University Buffalo

Date: Jul 24 2004
Major: Finance (This Major's Salary over time)
(***Edited version of the one I typed late at night. Please delete the review below***)

I did not want my review of this school to be influenced by current mood. This is why I have chosen to defer my write-up until the middle of the summer. Here goes…

THE POSITIVES: + Price. UB offers a decent education at a state school rate. + The technology and library services are very good. + The advisors I have had were helpful and courteous. + UB brings in many top-notch speakers. Bill Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, alumnus Wolf Blitzer, Tim Russert, Bill Cosby, Bill Bradley, and many others have given speeches here. Donald Trump is scheduled to come here in September.

+ Many popular entertainers have performed here during my time at UB. Jay Leno, Chris Rock, Wayne Brady, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Outkast, LL Cool J, Ja Rule, Nas, Lil Kim, No Doubt, Godsmack, Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Mathews Band, Shaggy, and Tony Hawk are among the many acts that have appeared here in the last four years. Whether these events are worth the mandatory student activity fee of $70 is another question. + UB plans on building a village-like strip between Ellicott and the Commons. The preliminary design was impressive. + The academic buildings on the North Campus are interconnected (hence the nickname "academic spine") so that students don't have to venture outside during the cold Buffalo winters. + The intercampus and intracampus busing services are fairly reliable. My only complaint is that busses never stop for pedestrian crossings (yet signs and NYS law encourages other drivers to stop at crosswalks). + People hold doors for everyone. This friendly gesture was completely foreign to me before I arrived at UB. + Students are slowly beginning to rally behind the basketball team. They'll probably do likewise for the football team if it ever turns the corner. + There are bars on Main Street in Uni Heights with Thursday night drink specials, a popular albeit overpriced strip downtown, and Canada for the 19-and-up crowd. The frat and house party scene is lively as well.

+ It snows here. Expect it, endure it, embrace it.

THE NEGATIVES:

As has been mentioned many times, UB is a top-heavy school. The hierarchy of importance is as follows: Research > Graduate >>>>> Undergrad - Beware of the secondary fees.

Parking. Most lots reach capacity before 9 a.m. Arrive any time thereafter and be prepared to stalk fellow commuters as they walk back to their cars.

Architecture on UB's North Campus is bland and drab.

The Roadhouse Grill order-taker, SOM Associate Dean Diane Dittmar, some professors, a few UB Micro workers, and the entire staff at the Chinese restaurant in the Commons are condescending (and intimidating in some cases). I have boycotted Bert's for two years now due to numerous incidents involving a R.H. Grill worker and the Bert's manager's refusal to address my subsequent grievances.

Many students—especially those from NYC and its vicinity - are arrogant and rude. I despise their lowly ilk, and they probably think the same of me. To be fair, I share a similar contempt towards the commuters from WNY.

The females here are stuck-up and snotty (unless you look a certain way). To give you an idea of what I mean, picture the girls on MTV's Sorority Life. Those are the DOWN-TO-EARTH ones. The girls I have seen on campus are far worse. Like my friend once told me,

This place is heaven for SWM who like Asian women and hell for SWM who date within their race.

This school, like many schools in the Northeast, is a haven for liberals. Diversity will be crammed down the throats of students non-stop. The environment here could turn an open-minded liberal or moderate into a hardcore social conservative.

TAs in the CSE department are not fluent in English. I heard the same is true in the Physics and Engineering departments.

The 300/400-level classes in the School of Management have smaller class sizes, but do not for a minute consider that an ‘asset'. Upperclassmen in the SOM are treated like high schoolers. There are daily attendance checks, assigned seating, overlapping group projects, and continual check-ups on progress. These classes make me long for the 300-student lecture halls. The best class I have taken in the SOM was the online course with Prof. Simpson. I got to work at my own pace and place, faced no external distractions, and ended up with a well-earned A. I strongly suggest that the SOM's "Accounting and Law" department follow suit immediately.

Some professors and TAs are self-important and closed minded (I reckon this is the case at any school though). Do not expect objective lectures at UB. Students here will determine which side of the political spectrum their professors stand before they so much as take their first exam. Be sure to take with a grain of salt any message with political undertones. One U.S. History TA would not back down from his stance that FDR's New Deal rather than WWII triggered our economic recovery; he failed my paper in spite of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. He also refused to hear out my take on the gold standard (which opposed his position, naturally). I then left the classroom and the asshole took attendance shortly thereafter.

Quiet hours in the dorms (err… "residence halls") is a joke.

Apathy runs high at UB. This is not the school for those who covet "school unity". I am not one of those types so I don't care. It can be depressing at times though.

Our athletic teams suck. Everyone knows about our football team. Our men's basketball team caught fire at the end of the season and should be even better next year. Were it not for the hoops and wrestling squads, last year would have been another disappointing one for UB athletics. For some reason UB offers neither hockey nor lacrosse as a NCAA Div. I team sport. Why a large school in the middle of hockey and lacrosse country doesn't offer these sports on a level other than "club" is beyond me.

A caveat for prospective students: Before selecting a school, identify your learning style. I prefer the large, impersonal lecture halls to the smaller, more personal classrooms. The latter can be a living nightmare with the wrong instructor. I chose UB over the other schools that accepted me because it was a large public university in which I could blend easily. People like me that favor an individualistic learning style will like UB's general curriculum but loathe their classes as an upperclassman. Finally, if you have taken time to read all thirteen chapters of this review, you should be fully prepared for the onslaught you will face during your college years. =)