Prairie View A & M University

Date: Apr 22 2010
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
I started PV during the summer of 09, a week before I graduated from high school in Dr. Brown's PCI program (premedical concepts institute). I've never learned so much in such a short amount of time. I come from an affluent family from North Texas, and when I arrived to this school I had the attitude of most of the people commenting negatively about Prairie View (an attitude that most would call "Saditty" or "Bourgeois") but I kept an open mind about the University because I'm here to get my education and b.a. in Biology, and this place can provide me with the tools that I need to attain my goals.

After being at this school and experiencing life here first hand, I can honestly say that this place has not only changed my attitude and perspective about the school and black culture, it has opened my eyes to numerous opportunities that are given to minority students that you wouldn't find at any other state school. All you need to be successful at this school is a little initiative and motivation to be successful, and you will be. There are so many opportunities here, may it be student, academic, or social, all you have to do is take the initiative to look for them.

PV has a bad reputation for having an incredibly frustrating and ineffective Financial Aid department, but if you take the time out to sit in their office all day (after going around in circles) you'll eventually get your business taken care of.

Student life is pretty active. There's always something to do here, especially during the spring semester. Yes it is (like most universities are) a party school, but if you came here with the right intentions then you'll figure out how to balance your academic life with your social life. There are some people here that hear about all of the "wild parties" that happen here, but they're usually gone by the next semester because their grades are too low to stay enrolled here.

Academically, this school is pretty rigorous depending on your major. Engineering, Architecture, Biology, Nursing, and Criminal Justice are examples of time consuming majors, but if you came here to get a degree then you shouldn't mind putting in the time to get to where you want to be.

The food here is (depending on the day) tolerable. When you first get here, they serve decent food in the MSC. By the end of the year you get tired of having the same chicken/hamgurger/turkey sandwich that you have every other day. It doesn't help that there are limited choices of off campus restaurants to choose from, especially since they closed down the Williams Chicken on the corner of University and Highway 290. But if you know how to grocery shop, you'll be alright.

Overall, Prairie View is not a bad University. We had an accreditation scare this semester, but thankfully we got to keep our accreditation unlike TSU. Yes, there are bad influences here, but like I said earlier, if you came to take care of business and get your degree then you'll learn how to avoid distractions and keep your focus on what you came here to do. Prairie View is what you make of it.