Palm Beach Atlantic University

Date: Apr 05 2009
Major: Unknown (This Major's Salary over time)
This school almost sucked the life out of me awhile back. I have never spent so many weekends inside, doing absolutely nothing. For the high school students who are looking at PBA as a prospective school, take a hard look. Look past the location, the palm trees and all the fake people who act like they are elated to see you when touring the place. If you are true about your religious life this is not a true Christian University in any sense whatsoever. This is simply University with overbearing security and strict policies which are used to make parents with plenty of cash feel comfortable sending their children here, regardless of whether the kids themselves are serious about their faith. The campus and facilities are among the best I have seen, but they don't teach you anything nor do they provide you with growth as a person if the people inside them are complete idiots.

The education is a step or two above high school at best. I should have caught this on my tour when I saw more people skateboarding than in the library, but I was blind. As an out of state student, I never really put much thought into the quality of the degree I would receive from PBA, or where my life would take me after college. Think about this! If you are from South Florida, or maybe Florida in general and people in your area have an idea of what PBA is, then employers in your field might recognize your future degree from PBA as something worth a darn. However, if you are like myself, and nobody has a clue what PBA is, you might be in trouble if you think any businesses or potential employers are going to give anything more than a handshake and a kick in the ass. Plan out your life, and where you see yourself after college because PBA has a nice location and all, but if you can't find a job where you want after graduation, you are going to be kicking yourself. Like I said, the education is sub-par in terms of what I received in high school, so I can't imagine anybody coming out of there being able to pick and choose where they work after graduating. As someone from the Midwest, I have a hard time believing an employer is going to take someone with a degree from PBA over a more recognized school. If your stubborn like I was, give it a try, you can always transfer. However, if you are an out of stater and have cash to blow on the fun and sun in Florida, go to Florida or Miami, where the schools are recognized on a more national level. Of course, these two schools generally require more than just a fat wallet, something that PBA doesn't.

Nightlife: Worst I have ever experienced. My trips to Disney World when I was 9 were more exciting than PBA. There is no nightlife, so the fact that I rated it an F means I acknowledged that there was something, when in fact there isn't. The place is an absolute desert (think tumble-weed in an old Western) by mid-afternoon on a Friday and unless you have a car or a friend who lives nearby, you are stuck on campus all weekend with nothing to do except head to the beach a couple times. Sports at PBA are horrible and I pity anybody who comes on here and claims that as something to do. There are better high school football and basketball games in the area than what goes on at PBA.

The security coincides with the nightlife as they will stop anybody who they feel has been drinking. The scary thing about all of this is that they have security cameras covering every inch of the campus. I was rather impressed by this when I first toured the place because I thought they were simply looking out for my safety. However, they don't just have cameras covering the buildings and the campus, they have them in the hallways of dorms, in elevators, ect.

THERE IS NO PRIVACY!

Your room is the only place where they cannot watch you. Overall, the campus is safe, but the amount of control the security has is unbelievable. While the campus is safe, there are portions within a mile or so of the campus that I wouldn't go near. Drive down nearby Tamarind Avenue at night if you need any convincing.

Like I mentioned above, there are plenty of fake people. If you do go here, be cautious about what you say and who you say it to. There are very few people who will keep what you say in confidence. I had a roommate who claimed he had dirt on a majority of the people on campus. I never put him to the test but I wouldn't doubt he could because everyone talks and this campus isn't big, so word will spread. Ultimately, if you do choose to go here, your goal should be to have complete freedom of depending upon others. Don't set yourself up for lies and games with people by depending upon them. You might come across a handful of people at most who you can depend on, but unfortunately, you will come across tens, maybe hundreds of people who you can't. Your going to have to weed them out and remove them, or else you will be dealing with all sorts of problems.

I personally didn't feel like most of the students were there because of religious reasons, but good luck getting them to admit it. Most students aren't smart enough to hide their hypocritical actions on the weekends so you will eventually figure out which ones are frauds. Unlike most, I was rather open and honest about my drinking, which I did once a month at best. If you do choose PBA, keep your mouth shut! Find out who can legitimately trust before telling everyone, because once you open that can of worms people will look at you differently, even if they drink themselves. Ironically, the same people who thought I was some devil child for being honest and open about what I do took up the same thing they chastised the following year. Even more ironic was the extent to which they drank.

Read the rules in the handbook. Most people will blow this off and then be quite pissed once they find out the rules imposed. They have some freaky visitation and curfew rules so make sure you know what your getting into before signing up.

Ultimately, there is a sub-culture around the school that comes from South Florida. The school seems trendy and flashy with its nice facilities and warm weather. However, I have never met a collaboration of so many fake people in my life, on and off campus. If you are a true, down to earth person you are going to be scratching to find people like yourself. I knew a couple and that was among the hundred or so people I knew.

Aside from a nice tan to bring home, I received very little from this school from an educational and social standpoint. A lot of this could have been avoided had I thought about my future plans after school.