Montclair State University Reviews

"Very small graduate program for music. So that is a pro and a con. Not a high level of competition but you get more opportunity. If you live in New Jersey, it is also very affordable and won't kill your pocket to go to graduate school"

"It's and excellent school with a reputation to match. The Professors are very down to earth and willing to work with you.The program is rigorous and prepares you for the real working world. No cons so far."

"Thus far, starting my graduate program, I am confident in the fact that the Professors, directors, and supervisors of my program have made themselves readily available for student questions and needs. Them prove to be very helpful. My professors challenge me to think higher, yet, they are also understanding as individuals and will work with you to assure your academic success n their class. They work hard to ensure that you're actually taking something from the class every time you leave. Cons for the overall university is financial assistance and support. Payments are expected to be paid very quickly and that is difficult for a student like myself who is working and paying their own way throughout grad school without the assistance of a loan."

"It's much more competitive than I was expecting. Strict curriculum and academic expectations. I am pleasantly surprised! My biggest complaint is the class hours. In the Spring and Fall classes begin at 7pm which is perfect. But in the summer classes begin at 6pm, which extremely inconvenient for those of us who work full time and come to campus from Manhattan. Also sets a bad example, in the real world there is no such thing as 'summer break' or 'summer hours' - for the most part. Especially not for those of us who work for Wall Street."

"I love the K-6 and Students with Disabilities program at Montclair. The professors are extremely supportive and and accessible, which is so important. My advisor is helpful as well. I find the classes to be engaging, and while the workload is a bit high, it is helpful and gives me the opportunity to grasp the concepts being taught. We do a lot of collaboration with peers in classes, and I love that as well. The professors tend to have casually run classes, in which we can all feed off one another's ideas. One area I wish was a little stronger is the activities provided. I wish there were more on-campus groups to become active with, and I also think there could be more events for graduate students. Though graduate students tend to be busy working full time and taking on classes, it is still so important to be involved and an active member of the community. Montclair is a great area, and I wish there were more opportunities on campus that would reflect within my area of study."

"Pro: I like the professors in my program. They are very supportive and have warm heart. Con: Lack of financial support. Transportation is not good."

"Montclair State University runs an excellent graduate program for future audiologists. All tools and resources are readily available and staff is extremely accomplished and helpful"

"Along with major electives, Montclair State’s Graduate History program allows for 9 hours of free electives. Interest in the history of constitutional law has attracted my attention with graduate courses including 3 two week seminars equal to 3 semester hours each for the James Madison Seminar at Princeton University on Teaching the American Constitution. For 2 of these sections I paid for credits which transferred as electives. The other elective was LAWS 599: The Rise of the Machine Age and Decline of Humanity in Law. In addition, history courses I have taken provide evidence to validate theoretical constitutional theories such as HIST 517: The Age of FDR and course I plan on taking like HIST 513: Problems-New Nation 1789-1828 and HIST 514: Crisis in American Nationalism."

"My program is great. The faculty and other students are great resources for help and job connections. The workload is that of any graduate school program in that if you take the time to complete the work, you won't be overwhelmed. If you slack off, the semester will be rather difficult when you are playing catch up. Each class is small but the diversity and personalities in each class are rather the opposite. The program is such a good mix of age, career choice, and personality type that class discussions are so interesting and informative, you love coming to class each week to just talk and talk about how current events, the course material, and our experiences all relate to each other and help us better understand the material. My only con would be that there is little to no finanicial aid assistance. It's either more loans or you pay out of pocket. I applied for financial aid only to be asked to take out a loan, which is not what I wanted to do considering I am paying my undergraduate school loans out of pocket as I am supporting myself through graduate school. Overall, I would recommend my program to anyone, just do it at a time you're financially able to pay for it or expect to pay more loans."

"One big pro of my graduate program is that it is CACREP accredited. That is very important for a counseling program. Another pro is that the faculty and staff are very nice and ready to help everyone all the time. I feel that they are really there to support me and help me succeed in this program. A con about my graduate program would be that not a lot of attention is given to those with a higher education/ student affairs concentration. Most of the counseling classes focus on the school and community counselors. Overall this is a great program and I am very happy to be a part of it."

"Great program and great school. Big Pro is Graduate Financial Assistance. Con would have to be parking on campus, which is trivial."

"It's close to me and not too expensive. I'm used to the campus."

"This graduate program is highly esteemed and provides its students with numerous opportunities to network and expand their knowledge on a vast set of subjects."

"The courses that I having been taking is quite useful for my profession.I enjoyed them very much because its valuable and interesting, also the faculties are professional and responsible."

"The program has very good professors. Some are better than others, however for the most part the faculty is very experienced and knowledgeable. For my particular program, Dr. K. Associate Dean, was the primary pro. As a professor Dr.K. uses experiential learning opportunities in her classes and connects students with college administrators they may not otherwise meet. The three internships involved in the program can both be a pro and a con. Students locate their own sites for internships and if they are unable to find a good site, they will have a difficult learning experience. However, students who find an exceptional site will have a great learning experience. A con may be that this is dependent on the students ability to network and discover possible counseling internship sites."

"The Graduate history program at Montclair State University has provided me an excellent opportunity to enhance my research, writing and presenting skills. The major con in the program would be the lack course available. While the curriculum lists over twenty different course offered, each semester only has about 2-4 course available."

"I found that many entering the program came from varied academic backgrounds. Therefore sort of skewing the competitiveness of the program. It was not an inexpensive school, but nothing really is. As a graduate student, commuting is an expensive prospect. Expect to spend $10 for parking or more each time you're there. This is still probably cheaper than opting for a parking pass unless you're going full time. The campus seemed safe and I had no concerns about my safety even leaving around 10:30 at night after graduate courses let out. Some of them let out significantly earlier which was nice. There are some teachers who don't embrace the technology at hand, but many are very aware of the functionality and availability of the services they have. GIS lab was tricky sometimes because classes had reserved it. Financial aid for graduate programs is available but on a limited basis. You need to be proactive and networking with professionals and teachers within the program. I found many teachers made themselves accessible if you needed them, but this is a graduate program. Don't expect them to come to you. I didn't find much 'career' support, but I was not proactive in looking for it. I found networking with the working members of my class to be advantageous. I'm not finished with this program yet but by no means would I discourage students from entering it. Although my ratings seem low, it was for little things. Engage yourself in the content and embrace the chance to learn."

"Montclair State has a wonderful graduate program - it is challenging, but incredibly hands-on and relevant to the corporate environment and experience."

"pros-learn interesting facts and insight about field professors have great knowledge and experience cons-academic counseling and guidance workload"

"I liked that Montclair's Maters of Nutrition Program is made for people who do not have a background in Nutrition. However, I felt this program was a step above going to Integrative Institute for Nutrition. The program pretty much accepts everyone, and just passes people along. Only 1 class focused on the science of nutrition, and even though many people may not have understood at all what was taught, they still manage to graduate with a degree in nutrition and call themselves a "nutritionist" in NJ. I personally have taken the long route and done both a masters and dietetic internship, and I feel the quality of education I received was subpar. I felt none of the professors were supportive on helping with research, and the professors themselves had very limited areas of interest, so there was little to become involved with."