Malformed University Name, Uncategorized Surveys

Date: Nov 15 2006
Major: Electrical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
When I arrived at Embry-Riddle in Prescott in 1988, I was truly not prepared for what I was going to face. I was 1,600 miles from home at a school definitely known for its party atmosphere. I guess you could say that my first two years of academics were nothing to write home about and instead of concentrating on studying, I majored in the 12 ounce curl and women.

Not until my Junior year did I finally grow up to realize what ERAU was all about and once I decided to put forth the effort, there were a lot of resources available. Speaking of the EE program and general engineering on the aerospace side of the campus, the instructors are top notch. I only had one instructor who had no "real-life" experience and the lessons shared by the instructors made the academic program enjoyable. All instructors, without exception, were always willing to help out, come to group study sessions in the library and are there to encourage you. They love what they do and best of all, all of them speak fluent english…well, most of them.

No bones aobut it - regardless of what major you decide upon, you better be prepared to hit the books and figure out how to get around the many disruptions that you are going to face. If you are is HS and are looking at Riddle, take all of the advanced classes that you can take. Take AP courses but before paying for them, get it in writing from Riddle that they are going to accept the credits. It's an expensive private school and the more classes you can transfer in, like humanities, history, basic chemistry, etc. the more money you will save. Also, speaking of money, if you don't know how to manage your own finances, learn all the consequences of screwing that up before you go. There is a lot of opportunity for travel out West, especially if you end up with roomies who "suitcase" it every weekend back to California and want you to tag along.

Just like anywhere else, you will get out of Riddle what you put into it. Yes, it is a private university and therefore very much like a corporation - it exists to make money and sometimes you will feel that the school is putting the almighty dollar before you. But you would be surprised as to how many people have heard of the school and the admiring comments you get when you tell them you graduated from there.

As far as Precott goes, it is a quiet community and a lot of people think of the Riddle-ites as spoiled rich kids - primarily due to the fact that a few rotten aples spoil it for the rest of the people. If you are coming from the East, be prepared to slow down - Prescott is the home of the oldest rodio in the US and there are a lot of cow pokes running around. Prescott and the surrounding area is also the home of a lot of retirees, so be prepared for the traffic issues that come along with that.

In closing, ERAU did a good job in preparing me for my future. Am I working in aerospace? No I am not…but ERAU opened many doors to me that would otherwise have remained closed. Good luck and remember - if you are looking for a good time, party school, this is not the place.