was so poorly designed and managed that she decided to switch to special education. She had spent a lot of time in school and she started doubting if she'd be able to finish the program on time. She described it as average, maybe even erring on the side of a little below average.

[futureslpinca3]

I would have to agree with joannly's post above. I felt it was poorly managed. Many of the faculty are part time, and I even had a grad student teach a course. I feel dumb in my grad program right now, even though I got mostly A's and a couple B's in my classes at PSU. I feel like I didn't learn anything tbh. Almost every friend that I made in the program switched majors, if that tells you anything