Gallaudet is structured for students who have previously been in residential schools, which have notoriously low academic standards that have only recently begun improving. For students who natively speak English, they may surprisingly have a hard time communicating until they become better at ASL so that they can know better how to express information to the many native signers.
Quality of education can be mixed depending on the department. For students seeking to be treated at the collegiate level rather than high school senior, it may be necessary to join the Honors Program or to create their own challenges.
Social life is powerful, but many students have lost sight of Deaf History and have no sense of belonging to the Disability Rights Movement or to Deaf Culture beyond last week. However, these students also change the face of what the right to communication means. All communication styles are accepted and supported, and students switch around for one another. Does this sacrifice ASL or coddle new signers, or does it embody our bilingual mission?
For those who want access to totally accessible communication, Gallaudet is the perfect choice. Be aware, though, that those who want a challenge may need to seek it themselves. Gallaudet offers plenty of resources to do this, thankfully.
I loved the sense of community for myself as a deaf person but sometimes not being a first language ASL user made things difficult and being verbal did make me lesser in some people's eyes. I also had a very hard time with your financial aid office and the admissions department wasn't organized well. I'm transferring out to be closer to home for both financial and health reasons unfortunately caused by attending this school.
It's a community for the deaf and hard of hearing that gives a sense of family. The disability services are good for a 3 person team with many options for all different abilities. There is a dorm for graduate and senior undergrads that is quiet 24/7 which means parties and/or loud music is banned. Great for studying! They are currently renovated a couple buildings to be more "deaf friendly" which means more wide open spaces and plenty of lighting. Security is a somewhat lacking but campus security and DC metro police have a great work relationship and shit gets done. Like any school it has its cons but there is so much I have learned at this school and I continue to grow as a person in this wonderful community.
It's better to ask me what I have to complain about Gallaudet. It's the food services, and often customer service or the services the students needed that sucks. They're slow, they're pointing fingers, and "unable to do so because of the financial spending we have". But the culture, education, social life, the intellectual community is strong and amazing here! It's truly the reason why we all go to Gallaudet University. It's our home.
It's a university created for the deaf and hard of hearing community. It's the only deaf university in the world! However, it is just like every other private college where there are people who snub others for being "different". As a deaf person who learned American Sign Language later in life, it was harder for me socially but there are tons of different people and I eventually found friends who were in similar situations. Classes are deliberately very small sizes. The maximum number of students I've seen is probably 20 students including myself. Everything is visually taught and there isn't a lot of lectures (at least for the political science and general requirements I took). The big negative I have is that the financial aid department for the school is abysmal. Their secretary is nasty to students but oh so accommodating for concerned parents. The process is slow despite having a big number of "available" advisors. The advisor I had wasn't even helpful at all. I'm not even sure what they're supposed to advise on. That's how bad of a job they did. I had a lot of classmates and roommates drop out mainly because of the financial aid department's incompetence. Hopefully they get that fixed soon.
It is great school for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, but it still have some improvements that need to be made! Residence Halls and some building halls are needed to renovated, add more parking areas for students, hire more Deaf professors in heavy subjects!
It is a university for Deaf and Hard of hearing students. I had the privilege to experience their world and culture. For most of the programs, all the classes are taught in sign language and majority of the students only communicate via sign language. It's a beautiful, diverse, and empowering community.
I had great experiences on campus. I lived on campus and it felt like home. I also enjoyed having a lot of access and feel part of it. I am deafblind and there are tons of deafblind students there. Most students on campus are educated about deafblind and had been treating us equally. I receive wonderful accommodations in the classroom. The professors were even involved in with accommodating my needs even if I didn't ask for it. I was also on the swim team. I was welcome and my teammates had been supporting me and others. I joined the sorority as well, my sisters treated me like a real family. I never felt so successful in my life. So, I stayed at Gallaudet and will continue to stay even after graduation.
Love Gallaudet and the community. Even though there could be things that can be improved, I know the administration and faculty care about the students. There is a lot of alumnae who go on to graduate and then go back to be teachers. So there are plenty of people from the previous generation teaching the next generation.
Gallaudet University is a great place to learn. The campus is beautiful, and access to 24/7 American Sign Language has greatly improved my signing skills. The faculty and staff are very friendly for the most part, and classes are well taught. Dorms and food are alright.
What I really like about Gallaudet University is the rich Deaf Culture we have, and how open Gallaudet University! I'm excited to attend there as a student! What I'm excited for is get some awareness about the Deaf culture, improve my signing to communicate and learn the Deaf History.
That's pretty much it!
I visited Gallaudet University. I think gaining access to scholarships can be difficult because I am hearing-impaired.
Overall, Gallaudet is a great experience. Its sense of community and spirit cannot be overstated. It is a small and tight-knit community which cares about one another and works to improve itself. Classes are small and encourage a lot of discussion between the faculty and students. You feel like anyone can succeed here if they reach out for help.
Gallaudet University is quite different than any other university. Since it is a deaf university, everything from academics to parties to sports is very interesting to partake in. Everything is communicated in sign language in the classroom and sports. It is a small campus with an approximate amount of 2000 students. The classrooms are very nice and the buildings itself show a historic portrait of Gallaudet's University's past. The majority of the teachers are hard workers and help students reach their goals while there are a few teachers that slack off. The food in the cafe is great with many options but some days the employees can really act out of control if something goes wrong with the customer. The sports facilities are fantastic especially with the limited space they have. The staff there is amazing too because they want to push student athletes past their limits. The safety of the campus could use a little work although. A few precautions letting in strangers into the campus could be used. Based on my first year here as a student athlete, I would rate this school a 3.9 out of 5.
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