Lesley University

Honestly, as a non-White identifying individual, I did not feel as welcomed as the university preached. It wasn't very reassuring to see what staff told me about their views on diversity during Open House and not see it on campus. The student body culture was not what I expected. In terms of professors and classes, I had an excellent experience, and I highly recommend their therapy and counseling departments. My professors have responded to my emails quickly and provided good feedback on my work. I strongly believe that if you live on campus and do not commute (like I did) you would have a more enjoyable experience. Overall, Lesley University is a great school for anyone who is interested in specialized therapies, counseling, and social work.

As an LCAL student I've been quite fortunate to have had excellent assistance from several of the school's professors and faculty; they are what really make Lesley accessible and for that, I am grateful. I wish some of the supports I received at this school and the majority of supports I received from the community were accessible to all - this is a social injustice I plan to help change in my future work. However, in general, LCAL students are least supported and represented in whole. My last few weeks at this school will be hard, but when I graduate, I won't look back. I'm sadly looking forward to closing this chapter of my life and embracing better, more inclusive opportunities. In terms of any type of justice, education, integration, and emotional well-being, the school, in my opinion, has a long way to go before it can claim to be truly inclusive. It's still a long way from realizing its full potential to reflect social justice, but it won't have accomplished that goal of full social justice and inclusivity until it can truly include ALL types of Lesley students in making decisions about safety and emergency preparedness, Covid-19 guidelines, health and safety in dorm rooms, cafeterias, and other Lesley spaces, commencement, campus restructuring, and other critical systems in place. Lesley has also failed to bridge the social, economic, and educational divides in order for students to feel really represented and involved and secure. Before it can expect others to wake up to the world, Lesley must wake itself up to it.

To start with the pros, this school offers some very interesting majors, courses, and extracurricular clubs and activities. In fact, some of my favorite classes I have taken were at this school (although they transferred over to my other schools as electives and did not fulfill most of the requirements). In addition, it is relatively cheap compared to other art schools and has a good amount of resources and the campus is fairly easy to navigate once you get accustomed to the layout. There are also shuttle vans available to transport students to/from a few different campus locations. Most of the teachers are friendly and pretty accommodating to student's needs and situations as long as you communicate with them. If you're lucky, you'll manage to make a few friends that are open-minded. However, they do not offer any scholarships or grants for minority students or out-of-state students and are not willing to allocate additional funds for students facing financial hardship. For me, this is a major con because this is a school that speaks about how diversity and inclusion are very important and something to be valued, but they do not have systems in place to support these students. I found myself always having to go to the financial aid office and calling them, and asking my parents to contact them because they would provide very round-about answers for simple questions. There are also still a lot of issues regarding racism on campus that have not been properly addressed and have been swept under the rug, but I am not surprised that they have not been addressed either considering the history of the school and its location. Another issue is student housing and facilities. Although they provide the bare necessities, the dorms are typically very dirty and falling apart. As a person with allergies, my sinuses were constantly bothering me due to dust (and possible mold and mildew issues) at the school. Sometimes, toilets and showers would be clogged for days on end. The size of the rooms are also very small, especially considering how much students have to pay for room and board, and living on-campus is required for most students for the first 2 years. Most of the time, you can find mice and rats in some of the dorms and food halls, so that gives you an idea about how well the school is being maintained. Overall, I would not recommend attending this school. As a person of color and out-of state student, it was not the best experience and I found it fairly difficult to transition since there was not much assistance from the faculty. Most of the help that I did receive came from my friends who happened to live in state. If you decide to attend this school and something happens to you while you are campus, it would be better to make an official police report and then notify the school and file a report with campus security, and to keep following up with them.

