Chapman University

As an advertising major, the classes and curriculum were top-notch. Most of my teachers were industry professionals. My Intro to Advertising was taught at the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine by their head of creative services (a Chapman Alum). So as an advertising student to get hands-on experience with the elite in the field in my freshman year was fantastic. Most of my major-related courses were taught in the manor.

As far as the rest of the courses, it’s what you decide to make of it. If you just want to get these classes out of the way, feel free to take Psych 101, Philosophy 101, etc… But to satisfy these requirements, you can also take an interesting upper-division course. Sure, I may have been the only non-premed person in Medical Ethics, or the only advertising major in Police and Society, but these classes were extremely interesting, thought provoking, and available to any student. I’m not sure if that is the case at many other universities. Do I use this information today? Not really. Did I enjoy the class? You betcha.

As far as Chapman goes socially, again, it’s what you make of it. I went the Fraternity route. It was fun, allowed me to meet a diverse group of people, and I was pretty much tired of it by the en of my junior year. It may not be for everyone, but it is fun for some. Apart from the Greek life, Chapman isn’t all that diverse. It’s primarily made up of people who came from middle to upper-middle class backgrounds. A large majority are from Southern California, but not all. I’m from Northern California, knew a lot of people from Colorado, Arizona and the East Coast. Like any place, you can choose to hang in the ghetto of people you know and are comfortable. Or you can venture outside of your norm and say hi to someone you don’t know. It’s not that different than anywhere else.

So all in all, it depends on what your looking for, and what you decide to make of it when you get there. Chapman isn’t perfect. But it isn’t a bad University either.