Oakton Community College

So many opportunities to get involved, receive scholarships and meet new people. If your thinking about here definitely give this place a try.

I am a big fan of OCC. I study here and i started working here this semester as well. I like the semi-​suburban atmosphere. I like the mind-​your-​business type of students ranging from 18 to 81 ys old. And i like the college’s pride in everything they do. I’ll miss it when it’s over.

I took a handful of classes between this campus and the Skokie one. Noting overly impressive but what can you expect from a 2 year community college. Alright class selection and decent professors. Maybe not the experts you’d expect to get at a 4 year University, but for what this was, it wasn’t bad. Good school to go to just to get your feet wet as you decide what to do with your life.

Oakton is a great community college, IF you take classes with the right professors. Definitely use
when choosing your teachers.

oakton is super clean school compare to UIC where i tranfered to…
and most instructors are super nice and want you to succeed.
also, one of the easiest school ive ever attended,
for whatever reason if you have to attend oakton to transfer to 4 years, knock out these general cores,
1. english composition 1,2, public speaking
2. precalc if u havent already, then calc 1 to 3
3. gen/​college chem, bio, physics, organic etc
4. other hard science classes
the best part about this school is that the most teachers will go through stuff that will be on exam THOROUGHLY. this is called spoon-​fed free GPA booster in my own words and if you do homework, you will ace on these cores and be able to transfer easily. by the way, once you transfer no accredited universities will spoon-​feed you, and demand lots of stuff so take all hard science courses and english compositions in oakton, because they will ALL transfer.
if you dont get A or at least B in these courses, and you want to major hard sciences from 4 year university, then forget about getting science related majors and pursue liberal arts. just being brute honest here, because 4 year university science courses are HARD.
dont take social science courses in oakton because they are easy even in universities anyways.
overall, i highly recommend this school! just do your homework.

I’m glad I went here after high school. The school is especially good for anyone who wants to enter a science related field. The professors know what they are talking about, and I feel they prepare you well for future endeavors.
Looking back at my fellow classmates, here is a list of where we transferred to: UofI, UIC, Northwestern, UW-​Madison, Cornell, Loyola, Illinois Institute of Technology, Benedictine, DePaul, Michigan Tech, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Northeastern. Many had scholarships! Within this list, a few went on further to Pharmacy School, Medical School, or to do a PhD. Yes, all from good old Oakton.
Community colleges get a bad rap in this area for some reason, but if you do your own homework (what classes to take, looking at 4 year school transfer guides on THEIR websites to see what is required), you can go very far, and save a lot of money (you will be very happy you went to Oakton when it is loan repayment time… I sure am)
I took mostly science courses at this place, so my experience is a bit different than others (like I said, the science professors aren’t messing around… they don’t curve!).
If I could go back, I’d do it the same way again, hands down.

The academic advisers at Oakton are the most lackluster team of incompetents I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with. I can’t believe they are allowed to advise on anything more complex than how to fasten Velcro on a pair of shoes. Unfortunately, one is left to their mercy regarding determination and approval of specific classes necessary to complete a degree and you better hope they’re in a good mood during your encounter or you will suffer from their inattention and attitude of being put upon, if they’re not.
I have met with five different advisers over the course of my time at Oakton and have yet to receive the same answer twice as to which courses will fulfill what should be pretty straightforward requirements for an associate degree. Today was no exception. Is it that unreasonable to expect a consistent answer that will guide me to successfully pursuing a degree? That the answer is also accurate would be a real bonus!
Regrettably, I have never had a positive much less productive experience with a counselor at either campus. They are uninformed, disinterested and, generally, treat you with contempt.
Students’ education shouldn’t be hampered by a staff whose job it is to help and guide them.

I went here 11 years 1994 to 2005. Except my last semester in 2005 was in the Skokie campus. They were not offering the ELT class in Desplains when I needed it.
I had some good teachers and some bad ones. It was ok except the mornings. Some said people in the mornings were in too much of a hurry and were not friendly. Some people used to call it joketon because it was not the best education they day.
Like how can you take time management lessons from a guy who is always late 5 minutes. Or electronics 101 the second time I took it because I failed. The second time was the worst. The teacher would leave the room and people would ask yo, what is number 1. That is no way to conduct a class. And nobody wanted to study with me because I was stupid.
I got 3 d’s for business 101 110, and hotel and restaurant management 101. But business was never rally my thing.
When i started the computer classes and web classes I did much better, even a couple of A’s.
So it wasn’t all bad. But some classes were not teaching much and were more of a joke while others I did learn from. So I guess every place has a few flaws but it wasn’t all bad.

This school is a great transition from highschool into a University OR a great way to stay in school but not be overwhelmed [depending on choice of classes, and also an awesome way for people you have been missing out on classes to get back into the program.
Most courses are moderately priced but also mostly worth it. The professors are extremely generous and always willing to help. They also have great teaching techniques so you will not make a bad choice to try it out.
The students are also very friendly and there’s a wide range of cultures and ages so everything is in abundance if you’re the kind of person who likes to interact, socialize, and develop new and long lasting relationships.
Bookstore has a lot of things essential for classes so you can rarely be unprepared, and cafeteria food also has it all [but it’s too expensive unfortunately.]
Amazing location surrounded by the forest preserves of Des Plaines. Absolutely gorgeous campus in the summer with a lake in the back which is great for studying and passing the time [beware of the winter though! Lol].

