Bradley University

I went to Bradley for my lasted two years of my bachelors degree. I loved the campus, my instructors and the people. Unlike most students, I paid for it all myself and found it a little upsetting. I knew how much Bradley cost for tuition but I felt like the amenities didn’t match up. For the cost of each student that attends, they should have more advanced technology and cleaner facilities. Besides that, I had a good experience and enjoyed my time there. The instructors, most of them at least, were willing to help when I needed them which is a huge plus. I would recommend Bradley to others but they need to make some improvements before them can be given a five-​star rating.

I’m a current Bradley student, so I may be a bit biased, but I’ll try to be as fair as possible.
First of all, Bradley’s campus is so compact, it’s fantastic. If I have a class at 9 a.m. I won’t leave my room until 8:55 a.m. Library, student center, dorms, study rooms, food, etc all within a 5 minute walk from each other.
They talk about how small classes and personal attention is a big plus for Bradley, and I was skeptical at first, but this is VERY true! I feel very comfortable with every single one of my professors across a variety of departments. I could ask any of them for a letter of recommendation because they all know me very well. This is a gigantic plus for Bradley.
Many people shy away from Bradley initially because of the seemingly high tuition, but they give you tons of scholarships that make up for it. Bradley ended up being the cheapest of all the schools I applied to, including ISU and U of I.
The Gen Ed classes are generally very fair and easy, just make sure as you would with any college to check out professors’ reputations before hand, because there’s bound to be one or two bad ones in a bunch. Bradley does require a fair amount of Gen Eds, but on the flip side they take almost all AP/​IB scores for quite a bit of credit.
Housing has significantly improved over the last few years. Bathrooms have been redone, hallways re-​lit, entire buildings made better (Heitz is the most popular dorm, but others are great as well. I would recommend Williams). Juniors and Seniors generally live in apartments which are less than a block on campus, but very well separated from the «on campus» community.
The library could very much stand to be updated, but creates a nice study atmosphere for people. They have levels for quietness, so if you need utter silence to study, go to the basement, and if you prefer a more talkative atmosphere for group projects, go to the ground floor, etc.
Bradley’s main problem is the area in which it is located. Peoria doesn’t have much to offer, and as soon as students get on campus, they are told not to go down «the hill.» Basically, Bradley is surrounded by ghetto in any direction.
Greek life is very prevalent at Bradley, but if you want nothing to do with it, you can not partake and you’ll have a great college experience. There’s lots to do every single night that does not involve drinking or partying, and students get an email of events going on that week so they don’t miss anything.
Bradley might be too small for some people, so be wary if you are a «big city» type of person. But it has a beautiful campus that honors its history along with being quite modern, and professors that really care about you.
The food is pretty unpredictable, but overall I’d give it a ⁷⁄₁₀. It’s dining hall food, meant to feed a lot of people. They have a good variety as well as gluten free and good vegetarian options.
As far as diversity goes, if you value diversity in students, Bradley is not the place for you. The professors are a bit diverse, but students are probably at least 80−90% white, with a large majority being from the Chicago suburbs.
Lastly, I have heard that if you want to do Physics in any way, don’t go here. Apparently our program is unaccredited at this point in time.
Bradley’s a great place. If you’re on the fence, you should definitely check it out.

