The State University of New York - Albany

Date: Nov 29 2010
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
I transferred here as a sophomore and am a COmmunications major. I'm going to lay out some pros and cons of the school. Overall, I am not as happy at UA as I would of hoped to be, so I am transferring out after one semester. But, UA wasn't horrible. It just wasn't for me.

Housing- As a transfer student I got placed on Alumni Quad. This quad has really mxed reviews. It is kind of what you make of it. The food is not as good as any of the quads uptown. There are a lot of international students on Alumni, so it can be clique-y at times. You can't walk to campus. I have my car here but choose not to drive it to campus everyday because there is a free shuttle and there is no hassle of finding parking. The bus runs pretty consistently. The best parts of Alumni were the people I met and also being able to walk to everything downtown on the weekends. Alumni is a more traditional dorm, with mainly doubles and few singles. Thankfully, there is kind of a sense of pride on Alumni this year. Everyone really is super friendly. I have friends that walk into my room, without knocking, all the time. It's completely normal too. As an added bonus, the RA's are much chiller downtown then uptown too. Most likely, you will make the majoirty of your friends on Alumni because living downtown makes it harder to find friends on the main campus. Overall, there are some days on the shuttle that I wished I lived uptown but generally love Alumni. Don't be scared to transfer to UA because of Alumni!

Academics- Mediocre. I am not too challenged in any of my classes, excluding my Logic class. Currently I am finishing up my Gen-Eds adn taking two Com courses. One big mistake I made when I was on the campus tour though was the idea that I would not be bothered by large classrooms. I strongly advise anyone to really consider this. I thought it would be no problem, but it's hard to meet people, interact with the professor, hear the professor half the time, or feel engages in the class at all. In a few of my classes, there are so many kids that everyone must by a "clicker" for participation points. I transferred to UA with a 3.7 GPA and it has sunk down to probably a 3.3. I blame this solely on my lack of interest in any of my classes for the reasons listed above.

Socially- UA is not school spirited. Unless, you consider fountain day or kegs and eggs school spirit. Don't get me wrong, those two events are great but I wish there was more energy behind UA sports. I attempted to join one extra-curric but the group I was interested in met after 9pm almost every week and living downtown, well, it was inconveienent. I didn't really meet any new friends anyways. I did not go greek. I know many who did, and during rush they were non existent. Don't feel pressured to go greek, but if you want to- be ready for some embarresment and failing some classes! Nightlife in Albany is great. Lots of house parties and bars to go to but don't get caught up going out 5 nights a week! It will take it's toll.

Major Con- This school is so ugly anytime after September. It is cold here! This will also effect your opinion of UA, even if you don't think so at first. People rush from class to class and never take the time to look around. That may sound stupid, but I guess a smaller liberaly arts college is for me.