Erie Community College

I have never taken classes at ECC so I can't review the college itself, but I have been lucky enough to visit the Statler Dining Room for lunch. They have limited hours...Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30-12:45 for a few weeks each semester. If you can catch them when they're serving it is more than worth the extra effort to get there.

I found myself at ECC when I was taking a week-long training for work. The facilities (restroom) were clean, parking was easy to find, just across the street. It was about a five-minute walk. We ended up getting paid parking. The one thing that I found off-putting was that the room was rather smaller.

There are no windows. All of it was very artificial light. By the end of the day, a lot of my coworkers were feeling really warm and uncomfortable so we had to prop the door open, just for a little ventilation. The lunch area was dirty.

The location is in the heart of the city. You can find many restaurants within walking distance. I might personally prefer like a bigger space but it was okay.

This building looks as if ghosts roam the corridors. Which is why everyone calls it "Eerie Community College." At least they didn't call it "Creepy Community College" because that would be too many C's, and if you get too many C's, it'll be tough to keep that GPA over 3.0 people.

The downtown campus of ECC is absolutely beautiful. It's an underrated, haunting old campus right in the heart of the city, across from the Greyhound Bus Station. It's typical Buffalo with the grandeur and impressive architecture that people rarely mention or pay homage to. What a wonderful place to go to school.

I was lucky enough to sit in on many classes at ECC Downtown, and participated wholeheartedly in some of them. I have to admit I was a little shocked by the level of study and the lack of difficulty of the material. I have to be honest, that it reminded me of what I was studying in England at ages 13 and 14. Having said that, this is not an ECC issue. It is a United States issue. The standard of education and difficulty, especially in liberal subjects and social subjects, is quite primitive. Having said that, the teachers do the best job they can, and many of the students do as well.

It wouldn't be right to pick on ECC for this flaw which is shared by the vast majority of Universities and probably all Community Colleges in the US. One thing is for sure, as my partner at the time found out, you can save a "shipload of money" by going to Community College and then transferring to a higher education institution part-way through a degree. And to be honest, the standard isn't as radically different as some people would have you believe.

Also I should say that every professor I've met at both campuses, from sitting in classes, to the class I took, to the friend I made - have been pleasant and very interesting to talk to.

One thing is for sure. There are not many more impressive campuses for any community college, anywhere, than ECC South.

Decent class sizes. Pretty good professors, if they like their job. Feels like I'm back in high school. And the food is pretty good, go to the pastry cart for fresh baked goods!

I remember a car ride after moving to Buffalo in snowy February 2015, passing this building and thinking, "WOW. This school is absolutely beautiful. And it's a community college? I wish I could be a student here." Then I became one last fall and I am so deeply proud of this place. I've had the most wonderful instructors, made great friends with incredibly educated individuals, and I'm loving the free discarded books outside of the library! LOL.

There's knowledge everywhere in this building. There are free workshops, an amazing (and cheap!) restaurant located on the second floor, and freebies all over the bulletin boards. As a proud student of ECC, I can honestly say that studying has never been more enjoyable.

P.S. PLEASE VISIT THE STATLER DINING ROOM! Their prices really are unbeatable. Their food is also made with vegetables and herbs that they grew THEMSELVES in a garden by Canalside, and I'm sure many of you have seen it already! They're cash only by the way, so make sure to bring cash!

I've taken in classroom classes here and online ones. The in-person classes were excellent with instructors who really care and I do not regret spending my money on them, but the online classes were worth one star as they were just blocks of texts with no interaction or videos or ways to interact with the alleged teachers of the course.

How Am I the First to Review This? The school is conveniently located, and parking I have to say is not bad considering it's near the heart of downtown. All major bus routes go there, which is great for those of us who hate driving downtown.

The Good: The professors are very decent- I recommend going to Rate my professor for a specific instructor. The staff is very helpful, from every office you go to. The layout of the school is simple enough to find classes easily, and the building itself is a gem of downtown. I am very proud the school has strong intention of maintaining the original architecture. Tuition is very reasonable, expected of community college.The food in the cafeteria is also good, but the culinary students have a cart on the side that makes great stuff to sell as an alternative. Every department has it's own room that acts as a study hall, which is very helpful particularly for biology classes. Online classes are very good, particularly in math and english pre-req's.

The Bad: Never go to the book store, as much as you can avoid it..Not only is it way overpriced, but the police security can make you feel like an inmate checking into prison. the staff there is helpful and efficient, but overall its something to avoid. Smoking policy is just plain dumb, an essay in on itself- in short it just alienates people and doesnt keep non smokers happy anyway. This school is not a very social school, Clubs seem to never have anyone or get started here. The only place to meet people is in a study hall- not the worst thing ever really, this is what were here for. Selection of professors can be limited, I would like to see some classes to not have a monopoly of just one professor. The online website is a tangled mess, Im not a programmer or anything but I think they could organize it alot better. Never take a night class, this is down town there is robberies. The intersection between the athletic building and post building is busy and can be dangerous to cross.

Overall the good does out weigh the bad, as the bad is minor annoyances IMO. As the bad should be common sense stuff to any city dweller anyway. 4 stars, with room for improvement. Study hard, and good luck on you're degree :-)