Keene State College Reviews

"Most of the professors I had were great! Unfortunately that's about where my praise ends. Aside from Keene being very pretty. The food was terrible, and there was very little variety. I heard several students complain about food poisoning and I myself suffered a sick stomach everytime I had a breakfast sandwich from Lyods. This school is decent if you don't suffer from any problems. My first semester I almost got kicked out due to my poor grades stemming from a lack of support. Mind you, my GPA was above 1.00 and it was my first semester so I should have been put on academic probation, not academic suspension. Even when the problem was rectified and I was put on academic probation, it was only on paper. My mother was told I would receive assistance, my friends on academic probation told me they were met with at least once a week. I never was. I was not made aware of the Office of Disability Services until my second semester (which is bad because the school was aware of my learning disability), so I had a meeting with the head of ODS. I asked for the same accommodations that my classmates who have the same learning disability have, but was told by the HEAD of ODS that "if I needed accommodations in college, I shouldn't be in college." Thanks, Lisa. She gave me the accommodations the following semester and had no memory of our first meeting.Starting my freshman year I had issues with one teacher. She would never reply to my emails, chastise me, marked my absences as unexcused even when I had emailed her and given her doctor's notes. I had to go to the dean of students and the issue still wasn't rectified. My secondary advisor messed up my schedule so there were three classes I was not in my first semester, I was not informed of this and found out myself, so I was only in three classes. Those three classes are only offered every other year so I only had one chance to take them as opposed to two. The teacher mentioned above was not only my advisor but also the head of my department. All she ever did was chastise me, accuse me of lying which I never did, demand my medical information to prove myself (which is a violation) on multiple occasions including when I was asking for a substitute. I was having a physical issue that I would begin attending physical therapy for that affected my ability to move. She said no because she didn't think "I deserved it" and demanded proof of my appointments even though I was not in her classes that semester and my appointments didn't interfere with any of my classes. She also neglected her duties when I took an incomplete for one of her classes. Not only did I work my butt off and only got BC (either a B- or C+) but it took going to THE DEAN OF FACULTY for her to finally grade it. Not only did she leave my grade as an F, not an I like she was supposed to, but waited until 2 days before the deadline (after which my grade would have permanently remained an F) to finally grade it. I turned the work in before the semester even started and every time I reached out to her she said she was "busy". That was the only problem they dealt with. Not her rude behavior, her literally screaming at me, her privacy violations, or her outright discrimination towards me. I reminded her I have a learning disability and have accommodations but she told me that while she knows that, she is MORE critical of my work compared to students without disabilities because I don't do well in her classes. The Dean of Students and The Dean of Faculty got involved, both told me her behavior is inappropriate, wrong, and very concerning. They spoke to her and found "nothing wrong" contrary to what they told me. In fact, this teacher would tell me she was proud of me for reporting her. I would frequently ask for help with her work but she would either tell me she was "busy", tell to re-read the instructions, copy and paste the instructions or not respond at all. Then she emailed me around week ten to tell me I was failing her class and that I should withdraw. I asked several classmates about how she interacted with them and if she was "too busy" for them too. She was polite, super helpful and always willing and able to meet. Some students had her help to complete entire assignments. I had to take an entire extra year because of her because this course was only offered second semester, they refused to offer an independent study, and there was no tutoring for my program. If she had helped or if I hadn't been made to feel so outcasted amongst my peers perhaps it would have been better. But even my classmates knew she had her 'favorites' and she treated them very differently. I even personally emailed the school president several times (as several classmates had done for other issues) and tried to schedule a few meetings and received no response.The worst part about this is there were several faculty members who did care, could see that there was a problem and wanted to help. The issue was that they were in a position where they couldn't do anything and could only put me through to the exact people who could do something but simply refused to. Those faculty members who did care are the only reason I'm not giving this school one star.Also my freshman year they tended to have fun events on campus. By third year they had completely cut that stuff or limit it greatly. Most of the time to week days from 11-2 or so, when nearly everyone is in class. This lead to campus being very boring, especially on the weekends.Read Less"

"Most of my professors were great and took time to meet with me regarding extra help or advise on my future career path. There are so many great resources to take advantage of. I urge students to take advantage of the career center where you are able to get advise finding jobs after graduation and help on building a resume. I attended a talk offered by the school about a local company where I was able to speak with the staff afterwards. I ended up starting a paid internship with this company which I was able to count as credit towards my degree. There was a period after college where I was unemployed and it is scary. Within less then a year I had a job which I considered decent experience . One year after that I found a job that was good pay and good experience and I can finally say I am putting my degree to use. I would have never made it to where I am today without this degree.Read Less"

