University of the Pacific

Date: Nov 24 2009
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
This University has been an amazing experience for me so far. My mother, who hates being in debt, has taken out over $30,000 dollars in loans to keep me here because she sees how happy I am and how well I'm doing. The entire culture of the school if very focused on academics. The students are very mature and take their schooling seriously. I transfered here after a semester at a college that was about a fourth the size of Pacific and if anything my classes at Pacific are even smaller. Pacific is definately not a "party school," but there are unbelievable extracurricular and academic opportunities available for students who are serious about making a difference in the world. The student body is also amazingly diverse, our speech and debate team boasts some of the top speakers in the country and our Society of Women engineers has had enormous success in national competitions. I might go to a movie with my friend from Estonia one weekend and play soccer with my friend from Kuwait the next.

It is an expensive school, but financial aid opportunities are second to none. Students who performed well in high school academically are automatically considered for scholarships up to $20,000 per year. Also, because Pacifics financial system is set up so it relies mainly on revenue from tuition instead of endowments or state funding like a lot of other colleges and universities, we are actually doing quite well money-wise and looking to hire new proffesors when other schools are having to cut classes.

On a side note, the food is excellent! :)

The biggest complaints I have heard have been from students in the pre-dent/pharm/med programs with regards to the level of competitiveness, but I'm in enrolled in the School of International Studies so I can't speak to that. I do have one friend who is a pre-dent major and has expressed that same complaint to me, but says she is going to stay at Pacific anyway because she is in the accelerated program and will only have to be an undergrad for about two years before going to the School of Dentistry.

That is another great feature of Pacific. I'm not sure about the Pharmacy School but I know the McGeorge School of Law and School of Dentistry have accelerated program that allows students to get both their undergrad and postgrad degrees in 6 to 7 years.

Overall, Pacific is a school meant for students who are serious about their education and doing their best to succeed. I would recommend it to anyone who fits this profile.