Barry University

Date: May 15 2008
Major: Accounting (This Major's Salary over time)
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER CHECKING BARRY UNIVERSITY'S WEBSITE TO APPLY

Hi ya all. First of all, I wouldn't make a decision on what school to attend based on a website like this as we all have different experiences in our college lives; BUT, if you would like to read a neutral review from someone that's going to tell you the truth about Barry University, well, here it is.

Let me get started by saying that I'm from South Florida, essentially Miami, and know really well all the schools, the school system, the streets, the highways, the malls, and the shitty place that Miami has become after some time. At this point, South Florida and Miami are going down as of the economic crisis that has hit this state harder than most other parts of our country, and so is this school named Barry University, founded less than 70 years ago. Whenever you read any negative comments about Barry, what you read, is the truth and nothing else but the truth. Finally, before you take some of your valuable time, let me tell you that after getting my A.A. from MDC (Miami Dade College) I got transferred to Barry to pursue a B.S. and spent there the most miserable semester of my life, and would love to avoid you having to go through the same disgusting experience. So here is why:

1) Miami? Miami Shores? All the same shit…

First of all, to understand why this school sucks, you first have to understand the real deal about Miami. The city where a school is located has a direct influence on how your college life is going to be. Miami is everything but the flashy place they show on TV. Miami is dominated by Cubans and people from Latin America, mafia running the local governments; and be ready to feel yourself outside of the United States and to have trouble finding a job, even to have a professional career if you do NOT speak Spanish. It's sad to listen to Americans on the radio, complaining about being denied jobs because they don't speak Spanish in their own English speaking country. On the other hand, the other reality about Miami is that it is the place for the rich and wealthy. At this point, if your parents are rich, and you can simply go to college anywhere in the States because they can afford it then I formally invite you to stop reading and go and apply. Plenty of drugs, alcohol, crappy parties, shitty music, and a glamorous life are waiting for you. If you really care about your education, the quality of the degree that you are going to get and have already filled up the FAFSA then I invite you to keep on reading. All right. Miami is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., and that applies not only to property on the beach but property even in the most obscure parts of Dade County (which is where Miami is located), including Miami Shores, Barry's actual location, which is full of drug dealers from Haiti as well as immigrants from Haiti (the poorest nation in the western hemisphere). Gas prices are on average 10 or 15 cents more expensive than most other parts of the States, food is more expensive, clubs are expensive, and jobs pay shit. Moving forward, the melting pot of the "m u l t i culturalism," which is basically immigrants from Cuba, Central, and South America, Haiti, and some underdeveloped Caribbean nations, don't make a perfect match at all. Most of these individuals are not willing to assimilate and integrate to this country and keep their own culture the wrong way, which is by rejecting Americans and by not being thankful to the country that has given them so many opportunities that their native countries would never offer. On the other hand, Miami has had the worst drivers in America for three years in a row, which is why insurance is ridiculously expensive and accidents happen every five minutes all over the place. Think about it. People from Cuba, some of them, come on rafts and don't really drive much while they are in Cuba so they get to drive for the very first time when they arrive to Miami. Some other Cuban immigrants come on a special Visa provided by a program called "The Bombo" which allows them to come legally, and on an airplane, but this doesn't really make a difference as they also get to ride four wheels for the very first time when they get to their second home, Miami, and share the streets with you. They just blow it, and they are very aggressive and disrespectful as well. People from Haiti don't drive at all in Haiti, and you can't blame them. When they get to Miami, they buy the cheapest cars or whatever their economy allows and drive them with no better skills than Cubans. At the end of the day, traffic is a result of accidents, which is a result of ruthless and unskilled drivers. In addition, if you go to some areas like downtown, forget about finding roads on decent conditions. But anyways, the bottom line is that you'll be driving a lot in Miami and experiencing one of the worst traffic conditions nationwide; I used to drive an average of a 100 miles per day and totally hated it. So, to sum up, Miami is undoubtedly not for you UNLESS:

You speak Spanish and love Latin culture.

Are willing to leave the States as you will NOT be in the States anymore.

Love to drive under the sun, under horrible traffic conditions, and sharing the road with the worst drivers in America who pay absurd dollar amounts for insurance.

Love to party, get laid, do drugs, go drunk to class, live a flashy and fake life while spending your parents' money and…

Your parents have so much money that they don't care about your education as you'll get their money/fortune later, they don't care about where you go to school, and finally, if they don't care about you, and you don't care about them, let them send you to Miami with a one-way ticket, say, to Barry University, to have a lovely college experience.

2) High Quality Liberal Arts Program at Barry? Say What!? Students at Barry are bright? Gimme a break!