"I love being educated at Keene State, don't get me wrong. My professors are amazing and I feel like I learn a lot and they care about what I'm learning. BUT this school does deserve two stars because the ONLY good thing they do is education. The student accounts staff are rude and generally condescending and not helpful as well as most all of the administration I have spoken to. Residential Life is rude and genuinely don't care about your living situation or needs as long as you are paying and they can catch you on enough 'health and safety violations' to fine you about $100 dollars a person. Right now we have 2 showers for all of the girls in my building that work and they don't care to fix them let alone clean the cob webs from the ceiling or vacuum the floor once a month at least. When they found 'unsafe' extension cords in my dorm (that had been there since the beginning of the year and weren't a problem for the previous three safety checks) I was given 10 days OVER CHRISTMAS to finish a video series about being safe in the dorms. If I didn't complete it (which I didn't because I had never received a letter from the student conduct office and it looks like spam) I was put on 'academic probation' which meant I wouldn't receive my scholarship to pay for school after trying to handle the matter myself I was told parents hold more weight because "they pay the school" so I let my mom call and raise hell so that I could keep my scholarship and the school could keep me as a student and the money my tuition gives them. As a biology major they, note that they don't offer a pre-med track, I would suggest going ANYWHERE else if you want to go into medicine because no one here can help you get into med school, tell you about med school how to apply, what you need to know or even what classes you should take at Keene to be successful in medicine (except maybe some MEMBERS, not the adviser of the pre med club). The "pre-med adviser" who has only met with me on one occasion and isn't my regular adviser AND is supposed to write me a letter of recommendation for med school doesn't even come to pre-med club meetings to get to know students. She is one of the least helpful people I have met here, from the moment she gave me a sheet of recommended classes for med school and sent me out the door and hasn't responded to an email since. Keene State doesn't care about you or what you do as long as they get their money. Their ONLY saving grace is that MOST of their professors care about their students. If you want to party every weekend and get a good education, and be disrespected by almost every administrator and other non-professor staff, then Keene State is the place for you.Read Less"

"As an undergrad, I loved that all my professors were so knowledgeable, within not only the English and writing departments (my major and minor areas) but also in the arts and sciences. Like many of my fellow students, I had extra credits on graduating because I took advantage of non-required courses that were of interest. Some of my favorites were the art history and music courses. In my view, the college should have made available more music courses to non-majors! Also, rather surprisingly, I found several of the most eye-opening courses were in the sciences and psychology. The professors made the material not only relevant and interesting, but went out of their way to chat with students individually about course content and current issues. I can't say enough good things about the English department during my time at KSC, they had many wonderful professors with different scholarly interests. Sadly, several have moved on or retired, but several I know are still at KSC: Dr. Stroup is an expert at integrating different subjects (art, music, science, etc.) into the literature courses he teaches, and Dr. Schur provided some of the most fascinating classes on Russian literature (including a co-taught class with Dr. Darby in the music department).Read Less"

"Keene State College has shaped who I am today. Going into my freshman year, I wanted to open my own dance studio. After having an outside study opportunity, funded by Keene State College, I was able to work and connect with dance professionals and other students in the field that helped me decide what I really wanted to do with my future. I had always wanted to teach dance but the people I met through this experiential learning opportunity allowed me to appreciate working with older students. I now know that I want to teach dance at the collegiate level. I want to teach at the collegiate level because I like to challenge students as well as allowing them to challenge me so that I can proceed to grow as a dancer/choreographer. Now that I am a senior and have had numerous advising meetings, outside study opportunities, and have grown from my professors guidance, I feel ready to graduate. I am confident after the work I have completed at Keene State College to not only attend graduate school, but succeed.Read Less"

"Keen state college is located in a small town in western New Hampshire. It is a college town and there is not much to do off-campus but the downtown area is within walking distance of the campus and is a great social area. The professors at Keene are eager to help, they are flexible, and understanding. The food is mediocre but there are lots of places to eat in the downtown area. There are many opportunities to participate in club sports teams as well as intramural teams. The students are friendly, and outgoing. Overall, I would give Keene State College a B rating.Read Less"

"I enjoyed college life, I would have liked to live on campus longer and enjoy more student life activities. I love my career but if I had to do it again I may have chosen Engineering. Try to get an internship or a job shadow at a place that specializes in your career choice to make sure you like it."