I expected many things of my final semester at Brandeis. I expected to be nervous about law school applications, excited to start the next chapter in my life and simply happy about spending my last semester having fun at the place where I have spent the last 3 1/2 years. What I didn't expect to feel, however, was disappointment with the University that I was so thrilled to be accepted to as a high school senior.

Most students feel less than elated about a less-than-satisfactory class or a decision the University has made regarding tuition during their undergraduate careers, but those feelings hardly compare to my own disappointment. When I applied to Brandeis, this University was noted as one of the most up-and-coming universities in the United States. I was hugely proud to be afforded the opportunity to graduate with a degree that would help me get into graduate school or give me a leg up while finding a job. Now when I tell people I go to Brandeis, their only response is, "Oh, the school that wanted to close the Rose Art Museum?"

I understand that we are in troubling economic waters here. I also understand that the University needs to make changes in order to carry on. What I don't understand is why the quality of education Brandeis students are receiving will take a nosedive in order to compensate for economic issues.

Cutting departmental programs to save money starting over five years from now, as the University plans to do, seems like a fairly extreme measure to me. Perhaps it would seem more appropriate if there were some form of financial figures to back it up. Without such figures, I am hard-pressed to see how possibly cutting the Classical Studies major will save the University from a financially murky future, and although I am not a Philosophy major, I fear that this major will be cut, like Tulane University cut its Philosophy major-I know that as a college applicant I would have been extremely wary about applying to a school lacking such a basic collegiate major. I don't think I am the only one.

Student enrollment, as anyone trying to get a sandwich for lunch in the Usdan Student Center can attest to, has increased dramatically. I can see how admitting more students will increase financial gain. What I can't see is how decreasing the student-professor ratio will benefit anyone. Although Brandeis is currently raking in students, what quality of student will be applying after we cut off the main function of the University-academics-at its head? The type of student who, in the past, has applied to Brandeis has valued small class sizes and accessible professors. Those key features of the University certainly tipped the scales in where I chose to apply. Moreover, the overcrowding proved to actually hurt my education during my latest round of finals since study space was so limited on campus that people resorted to studying in the unbelievably distracting Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

Overcrowding is not limited to the dining halls, classes or study areas. There are too many students trying to sleep in too few beds. While the simple and obvious answer to this problem seems to be either building more dorms or having more students move off campus, the University has opted to crack on deadlines for study abroad applications. A huge factor in my decision to come to Brandeis was the University's encouragement of students who wanted to study abroad. I did not decide where I wanted to go or if I even wanted to go abroad until days before the October deadline for the Brandeis application that was in place last fall. Studying abroad was easily one of the most fantastic experiences of my life, an experience that, quite frankly, I probably would have missed out on if I had to make that decision in the fall of my sophomore year. The type of students Brandeis should be attracting are those who are inclined to explore the world outside of Waltham, students who looked at our fantastic study abroad opportunities and truly wanted to take advantage to make the most of their education.

For such a young institution, Brandeis has become a leader in academics. With the quality of a Brandeis education deteriorating, I am not sure how much longer we can hold on to that image. Closing the Rose, although a poor publicity move, doesn't seem so as horrible to me when the quality of my education is at risk. Sell the art if you have to; don't sell my education down the river.

I believe, with such drastic changes falling out of the sky, that it's reasonable to worry about the value of my degree post-graduation, a worry I would have scoffed at four years ago.