I went there for Freshman year (2008 – 2009), Here’s why I left:
They force the 1-​credit University experience down your throat. It’s not mandatory, but they push for it upon you. I’m sorry, educating me on the origins of Bradley University and its founder, Lydia Moss is a waste of time. Also they lectured me on safe sex like we’re pre-​pubescent tweens. If I wanted to practice abstinence, I would have gone to Brigham Young University with all the Mormons. Also, I know which hole my dick goes into even when I’m drunk, Oh, and you know what, maybe if taken certain precautions I prefer the alternative.
Bio department was on the cutting edge of technology. You can tell by the MACINTOSH laptops that not even tech-​starved, 3^rd world countries would want.
For Residence Hall activities, students are notoriously apathetic making you the only one attending the event!
Tuition is expensive, but you can find a better private school for the money.
Greek life is too pervasive. Indeed, Greek life dominates campus in culture, activities, etc. Pressured to rush, I joined one but was asked to resign after I called them out on hazing. Plus, I was not exactly the coolest cat on the block, but that’s another story.
A person hung himself one floor below me on Geisert Hall. I knew him. It shook me up a little bit.
Needs to improve their services for students with disabilities.
Undesirable location. No bars in sight. Nothing to do.
The part-​time professors will show you no mercy. In my oral communication class, I had Mr. Mills. He was a probation officer. He’s not qualified to teach at the college level. You can tell this since he read out of the book, and had no concept of grading fairly. He was quick to mark down your grade for the slightest deviance in your vocal inflection. He also refused to give me an A when my grade was ⁸⁹⁸⁄₁₀₀₀. For all of those who are not mathematically inclined, that’s an 89.8 percent, a mere one multiple choice problem away from an A. Since there is no +/​-​in the Bradley grading system, there is nothing that differentiated a student who earned an ⁸⁰⁰⁄₁₀₀₀ from my grade. That’s a full test right there.
Dorms and lecture hall designs were antiquated, even though my stay was over six years ago.
One of the questions on a bio test: Number of Chromosomes a person with down syndrome has? I put 46+ 1. Got it marked wrong. Homeboy said «What is that number?» I don’t know, you have a PHD you tell me? You could not add 46 +1. No wonder your lectures are lukewarm, and your side comments to pop culture are not funny!
Hey, the BIO department chair is a real life version of Dr. HOUSE, showed no interest and impartiality to my case.
Annoying special interest groups run rampant across the community. Oh, and for a campus that had abandoned it’s non-​secular past, a light of dogmatic bible thumpers are enrolled here. I took umbrage to their presence. You put anti-​abortion crosses on the nice green lawn in front of the bio department that looked like the front-​cover to Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Totally metal until you read the chapter and versus on each one!
Cafeteria in Geisert and Williams are disgusting. DO NOT EAT ON CAMPUS. Your best bet is to stock up on Mary Calenders and microblast it rather than eat this inedible arrangement.
The library was one of the absolute worst libraries in the whole entire country. That is a true statistical fact. People came here to talk, not study! It’s archives are not well monitored, their periodicals are not current. They lack any recreational attractors. The only nice thing about the library was that the bathrooms were really quiet. It was a nice, tranquil place to unload.
I’m sorry, the ten African American students are not a qualifying factor to pride yourself on diversity. You better call Aaron Roger’s to do the double-​check on your advertising. Oh, this is Illinois. Thought I was in Wisconsin.
Task-​force will ruin your party and write you a hefty ticket.
The few pros:
The Smith Career Center is great. They really care about you. They will do everything in their power to try to polish your resume and hook you up with a job before graduating.
I liked a lot of my professors in the Psychology and mathematics department. Mary Jane Sterling is the best professor there. If you take a math class, get her!
Steve Warning, for the film appreciation class was solely responsible for my interest in filmmaking and an aspiring screenwriter and director. Thank you Steve. You are awesome!
Markin Center; Markin Center event nights had food, entertainment
My RA’s were very helpful: Nick, Anna, Steve.

The faculty and staff really did a good job of showcasing not only their learning institution but the whole campus community as well! It made a HUGE difference to take the trip and do a site visit.

This is another college visit review, since that’s where I am right now. We took son #1 here for a special day that they hosted. They had presentations and tours and lunch.
Overall, we enjoyed the experience. This kid is interested in Engineering and this is a great place for that. It’s not a factory like some of the other Engineering schools, it’s small enough that the instructors know your name and they don’t have TAs or Grad students teaching.
The presentations had some room for improvement. We rode 3 hours in the car to get there and then had to sit for a few hours while they went through their Powerpoint slides. Originally we were supposed to eat in one of their cafeterias, but things changed and we were doomed to a set lunch menu which had room for improvement.
It is a small school, so some options like food in the cafeteria are limited. No, they don’t have a Brazilian meat option in their cafeterias, but how does that help you later in life?

My stepdaughter, a Theater major, goes here and loves it. She raves about it. But I have to give it 3 stars only because, as the other reviewer says, Peoria has nothing at all going for it, and my stepdaughter’s friends have personal assault and stalking experiences. IMHO this is no place for a young woman, I have personally seen the ignorant male townfolk drive slowly by in their cars, ogling the young women as they walk to class. The creeper factor is pretty high. This is a good school plunked in the middle of a crass, trash dying town.