Now getting to the quality offered by the academic programs at Barry, which the school itself seems to be more proud than no one else including the faculty and stuff, I must say that it is by NO means whatsoever worth $12,750/semester, which is their official tuition for the fall 2008. Private school? Yes, because they treat you as a customer and at some instances as a student at the same time; you are not a number or one more on the list like at a State School, but their education level is way below several other small private schools that are even more affordable. Being a business major, and I prefer not to mention my actual major, I remember being the only student in our main business class that was doing the homework. Yes, and the professor would ironically point that out to the rest of the class. Out of 15 students, because some classes are really small at Barry, I was the only one doing the assigned homework; which shows how careless most students are at Barry. Since daddy and mommy are paying for it and students go drunk to class or whatever, most of them don't even realize that this is their careers and their lives. You can carefully observe students texting on their phones and making plans to go to South Beach on any weekday. Now, talking about the quality of the programs specifically, well, I didn't seem to find any challenging class at all. I took five classes and got four A's and a B after mastering their multiple-choice exams, which shouldn't be any difficult to anybody who cares about school. The methodology and technology used to enhance the learning process are way too basic and old, making this school a bit too standard and making yourself question what it so special about it that you are paying more than $25,000 a year to attend. When it comes to faculty, I've seen professors putting down students (like I read on one of the other reviews) constantly and being sarcastic about their students' lack of progress. When you read other reviews advising you to go other schools in Miami like FIU or UM because they offer a better quality education, my advice is, as you may probably now know, don't even approach Miami, but if for some reason you still want to go to Miami, well then yes, go to FIU or UM.

3) Campus Facilities: What you get for $25K+ a year…

The first time I approached the library, I asked for the computer center and they directed me to a visible spot with probably 25 computers. To my surprise, I sat down and in front of me I had a 2002 black Acer in miserable conditions. I stood up and took a look and realized that all 25 computers were as old and as crappy but had the hope this was basically their standard computer place and that there was a real computer courtyard, even like the one they had at my community college campus (MDC, Miami Dade College). It took me one more day to find out that even if we paid more than $25K yearly, they provided us with top of the line technology like crappy black Acer computers, slow, in really bad conditions, without Word, Excel, Power Point, and any other Microsoft application and, to make it worse, there was always an obvious delay as three or four computers were broken and several students were waiting for a working pc. Later on, when I asked for a computer with word to type an essay, they sent me to a little room called the writing center, where your chances to find a computer free are really rare and, finally, Barry will charge to print, make copies, and there will be a charge for every single thing you do in the library. Now, more on technology, because ours is the modern world, isn't it? Well, Barry's campus hasn't experienced any great transformation ever since it was built in the 1940's. This means all buildings except one remain the same as in the 40's. with obvious modifications but, basically, most rooms and infrastructure are old and poorly maintained. And this brings me to a hot topic: Restrooms. Restrooms at Barry are simply hygiene-less, disgusting, and a total treat to the students' health. I couldn't simply believe how old and horribly maintained these restrooms were, I even used to hold my breath whenever I was in such a need that I had to, unfortunately, use one. It's ridiculous and unheard of, extremely harsh conditions. And one is still thinking: Am I paying more than $25K to be treated like this!? I truly believe someone should report these issues related with restrooms and poor infrastructure to the department of education of Florida, not that I care of, but honestly, we human beings have basic needs! Moreover, parking and traffic (previously mentioned) are other big issues. I was late to my first class 90% of the times and I was actually at school 20 minutes before class started. If this sounds stupid to you, let me tell you that parking spots are so rare and ultra limited that they have made a smart move and opened a parking lot for commuters about five blocks from the school, great! They have a shuttle to make students' lives easier. This horrible service is never on time when you need it and gets filled up in about 28 seconds. If there are no more sits left… there ya go, walk five blocks to class, under the beautiful Floridian sun, 80's, 90's… Get to class late, nervous, and sweating, great way to start your day at Barry University.

4) Campus stuff… The actual meaning of PRIVATE for Barry

I don't want to make this point long, but be ready to be treated as a customer at Barry, rather than a student. There is a charge for e v e r y t h i n g. And if you fail to make a payment on time, there is a $500 (five hundred) late fee and you'll have several holds on your account that will not let you get registered for classes and a lot of other stuff. The business office is slow and inefficient, there's always five or six people waiting and if you come back in two hours, you will still see some of those waiting.

5) The Average Joe student at Barry

If you have made to this point, you are probably NOT the type of person that attends and love Barry or that will attend Barry. Three big groups of students are found at Barry: White Americans who mostly come from the Northeast and some other states, local Hispanics like Cuban American and all that stuff, and international students from the Caribbean. Whites are usually rich boys and girls that love to get drunk and go to class drunk. They do drugs on and off campus, love South Beach, and all the flashy, fake, and crappy life that Miami offers them while daddy pays the bills. Local Hispanics know the area better and usually live with their families in places like Hialeah (Still inside Miami Dade County, Hialeah is some sort of Cuban Mecca/Paradise and the #1 Spanish speaking city in America, with 93% of its habitants speaking Spanish as a first or second language; the other 7% is probably Spanglish). They won't go drunk to class but they love regatteon and don't welcome Americans at all as they are outsiders to them. International students at Barry are a bit rough as they come from underdeveloped nations where customs are really different and there are so many of them at Barry that they still celebrate their heritage, big time, even more than American heritage. Another proof of what is awaiting in Miami, no wonder why so many people has been moving out of Miami and South Florida in general, myself included.

Well, I have concluded for now on my review about Barry University. I'm glad I was able to transfer to a real private university; to get out of that ghetto place and be happy at the school and city I'm at right now. Hopefully, my experience will be of great help when ya all make your decisions.