StudentsReview :: The University of Rhode Island - Extra Detail about the Comment
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The University of Rhode Island

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Date: Mar 13 2009
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
Ok, I graduated from URI 2 years ago. I didn't live at URI or attend the main campus in Kingston. I went to the providence campus. I'll start off with a few positives, the teachers were very nice and accessible, the parking was free (even though it was sometimes a pain if there were any shows or concerts going on at the DD Center, but I could live with that), the people were very nice and the counselors were helpful. (Bear in mind this is just the providence campus. There are a couple of negatives about this campus too. I don't think the air ducts had been cleaned since the place was built, it smell like dust and mold in every room (I have bad allergies), the area isn't the safest place (especially after dark, but they do have a shuttle service for that so I can let that one slide), the cafeteria wasn't the best. Overall it wasn't bad.

Now for the main campus. I didn't go down there much, I did this intentionally, because to be honest I didn't like the place. The pros: Well, SOME of the buildings look nice. That's all I can think of. Now for the cons. I'll start with orientation. I went to orientation by myself since I was just going to be commuting and not living there because I was paying for everything and my parents payed nothing. The tuition was bad enough. Anyway, orientation was pretty boring, a bunch of student gave us the tour, one seemed like she had been drinking espresso since midnight, she was so energetic, I don't think she blinked once. They obviously tried to make it look like the best and most fun University on the planet. Now, I'm not a party person. I never have been. I don't drink, use drugs or smoke. I didn't care about this stuff, yet that's all we went over, it was about 10% academic, 90% fun/whatever and how the squirrels were so weird. Now that may be okay for some people and to a point me too, but when I'm paying for an education, I want an education. Can I hear bout how the teachers are, or classes or something even remotely related to academics? I was also older than most of the people I was with, I had transferred from CCRI, whereas most of the people were fresh out of HS. The buildings were very old and really looked like they needed a lot of work done on them. They were poorly lit, walls were cracked, there was a freakin beehive just outside the door and half the bees were flying all around the stairwell.

The thing that gave me the most trouble was admin. Every single semester they would screw up something with my loans. The first year, they forgot to disperse the funds and I got a bill for $3000. The next year they refused to take the loans because my parents didn't make as much money as they did the year before, it took us almost 2 months to get it sorted out. The next 2 years were the same. I wasted who knows how many hours on the phone with those idiots, even during work! It was so obvious that they didn't give a crap and would just tell me to download a form and fill it out and mail it to them and they'd hang up.

Parking was a pain $100 per semester? Are they kidding? And even if you shell it out, there's still no guarantee you'll get a space, it's so freakin' crowded. I've heard they are supposed to be building more parking lots down there but not that I've seen. During orientation we were told to join something like a club or something and that it was necessary. I thought what the hell. I went down there, couldn't find anything that interested me, it's also a 45 min drive for me, in good traffic, and I went back to my car and I found an $80 parking ticket on my windshield! And I was parked in the lot.

There are a lot of little qualms I had like my first adviser. She was no help whatsoever and it was clear she didn't care if she was or not. I made an appt to see her one day. I drove all the way down and I got stuck in traffic. I went to her office and her secretary said she left cause I didn't show up. I was only 15 mins late. I even called ahead to tell them I was running late!! It was impossible to find any buildings, the people who worked there didn't know what they were doing and I spent so much unnecessary time down there. The people just didn't know anything.

So, my advice would be if you're interested in having fun and partying, by all means go here. But also stay away from the admin and have your parents handle it. I worried so much about things I shouldn't have had to worry about. Really look hard at your advisers and don't just go with whoever they put you with.

Personally, I would not go here again. I loved CCRI and this school was a total letdown, in fact, it was just a pain to go here. They made it so much more difficult than it had to be. It would have been enjoyable otherwise. If you're looking for good academics, stick with the providence campus or go to another school like PC or Brown which I've been to and they are so much better. Teachers a the Prov. Campus have told me they were offered jobs in Kingston and they refused because it was just impossible to teach there because of the attitudes of the students. PC and Brown are right in the Providence so there is a lot to do and the people are nice. They're more expensive, but it's worth it.

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