I applied to this school out of desperation- My transcript is so poor (due to a myriad of factors I had no control over during HS, in essence my transcript is garbage and my test scores mediocre), and this place accepted me. I’m very weary about attending this place, because my credentials are so poor, even Rutgers rejected me. So I have my doubts about the authenticity of this university.
I’ve examined its course catalogue and it offers only up to sophomore level classes? It’s unclear how the school structures its academics beyond its sophomore year. Evidently they don’t even offer any specialized majors, instead offering a “bachelors of arts and sciences” general degree. They offer weird courses, with little to no description, laughable titles, “imagine trying to read a transcript that has classes such as: Solar Power. Whatever that means is anyone’s guess…”. There are even rumors circulating about how difficult it is to transfer out of this place, and how nasty they can be.
I say rumors because (focal point of fear): THERE IS LITERALLY NO INFORMATION ABOUT THIS COLLEGE ANYWHERE ONLINE! Even the wikipedia article summarizing this place lacks citations justifying each of its seemingly extraordinary claims (ranked among the best colleges in Canada? I’ve never even heard of this place until very recently thanks to an advertisement, it’s not listed in any mainstream ranking site, heck the only tier place I found which gave it a number ranked it 6100 World Wide…"
Is this place a diploma mill or what? My education is already horrendous enough, and I dunno if I should take the risk of a seemingly decent education over having to go to Penn State (Berks campus, which I don’t like at all).
It’s a real university. I know one person who went there, but it’s a very new and unusual school for Canada. It’s the first private, non-religious, non-profit university modelled after US-style small liberal arts colleges. My high school classmate went there for their flexibility in scheduling courses around her very busy life. The type of student who goes to Quest are people who really value small classes sizes and personalized discussion-based learning.
They hire very innovative professors. The founder of Quest had a vision that college education in Canada could be more focused on pedagogy and personal growth through learning, but I question the role of this kind of institution in Canada just because there’s no reason for Canadians to pay $30k+ tuition for college no matter the intimate learning experience and student life quality since we can pay $7k tuition for a top-end research school like UofT or a small liberal arts-type school like Acadia.
You get to design your own degree - you take a certain number of required classes in your first 2 years (foundation) and then choose the upper-level classes you want for year 3-4 (concentration). All classes are taught in ‘blocks’ so you take 1 course at a time, for 3.5 weeks each. It’s supposed to make a more immersive educational experience. Cornell College and Colorado College also do this. Quest has the highest ‘student engagement’ stats in Canada: https://www.macleans.ca/education/unirankings/national-survey-of-student-engagement-a-truer-measure-of-quality/
It’s absolutely not a diploma mill, and you’ll probably get a good-quality education, but it’s not a recognizable name - especially in the US. If you plan on getting a traditional degree and working in the US, you’ll probably have better prospects at a different school.
I don’t know what the current situation is at Quest but it’s had a troubled history. Anyone considering it should read this thread and then do some thorough research.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/canada/729224-quest-university-canada-p1.html
It is very expensive, much more expensive than the many well-respected Canadian universities. It receives no government funding.
“I don’t know what the current situation is at Quest but it’s had a troubled history. Anyone considering it should read this thread and then do some thorough research.”
That thread is the cause of my uncertainty. Regarding the “highest stats for student engagement” Wthat the heck does that even mean? What standards is it based on? Where can I find the full study? For something that claims to assign a “high” number to such a school, I’d expect that they would have such a fact listed on some other academic sources, instead of random news articles flying around online.
The only other news articles I found about this school were random blogs and things like Buzzfeed, so not really reliable sources of information.
Penn State is also garbage.
I just wanna make sure that whether or not I go here, I’ll receie a quality education, and what tier it would be
We don’t have ‘tiers’ in Canada in the same way the U.S. does. I can say, though, that I have lived in Canada for 45+ years and have never met or even heard of someone who has attended Quest. I had never even heard of the school until it was mentioned in that above linked thread. I am not sure why anyone would choose a school like that if they had ANY other options.
Do a google search.
Their entire varsity athletics program was dropped earlier this year due to financial problems at the university. That type of issue does not bode well for the school’s future.
