Cameron University
Lawton, OK, USA

Reviews

Cameron University

Sarah from Geronimo, OK

a current student here
6 people found this review useful
CategoriesComments
Am learning a lot
The first semester I learned a great deal! I would say, more than most my time at high school combined! Cameron University is a great collage. People are friendly and helpful. I have amazing instructors, too! They are eager to help each student, and taught me more than I thought I would learn!
Am enjoying being here
I enjoy being here most of the days! From where I'm from, it's a bit of a drive to go, but it's worth it by the end of the day. :) It's a great place to sit down and view, too! Cameron works hard on keeping their property nice and presenting. They put out flowers, keep the fountain's flowing, keep the grass nice and tidy. Even the spacing of everything is great. It's not too much of a walk to go one place to another. Also, they serve great food in the cafeteria and lunch lobby! Oh! They also have a little pond where people can sit there for a while and enjoy nature. It's beautiful! Such great scenery.
Bang for the buck
Cost is great! They don't overcharge you for everything...which is good. It's still nice to get loans and scholarships, but the tuition at Cameron alone, isn't bad at all. :)
Tips for prospective students
Talk to people! Mostly everyone likes to talk for a while. Ask around, ask for tips, ask about the campus! People like to share! There is a gold rush- an enrollment orientation, and the people running it are really great with telling you about the campus and such! Most likely, they will answer the top questions while they show you around. :) They give out free water, too! hehe. But, yes! Ask questions, interact with others! It definitely pays off, and helps you while you are here. You'll also feel more welcomed, too! Don't be shy! They want you there! :)
Great for these types of students
Well, this is a pretty well rounded collage! Almost anyone can come here and be satisfied....unless you think you want a more expensive collage? That's fine, hehe. Well, Cameron is known to be the Aggies. They are pretty big in Agricultural things! So, FFA Or even a slight interest in farm, plant, animal, and agriculture is great! But, they offer several different courses, majors and minors! They are just as capable as anyone else. :)

Trevor from Lawton, OK

a current student here
2 people found this review useful
CategoriesComments
In three sentences
Big-name campus living in a smaller university environment. Extensive landscaping makes activity walks highly enjoyable. Provides opportunities not easily found elsewhere in between the metropolitan areas of Texas and Oklahoma..
Tips for prospective students
Be sure to look into financial aid like a federal Pell Grant or Cameron University's General Scholarship. You can cut your fees almost in half this way. Be sure to apply for the general scholarship early! The initial deadline tends to be in the spring, around February. They only consider applicants after this point if they still have money left to award.
Academic Rigor
As of this review I am taking five courses this semester (one with an additional lab meeting time). This isn't something I've ever been able to do before in the previous college I'd studied at before graduating and transferring to Cameron, mainly due to constraints of not living near or on the campus there. Taking five courses is rather demanding and I'm definitely feeling the pressure to stay on top of the combined course load. I'd definitely say Cameron's rigorious in the academic side of things.
Dorm Life
Cameron presently offers two forms of student housing: the Shepler Center, which is a traditional dorm environment (two high-rises, one for male students and one for females), and Cameron Village, a small apartment complex. There's several options for both; in Shepler, there is a dedicated floor for freshmen students, with everyone else up on the higher floors. Most dorm rooms are two-bed setups, requiring you to live with a roommate but some of them have been converted to single bed dorms meant for only one person. Showers and bathrooms are communal.

Cameron VIllage apartments have four and two-bedroom setups. Here, the bedrooms have their own locks, which provides an added measure of privacy and security. Each pair of bedrooms shares a bathroom (with two vanity sinks, one for each person). While you can still hear doors opening and closing and people shouting outside the apartments, the bedrooms doesn't seem to carry sounds outside too well; I've been able to crank my speakers up to a reasonable volume and not hear a thing while standing outside until I open the door, which is good for not disturbing others. Both the four and two-bedroom variants have a dedicated kitchen with a stove, oven, microwave, sink and dishwasher, adjacent to a common room. Essentially, all the furnishings of an apartment; but the housing fees are much, much less expensive than any of the local apartments in Lawton!

One thing to note: For both Cameron Village and Shepler, you have to use communal laundromats to do your laundry. These aren't coin-operated; you have to get a laundry card and load money onto it periodically. You can expect to spend anywhere from $3 to $9 a week doing laundry, depending on the load.
Food and Dining
Cameron offers two on-site places to eat: the dining hall at Shepler Center, and the food court at the MCC Student Union building. Both are supplied by Sodexo. With both places, it's possible to pay with cash or credit/debit cards, but Cameron offers various meal plans that allow you to pay at the food court with flex cash and visit the dining hall a set number of times per week (depending on the meal plan).

