The University of Hartford

I can't really say if the University of Hartford is for you.
It's a very uneven university. Of course, there are exceptions to everything in terms of classes, professors and students but for the most part the University has the right to boast about the Hartt School of Music and Dance, the Barney School of Business and the Hartford Art School. If you're not planning on attending one of these schools, I would advise you choose somewhere else. The campus mood is especially brought down by Hillyer (community) College - Yes, there is a community college at UHA. Of course, it's just as expensive as the rest of the university and provides access to university social life, which doesn't reflect very well on the character of its students.

The Hartt School is a top rate school. If you're looking to major in music, you should definitely consider it, despite the extreme mediocrity of the university at large. I attended the Hartt School as a major in music composition, which is a top rate program. The performance programs are strong, as are Jazz Studies, Music Production & Technology and more. Overall, it's a very well-rounded music school. I will say this, however: It's not the very best. While most students are very talented and the faculty are some of the best in the nation, you will generally not find the drive for excellence that top tier schools like Juilliard and Curtis emphasize. In other words, expectations are not quite as high as they should be. If you've been playing four-part fugues since the age of five, you should seek out the very best music conservatories. If you think of yourself as more of an average person with a strong interest (and capability) in music, consider Hartt. It's as high as you can go without quite giving up your whole life to music. I attribute the slightly diminished challenging nature of Hartt to the University of Hartford, again.

As a music major, I took mostly music classes and lessons, so I don't know much about the liberal arts education. However, I will say this about the two liberal arts classes I did take: be prepared for anything. My history course was taught by a learned and charismatic professor who made every lecture interesting and informative. His essay assignments were quite formidable. My English class was taught by a miserably lazy and unchallenging teacher. He freely admitted that he didn't care, and we generally got free A's on the essays he didn't feel like grading.

The living situation is... fine. The dorms look old and decrepit, but the rooms themselves are fine. They're neither good nor bad, really. The Residential Life staff are notoriously unresponsive, so try not to break anything. You'll occasionally lose your quarters to broken washing machines and that sort of thing, but overall there's certainly nothing terrible about the dorms. The food is decent (when in doubt, stick with salad, sandwiches, that sort of thing), and you have a couple options for dining. Be sure to read all the fine print in your meal plan. I didn't and accidentally ran out of meal points a week before the semester ended. There are "dining dollars" and "guest meals" and a lot of stuff that can seem confusing at first. The hours leave a little to be desired; no place on campus is open before 11:00 AM on weekends. Bring plenty of cereal for your room.

The look of the campus is a bit lacking. There's a stream that runs through the middle of the campus and some wooded areas, which are nice. On the other hands, the buildings are strangely and unevenly designed. You'll often find yourself walking across the grass because the sidewalks are somewhat badly placed. The layout of the campus is not excellent. It's a pretty small place (5500 students or so), so you'll never have to walk more than ten minutes to get to class. Actually, the one exception is acting and dance majors, who currently have to take a shuttle bus to a facility quite a ways off campus for their classes. Very inconvenient, I've heard. However, as of fall 2008 this will no longer be so, as a new performing arts is being built. (Also in the off-campus facility are female-only dorms, if you're into that.)

You'll attend orientation and watch a mascot ("Howie the Hawk") rap and feel like UHA is an idiotic continuation of high school. At night the R.A.s will direct you to the parties. Oh, parties. I really can't speak for them. However, there's plenty of opportunity for drinking and drugs and all that. I've heard the party life on UHA is a little less vibrant than that of some places (for one thing, Greek life isn't too prominent on campus). I've heard it described as a party school, too. The social life is obviously what you make of it. However, if you are not a partier, you may find it difficult to busy yourself socially. The university has little to offer in the way of extracurricular groups beyond the standards like newspaper, drama club and marching band. (Of course, if you're a musician, there are tons of musical groups based out of Hartt to get involved with.)

Personally, I attended the University of Hartford for a semester and transferred out. I definitely didn't like it. Mostly this was for social reasons; meeting people and keeping myself busy was a huge problem. Honestly, I'm less outgoing than the average guy, so my experience was probably not a common one.Really, you just need to find out as much about the university as possible. Absolutely visit the campus. It might turn out great for you.

1st Year Male -- Class 2011

Education Quality: A-, Surrounding City: D