The University of New Haven

Date: Jun 01 2009
Major: Finance (This Major's Salary over time)
At UNH, I came into my freshman year thinking I definitely made the best choice in deciding to go there. As I have found out over the course of my 1st year there, I should have went to UDel or somewhere more fun like Penn State. SOAR made me feel as if I was going to have the best 4 years of my life. When I arrived on campus for the first time and moved into my dorm, I felt awesome. I got lucky and got put in New Hall which is the nicest now freshman dorm there is. Due to UNH accepting way more students than they could handle, everyone had to be tripled which wasn't bad at first, but grew increasingly worse toward the end of the year.

Unfortunately, I am returning for yet another year at UNH though hopefully I can transfer after my sophomore year to a school which better suits me. If you enjoy being boring and studying a lot, then this is definitely the place for you. I didn't really find a need to study much at all though as the classes were almost a joke to me. I really didn't learn much in my first year, but maybe things will take a turn for the better a second time around.

There is an extreme lack of social interaction unless you play a sport and have your entire team to hangout and party with all the time. If you don't like to party and just like relaxing with a small clique of friends, then this is a great place for you. However, in my case that description does not fit me one bit at all.

The nightlife on Thursdays-Saturdays is awesome the first few weekends of school, but the clubs seem to get old and there is an extreme lack of house parties so nightlife tends to get old after a certain amount of time. The drinking policy is extremely laid back and if you get caught, you only get a warning and maybe a fine for the first couple times, with the exception of their being no evidence of drinking games. If you wanna play pong in your room, don't come here. I drank nearly every weekend in my room and was only caught once thanks to some loud, obnoxious girls which I never drank with again. Otherwise, you won't get caught if you're not an idiot.

The academics to me are a joke and although the business department has a brand new Wall-Street simulation room, you don't get to use it until classes toward the end of your education if you're a business major. Many of the teachers have had experience in the real business world before which is a positive, but at the same time, these teachers seem like idiots when it comes to teaching the material. You really need to learn and read on your own and rely on the teacher's personal experience teaching methods if you want to understand the courses you take.

The cost is outrageous to attend UNH. At around $19,000 per semester, most students receive a lot of financial aid so it doesn't really seem like a lot of money. Yet, I received about $12,000 per year in scholarship and grants which was around $6,000 per semester which left me paying about $13,000 per semester and $26,000 per year which seems kind of outrageous after you actually think about the loans you and if you're lucky your parents will be paying back when it's all said and done.

Overall, UNH is not for me. The campus is very small which is nice for walking to classes, but can get old pretty quick. The Rec Center is probably the best thing about the school, to me at least, because it is brand new, rarely overcrowded, and is very nice if you like to workout. The worst thing about the school is probably the lack of social life and definitely the cost. If you really want to know about a school, make sure you ask a variety of students' opinions about the school to get a full understanding of how it is. Also make sure to check the retention rate the school has, UNH's has to be around 50% if not more as most of the friends I made freshman year are transferring. So try to find out exactly what you want in a college and then talk to people from the schools you're interested in if that school can actually offer that.