The dining hall is only open at certain hours of the day (breakfast/lunch/dinner on weekdays, brunch/dinner on weekends) and is an all-you-can-eat style buffet. At all times the dining hall provides certain kinds of food, such as pizza (usually of two or three varieties), waffles (at a self-serve counter containing random flavors), salad and a counter for making sandwiches. There is also an Exhibition counter that serves varying meals depending on the time of day (for example, in the morning the staff makes omelets on request, and during lunch there is usually barbecue and brisket available). During lunch hours a Deli counter is open for those who would prefer deli-style sandwiches, and in the lunch and dinner hours a second Entree counter is open providing an alternative to the Exhibition counter.

The food court at the Student Union is roughly the size of a gas station convenience store, providing many of the same kinds of snacks and drinks you'd expect to find in one, but it also has restaurant kiosks like you'd expect to find at a mall. Presently these include Pizza Hut, Freshens (a yogurt and Starbuck's coffee shop), Sub Connection (providing sub sandwiches, salads, and soups) and Pick Axe Grill (a number of grilled foods including hamburgers and quesodillas).
What to do for fun
On campus, Cameron University is always hosting social functions, including parties and outdoor events. The Aggie RecCenter has an indoor heated swimming pool and facilities for weightlifting, cardiovascular workouts, racquetball, basketball, and other physical activity. As for off-campus attractions, depending on your tastes there's more to do in the Lawton area than there is than in the rest of the land between Dallas and OKC. Nearby Lawton is the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, which hosts a number of activities throughout the year and is a great place for all sorts of outdoor recreation. Also nearby is Medicine Park, a small resort town-like community that features a variety of shops, restaurants, and come spring 2014 will also host an aquarium and natural sciences center. Lawton (and Medicine Park) are adjacent to Lake Lawtonka, which provides opportunities for fishing, boating, swimming and the like. If museums are more your thing, there's a few in the area; the Museum of the Great Plains, the Ft. Sill Museum, and the Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center.
Bang for the buck
Speaking as someone who would have to have moved to opposite ends of the country just to find a campus that offers the kind of degree that would offer me the skills and career opportunities I'd need to pursue my goals, Cameron has been worth the price of tuition so far.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
In the past decade, Cameron University has put a lot of effort into remodeling the campus grounds. It's now host to several gardens and plenty of beautiful landscaping that makes the daily trek from class to class much more enjoyable. As a transfer student who already holds a degree, and who looked at several other colleges before enrolling, I can say that Cameron has the most scenic campus for its size that I've personally seen.
Clubs and Activities
There's a decent amount of student organizations available through Cameron, aside from the honor and Greek societies. There are also a number of clubs dedicated to special interests, especially in connecting minority and international students. Clubs focusing on academic topics also exist, like the Art Club, Biology Club, and Chemistry Club.
Greek Life
I'm not much into the frat boy scene, but from what I've been told the fraternity and sorority on campus are more like after-school clubs than what you'd likely find in the larger universities. Sorry, Animal House fans.
Campus Safety
Although Lawton has a reputation for a high crime rate (to the point where it's said you have to worry about getting shot if you go to off-campus parties), Cameron University is rather safe and quiet. The campus has its own police force, who can be contacted immediately through emergency kiosks located all throughout the campus grounds in case you don't have access to a phone.

Speaking of access, getting in to any part of student housing requires a keycard, and the keycard system will only grant access to people who live in the relevant buildings. You can't, for example, be a resident of Cameron Village's C building and expect to get into the A building with your keycard. The same keycard will also only grant access into that person's specific dorm room or apartment. Therefore, the only people that can get into either the dorm rooms or the apartments are only the ones whom you or your roomate(s) let in. As I mentioned in the dorm life section, the Cameron Village apartments have a lock for every bedroom, so even if your roomies bring in unwanted guests, you can ensure they won't mess with you or your belongings.

