The University of Akron

Date: Mar 07 2010
Major: Computer Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
When reading through these reviews…I'd be cautious about what to take seriously. Some people just aren't happy—no matter where they are(I'm not sure there's a single school on this website where people haven't torn it apart). At the same time, some people think Akron is the best thing since sliced bread. I'd like to offer a more realistic, and (hopefully) objective POV.

There are some valid complaints one could make about UA. A majority of people commute. True. But there's almost 30,000 kids who go here. Akron has a large resident population when compared to other schools. There's almost 4,000 kids living on campus. When you combine that with the few thousand that live in the area surrounding campus, you have about 3 times the amount of kids that go to Mount Union, Walsh, Ashland, etc. I read somewhere that the president plans to build room for about 5,000 kids on campus before it's all said and done. That's comparable to OU, Miami, etc. But because Akron is a much larger school, it seems like everyone commutes.

Granted, a lot of kids go home on weekends. But I've noticed that more and more people stay on campus this year since the new football stadium and the basketball team's success. Regardless, this is something that the University needs to work on. Perhaps keeping the local cops from turning the biggest party of the year into an undercover cop fest would help…

Onto campus life…It seems a lot of the people who come on and bash Akron do it for certain reasons. Many commute…many have weird majors(social work?)…and most importantly, many aren't involved on campus. As others have said, join the AK-Rowdies. They are by far the most active student group in the MAC. I'm not a HUGE Akron fan, but it's fun to take a trip or two with the rowdies or just head up to the JAR to watch some pretty good basketball. Sports here are great. The football team sucks but it's the nicest stadium I've ever been in(and if you've ever seen the Rubber Bowl then you'd appreciate it even more…). The JAR is crappy but it gets so loud in there it's nuts. Before you graduate, if you don't join anything…at least join the AK-Rowdies. It's not a very personal group. It has over 3,000 members and you aren't obligated to go to anything. You just get priority when student tickets are on sale. Pretty cool stuff.

Now, most importantly…academics. Akron is known for engineering, science, medicine, etc. If you come here for social sciences, English, etc, you're going to find most of your classes are taught by part time faculty. You probably will NOT feel like you are getting your money's worth.

Engineering on the other hand…yikes. As a CE, I can tell you that you will get your money's worth and more. Have fun. It's going to be a rough 5 years(co-op). In the end it's worth it, though.

So to sum it up—1.Get involved

2. Live on campus if you can

3. Watch some sports

4. Choose your major wisely

If you follow that checklist…you will forever remember your days at UA…I know that I will!