I am in my first semester at Lesley and I have had a wonderful experience thus far. I play second singles and doubles for the women's tennis team and am involved with the all-female identifying a capella group, Ladies First. The classes I took the first semester were very engaging and thought-provoking, unlike the courses I took in high school. The surrounding area of Porter and Harvard Square make the weekends fun and I have never just sat in my dorm room wondering what I can do. The one complaint I have is the food, as a vegetarian, it is hard to find options that suit my dietary needs, so I am often relying on snacks as my main food source. Lesley has made me feel at home and the friendships I have made so far are real and meaningful. I am excited to meet more students as I will be an orientation leader in the summer of 2020.

My overall opinion of Lesley University is that it's an extremely artsy school. I lived off campus and attended some courses off campus as well. The off campus courses were extremely more diverse than the on campus courses. Professors were very passionate, they made their passion contagious.

Overall the classes are 30 people or less because it is a small campus which makes it easily accessible for students. It is also equipped with shuttle buses that can take students to the Porter campus 10 mins away and the Brattle campus 20 minutes away from the main campus at Doble. The dorms are spacious enough for two people to move around equipped with heating in the winter. There are two places to eat at the dining hall has food catered for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and there is a student center with to-go plates available.

For the most part, I enjoyed attending Lesley University. The classes were small, the professors were knowledgeable, and I felt very prepared for my career as a teacher. However, I was a commuter student and the University is not the most commuter friendly.

It’s a great school to attend if you’re interested in the arts and live in or near the Boston area.

Lesley University is an amazing school and it was my second choice school. The arts programs here are fantastic especially the film program. Everyone involved including students and staff are incredibly warm and welcoming. We all support each other and strive to achieve our goals together. I highly recommend Lesley for those in high school or looking to transfer.

Lesley University is an overall amazing school that is very liberal and accepting to students of all backgrounds and identities. The professors are very knowledgeable on the subjects that they teach, and the smaller class sizes ensure you will have the ability for one on one experiences with them. However, in recent years administration has been extremely unavailable, and the dorms and dining halls have significantly dropped in quality.

It's a really mixed bag. Apparently I came in when my program was dealing with a lot of turnover. Now a year later, we still sign up for classes with changes in the classes we are taking a week before registration and we're a couple weeks out from classes and the teacher I picked on purpose isn't teaching at all now. I have had some really horrible teachers and some really amazing ones. Nothing is organized. Typical arts school apparently.

Lesley is a great school with the perfect amount of students in each class. Most professors are available to answer any questions during office hours. The university is in a great location and transportation is easily accessible. The housing could use some updates and renovations.

I like Lesley. They have a great location in the city, easy commute between campuses. I am in both the graduate and undergraduate program and I prefer the graduate program. The undergraduate programs is slowly becoming more diverse, however needs more work when having conversations about diversity and other -isms, such as sexism, racism, classism, etc.

There are a variety of majors as well as minors suitable for all different kinds of students with different interests and passions. The classes are small, so students are able to stay in contact with their professors more easily, making the workload more manageable, and learning more effective. The professors are easy to communicate with, and they are timely in getting back to students if they were not previously available. They are also lenient with times to meet with students outside of class in case their office hours are not always convenient for their students, so it is not an issue meeting up with them for important matters. The generally small classroom setting all throughout the school allows for better in-class discussions, which are common during many lessons, regardless of the subject. The small size of the classrooms also lets students become more easily and better acquainted with fellow students, making the classes more enjoyable and comfortable. The majority of students are activists, driven by social justice and change for a better future, and are open about their values and beliefs, which says a lot about the student body in an inspiring, positive way. On campus, there are clubs and lots of events held throughout the school year, giving students a lot to do outside of classes. Given the location of Lesley University, there is even more for students to do, being in the Cambridge and Boston area. Being able to take part in a such a small campus as well as a large city simultaneously makes for the best experience, and it shows especially for me, a current student.

I love this school. It is the perfect size and everyone is so incredibly friendly. The teachers are amazing, overall I think that this school is great. It has lead me to meet some of my favorite people and I now have an amazing support system of friends. The teachers are all so kind and are really willing to help students as best they can.