Bronwen from Lawton, OK

a current student here
2 people found this review useful
CategoriesComments
Am learning a lot
The teachers have actual experience in the field that they are teaching which gives the students get real world examples.
Am enjoying being here
Everyone is really nice. Its a beautiful campus and well kept, which can be a rarity around here.
Bang for the buck
Almost all classes are updated every few semesters so all the information is pretty current. A few of the professors are on the state licensing boards so that if you continue your education, you will be well versed in what you need to know after graduation to get licensed. So you know that you get a better education than those schools that do not have these professors( and doctors).
Tips for prospective students
Don't be afraid to contact the advisers and ask all the questions you want because they won't make you feel stupid. The advisers are very willing to make an appointment with you so that you can get your questions one on one.
Great for these types of students
School is great for psychology students wanting to seek a masters degree, and those psych students who want to get licensed after grad school. It is also a good school for those who want to teach, any grade, and it is also good for those seeking a job in the criminal justice field.

Jonathan from Lawton, OK

a current student here
1 person found this review useful
CategoriesComments
In three sentences
There is something different about Cameron University that sets it apart from other universities. A lot of students that transfer from CU to OU stated that the professors at CU cared more for their students than did the professors at OU and OSU. I cannot speculate on these statements, but I notice that professors have a very likeable appeal to them here at CU.
Tips for prospective students
Explore, explore, explore.
Academic Rigor
I give CU 4 stars because academic rigor comes down to the professor you are assigned to. Some professors are lenient graders while others are more strict. But, even if they are strict, professors at CU give you the help you need to pass.
Dorm Life
My parents have a house in Lawton, so I do not sleep in the dorms. However, I have a number of friends that live in the dorms. The Cameron Village which is the big apartment style dorms are quite nice. Spacious living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The dorms in the Shepler towers are a bit different depending if you have a single(1 person) or a double(2 persons). I do not know if they get any bigger than that. The rooms do not come with individual heating and cooling controls. But, the rooms stay relatively cool when it is hot and relatively warm wen it is cold outside. Bathrooms in the Shepler towers are community style and they do not seem that bad. Although, the last time I was up there on the 10th floor I did see one tiny cockroach crawling around. Other than that it seems like the usual college lifestyle to me.
Food and Dining
I have not eaten in the cafeteria before, but my friend says the breakfast is quite delicious. He says that lunch is okay depending on what the cafeteria is serving for that day(he is a picky eater). And the same goes for dinner. There is another place to eat on campus and that is in the McMahon Centennial Complex. Dining in there consists of Pizza hut, grill for burgers etc. café, and a place that is like subway but does not carry the name.
What to do for fun
There are numerous activities that clubs and organizations do on campus during the fall and spring semesters. To name a few would be laser tag, cookouts, dances, and many others. There is a gym for working out, playing basketball, ping pong, racquetball, weight lifting, cardio workouts, swimming, running. There are disc golf poles set up all over campus.
Bang for the buck
The grill inside the McMahon Centennial Complex always makes the food fresh and is customizable and every time I order something it always looks and tastes wonderful.
Clubs and Activities
Many different clubs. The club that is most active is PAC that is always doing a fun event every week or so.
Greek Life
There are some although I am unfamiliar with any of them.
Campus Safety
One of the best traits CU has to offer is its campus safety. It is very calm and quiet in the evening unless an event is going on. The campus cops are always on patrol. There are those emergency poles everywhere.

Jamaal from Lawton, OK

a current student here
1 person found this review useful
CategoriesComments
In three sentences
Great school with eager teachers. The teachers seem compassionate and passionate about what they teach and how they interact with their classes. I am enjoying this venture.
Tips for prospective students
Check into their scholarship programs and you might be surprised by the options.
Academic Rigor
Rewarding if you put your best foot forward.
Food and Dining
Not the Olive Garden but better than most college cafeterias.
What to do for fun
Campus activities are non stop and vast in things to do.
Bang for the buck
Cheaper than most state colleges by far.
Greek Life
Surprisingly you have a great amount of choices for Greek life if you are looking for that type of thing.

Rebecca from Lawton, OK

a current student here
1 person found this review useful
CategoriesComments
In three sentences
The best place to study without been distracted. best place to school and also best place to get to know your lecturer.
Tips for prospective students
I f you are looking for a quiet enviroment that will help you concentrate on your studies, then Cameron is the best place to be.
Dorm Life
Cameron Village is the best place to stay
What to do for fun
well this depends entirely on you. you can go to the mall and all
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
Bentley garden is a place you can go and chill after a heavy loads of class works
Great for these types of students
quiet. dedicated, reserved, want to focus
Clubs and Activities
different types of club and activities to do
Campus Safety
very safe