What a great bang for your buck!
Did my pre-​reqs here and had everything I needed for the right price. Looking back, I wish I had gone here for 2 years and then transferred to a 4 year college.

I like that it is cheap! Took a couple classes in the summer in high school and was able to get ahead for college. Teacher was a little hard to understand but good. Very public high school set up but it worked for me!

For those of you young Unilocalers or Unilocalers who are new to college in general, Oakton’s campus has a high school feel to it. It’s a nice transitional school campus between going to a huge university and coming from a high school or not having been at school in a while.
I agree with some of the reviewers that professors are hit or miss, but having been to a University after Oakton as well I have to say that that statement is true of pretty much any university. Professor Wendi Sarti for example is an amazingly smart woman who Harvard asked to write a piece in a book for them. While taking her for (MANY classes — I was transfixed for a while) I was wondering what in the damn hell she was doing at a community college. However, that’s just sort of the thing that happens when you have an established opinion. To me, forever, «Community College» was joke sounding and always made me self concious speaking to people about. However, after my experience here I have to say I think that community college, IN PARTICULAR Oakton — is a great way to get your gen ed requirements out of the way before spending the larger dollars finishing off your major.
The counseling center requires appointments for the most part, and I haven’t had the greatest experience with the councilors there, but they do have TONS of information on other colleges for when you’re’ getting ready to transfer.
Tuition in district for 12 credit hours is a bit over 1k which is an amazing rate in my opinion. Many of the classes I’ve taken teachers have made books optional or I have been able to sneak around not having to buy my books. The bookstore is nicely set up though just as pricey as any other college bookstore, and tucked away across from registration.
Their photography department is amazing, if you’re into film development at least. Though I would have to say on a personal note that Jeremi (one of the instructors) is a major elitist and I’m pretty sure he stole the prints he said he was going to put up in the hallway there that I did. He has declined comment for years now. Not that I’ve really pressed the issue. Perhaps I should get a Unilocal copper badge or something.
Either way, I think it’s a great, straightforward campus, amazing ceramics department, music program, photography department, some hidden gem professors and overall I would have to say an experience I would defiantly have chosen to go through again had I had to go back in time and redo all of my college career starting from scratch.
There are TONS of programs and LOTS of online classes to choose from. A large part of Oakton’s appeal is the ease at which they make things for students who work, or have any other issue that prevents them from coming to school full time as a ‘normal college student’.

Never again for any reason. I was amazed at the awesome selection of programs offered here, but the people who taught them are really hit or miss. I’m sure there are good teachers here, but I did not have them.
Backing up, I talked to an academic advisor as my first step here, and she was the most unhelpful person I had ever met, who knew nothing, could answer nothing, and made it seem like I was wasting her time. The registration office is also the most crowded place full of workers that you will ever see, full of rude and generally unhelpful people.
And yes, there are the students who ruin it because they do not take anything seriously and ruin the class. Oakton will do very little about this, although they may have a meeting and give that person a full refund to not return after weeks go by. Great message to send.
Who knows though, maybe this is just characteristic of the night class crowd and it’s a completely different atmosphere during the day. I just know, I will not be returning.

Great sculpture! I love the art around the campus, and the LAKE! Gorgeous! Oh, and the inside is nice too, although sometimes the projects classes are doing kinda stink.

I think that Oakton gets a bad rap sometimes by people who just don’t take the place seriously. When I was going for my undergrad, I took a bunch of liberal arts classes here to transfer a few requirements. I enjoyed most of my teachers and felt that their facilities (computer labs, cafeteria, library) were more than sufficient.
It was a welcome change for my pocket book considering, at the time, each class would average about $ 300 – 400 per course including books. A whole lot less than what I was paying at my private arts college. I saved a lot of money by taking a few courses here.

I took classes at Oakton Community College for one semester while awaiting mid-​year admission from the college where I actually eventually graduated. As community colleges went, Oakton was pretty nice. It wasn’t run-​down or dumpy at all, and the grounds and the building (all the classes were in one building like a high school) were immaculately groomed. Sometimes the one-​building set-​up with a greasy cafeteria made me feel like I was stuck back in high school, but Oakton was generally pretty cozy in a nice-​enough way.
Like most community colleges, the students encompassed a huge range of people, both in age and ability level. My professors were all extremely competent, and I felt happy with the quality of instruction I received. Since I was able to be a star at Oakton, my professors gave me a lot of attention. One even nominated me for the honors program! The professors here actually cared about teaching, which made the quality of education better than many state schools where you’d be in a large lecture of 500+ listening to the prof.
The only thing about Oakton is that it isn’t as difficult as a «real» college. After being a mediocre student in high school, I easily made straight As at Oakton, something that never happened again in my higher education career. Oakton is still a good option for someone who wants a good education at an affordable price, but don’t expect it to be as challenging as an elite university.

I took one class here during the summer: Introduction to Ethics. Great professor; can’t remember his name but I know he also teaches at Depaul. Great class we had too: everyone participated not only because they were smart but because the professor asked the right questions. Lighting and seating were okay in the lecture hall.
I would give four stars except whoever sends out transcripts is terrible! They sent my university two, count them, two blank transcripts. So I had to pay a third time and they finally got it right. Maybe I’ll take classes here post undergrad for fun if I decide to live in Chicago in the future, but other than that won’t be back.