Five or six different presidents in their very short history.
Only ~700 students, which is smaller than most high schools in North America.
$35,000 tuition?! Ridiculous.
I personally hold Quest dear to my heart. Here is a Ted talk that describes their model –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZQe73IXZtU
It reminds me loosely of schools like Hampshire, Bennington College that sort of place. They have different models of learning and the students drawn to them are different too. Different doesn’t mean bad or good, just different and if it’s a good fit for you, then you can thrive. Quest is newer so its track record of graduates is less developed but Hampshire and Bennington have long lists of very interesting and path-breaking graduates. Schools like this tend to draw people who do things differently because the school does things differently. I happen to know many people who have attended these schools and they are truly pathbreakers, not afraid to ask the questions most people are afraid to ask, and generally are successful and happy.
What the schools have in common is inquiry-based learning as opposed to top-down models of most universities.
If you have something inside of you that you want to learn, these schools can help you pursue that goal. These are places that tend to ask: is the usual way of doing things the best way of doing things? Maybe there’s another way (or 500 new ways)? Top-down models tend to say: learn this formal set of information and after this lengthy apprenticeship you might have time in yoru schedule to pursue the creative side of this.
Obviously it’s not all one or the other, but I’m attempting to paint stark images so that you can see the difference between more traditional education institutions and this handful of institutions that do things differntly. Top-down vs. Down up. Student-interest-driven vs. (not sure best way to describe the traditional method that doesn’t sound pejorative.)
Also, one problem with regular campuses has been that all of the departments are separate silos. Hampshire, Bennington, Quest are early pathbreakers in getting the different disciplines to talk to each other and to get students to combine these areas – what are normally called “majors”. I mean if you thnk about it, why do we have X major and Y major? Sure some schools allow you to combine but most kids get the message early and say: I’m a math major. I’m a history major. Well, great, but why aren’t the two “talking” to each other? Surely they can learn from each other. Other schools are starting to do this, for example Columbia is setting up a new campus with buildings that put different disciplines together precisely to get synergies going, Cornell similarly is building a new campus in NYC that’s doing this, etc.
I looked into Quest a few years ago for a relative in the Pacific Northwest who was interested in “alternative” type colleges. It’s perfectly legit (it was founded by a former President of UBC), but it’s unconventional and little known. I also found that it was impossible to get hard numbers of the sort that are taken for granted at US schools (e.g. acceptance rate, test scores, 4-year graduation rate, etc).
One point that I thought boosted its credibility: Quest has a student exchange program with Colorado College, which is indisputably legit (USN&WR #23 National Liberal Arts College), and which also operates on the block plan. This is documented at the Colorado College website: https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/studentguide/pathfinder/academic-policies/study-abroad.html
Multiple people here have pointed out that Quest (which gets no Canadian government funding) charges very high tuition compared to most Canadian schools. That’s true, but the school apparently operates on the American model of “high sticker price, paid in full by those who can afford it, with discounts to the rest”. Most Quest students probably don’t pay full sticker (although again, the hard numbers are lacking). Note also that the sticker price is low compared to most US private schools.
I ultimately advised my relative to pass on Quest, go to the local community college, earn a good GPA there, and then transfer to a 4-year state university (which prioritizes community college grads in transfer admissions).
Once you have a good track record at a CC, then no one will care about your high school grades or test scores. And once you transfer to a 4-year school, no one will care that you started at a CC.
You could do something similar in Pennsylvania. If you don’t like the Penn State system, then how about a community college that has an articulation agreement with Temple or Pitt?
@Corbett
Yeah, but you would lose the extraordinary life experience of Quest. You know, ordinary college on the one hand vs. extraordinary experience and new forms of education on the other.
I know what I’d choose. If you need some hard skills later – and there are plenty of Columbia grads and Williams grads and graduates of other more recognized “name” schools that need hard skills after graduating – then take some classes in business or accounting at a community college or go to law school.
My vote is to go get experience and education that makes you different inside and that makes you stand out in the crowd. My vote is for Quest.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread. If the OP cannot abide by the forum rules, I have no need to keep the thread open. Several posts deleted.