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The State University of New York - Albany

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When I first thought about coming to Albany,BrightJournalism
When I first thought about coming to Albany, my relatives knew the reputation it had. They had friends who came here in the 90's (when Albany's party scene was at its peak), and it did not disappoint. I can easily say that my first month here, 90% of the time I was drunk. It was okay because actual school work didn't start until a month and a half in. The party scene is vibing, you just need to go out and meet people (or just get on a bus on Friday nights and follow a crowd (its that easy)). The wind blowing through the concrete pillars provide a bad hair day everyday, but the pillars protect us from the rain which is good. The library is always loud, so good luck getting work done there. There is a large number of clicky Asians running around the school, spreading second hand smoke daily. You can't walk outside the library without inhaling second hand smoke from the Asians who ignore the no smoking signs everywhere. The dining halls close at 8 pm on the weekend which results in ordering food EVERY weekend. The classrooms need upgrades, with their squeaky chairs and blackboards. Where does our tuition money go to? Check out the sports teams. Not only do they mostly suck, they are all decked out in Albany bling. Who knew paying $22K a year would go to full scholarships for men who suck at playing football will help me in the future.
1st Year Female -- Class 2019
Campus Maintenance: A, Campus Aesthetics: F
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I had a wonderful experience at the UniversityQuite BrightPolitical Science
I had a wonderful experience at the University at Albany! My classes were great, my professors were excellent, I had plenty of one-on-one time with professors, and great debate in my classes with everyone feeling they could express their opinions with logical explanations. I can't express how much UA has positively impacted my life. I have grown in every way possible and I will forever be grateful to my Alma Mater.

Besides all that personal growth and intellectual acuity, I was recruited by a wonderful company that targets UAlbany graduates. They moved me out to Chicago(my choice), pay me very nicely, and I am gaining experience that helps me achieve my career goals. I have UAlbany to thank for this(along with a lot of hard work).Other people in my field and in my circle of friends here in Chicago have all gone to much more expensive schools: Purdue, University of Southern California, Yale, Dartmouth, Loyola, Berkeley, Harvard to name a few, and not a chance goes by that I don't speak well of UA. If you have the opportunity to attend UAlbany, don't pass it up.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2011
Education Quality: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: A-
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This would be a great school if itSuper BrilliantEnglish
This would be a great school if it wasn't for the faculty, campus, police, constant construction, bureaucracy, and surrounding city.

First, a quote from the first day of an upper level physics course-after a full hour of the professor talking about his own life and qualifications: "You know, I could teach the course, but honestly everything you need to know is in the textbook, so if you don't mind I'm just going to bullshit around for the semester."

That pretty much sums up my four years of experience at SUNY Albany. There were some very good classes, though I could be biased toward them based on how many bad classes I had. Many of the professors took themselves and their own opinions far too seriously to pay attention to what the students were actually saying. I once had a professor shut the door on any student who was more than three minutes late to class. Most of her students were commuters.

The police are hyper-aggressive and don't follow procedure. I had a friend kicked out of school for multiple months without trial. He was later found innocent on an overwhelming amount of evidence, and a total lack of evidence by the accuser. He left the school. More than once during finals week my sleep has been interrupted by police officers in the parking lot keeping their lights, and in one instance, sirens on for the full duration of a traffic stop. In a parking lot. A parking lot that they routinely hit 40 in. You can tell when they pass cars driving on the adjacent road.

On the same token as losing sleep during finals week, sophomore year someone decided it would be a good idea to hire a crew to use a jackhammer outside my window for two hours straight starting at six in the morning.

Going back a paragraph to speak on parking lots, myself and a friend got a ticket on the same day, for the same reason. We both appealed. We both used the same argument, with the same people. One of us got off, one of us did not.

Did I mention the construction? It's everywhere, and it's constant. It's supposed to help the campus look better, but by the time they've finished one project, they've started two more. I went my entire college career minus the first couple months of attendance without the central fountain being open.

Also they couldn't figure out how to squeeze a degree out of almost two hundred credits. You pretty much have to pigeonhole yourself into one or two areas of study if you want to graduate.

This is one of the statements to rate before writing this: "This University is beautifully planned with abounding trees and flowers -- not haphazardly placed concrete."

The University is concrete, and they keep cutting down the remaining trees. So that's a D-.
Then there's Kegs N Eggs. I don't know if you've heard this one. On St. Patrick's day 2011, there were riots in mid to downtown Albany. Almost everyone that was arrested was a St. Rose student. SUNY Albany took the blame for it without a fight. Because of this lack of defense for their students, every graduate's degree is now worth less by reputation.Maybe I was just unlucky, but UAlbany definitely didn't make it any easier on me. Sure, good things happened too, just not good things related to the ~20,000 dollars a year that were spent here.

4th Year Male -- Class 2014
Collaboration/Competitive: B, Useful Schoolwork: F
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