The University of North Texas

Date: Mar 13 2011
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
UNT has a alot of good going for it and a lot that needs to be improved. So let's start with the bad and end with the good.

1. UNT is VERY low on school spirit, and who can blame us? Our athletic programs suck, well, football and basketball at least which are the big two that bring in a crowd and revenue.

2. We're only a tier 2 school, a couple years ago, a tier 4, you can argue the ranking has nothing to do with quality of education, and it DOESN'T! BUT the higher the tier the more notoriety and the better talent the school can bring in for an even higher level of education. Also, we're a public research university, but our funding into research WAS the lowest in the state. I believe that recently changed and we have been "upping" the millions quite drastically.

3. A lot of kids are anti-social, in some cases the school does feel like a community college or commuter school. If you're a traditional student who wants to live on campus and have the full college experience (you can) but sometimes you'll feel like something is missing.

(THIS IS JUST ADVICE) If you're a kid going into college his freshman year, live in Kerr, if you're a freshman and a music major, live in Bruce. Those two dorms will give you the most satisfactory college life/dorm experience with the least amount of effort.

4. There's not much of a night life at UNT… You don't see anyone there out past afternoon classes on campus and especially at night. I like to walk around a lot and when I walk around I like to see lots of hustle and bustle, but I guess a large part of this has to do with it being a commuter-like school. BUT DON'T WORRY, it's not only a commuter school! Just look at how many on campuses dorms there are! And there are TONS of apartments around the campus anyways that are so close you can call them on campus.

5. Denton is trashy… I don't like Denton and since UNT is in Denton it's just a negative for me.

6. I think UNT is wasting money on building UNT-Dallas which it plans to make it a full fledged university. How about you make your flagship campus INCREDIBLE in every way THEN worry about opening a satellite campus? They've wasted 50 million that could of gone into research to give it that Tier One status, this honestly pisses me off. And the same thing with opening UNT Law School. There are already many law schools in Texas and too many lawyers, what is the point of this…?

THE POSITIVE!

School spirit maybe low, but that will SOON change. UNT is making some super big strides to be all that it can that be. It has potential and everyone can and does recognize that. Besides the stupid decisions I listed on #5 of the negative, UNT is investing so much money to make the school experience for the kids SO MUCH better. I seriously can't wait for next year for the new football stadium and the new talent we have picked up and the same for the basketball team. We picked up one of the number one kids in the state in HS and some other awesome draft who is a sophomore- CAN'T WAIT.

UNT has also made itself much more aesthetically pleasing with it's new building the past few years. The new buildings are awesome and when you're on that long walk to class, they make it not so bad.

And again, I believe the school is aiming to put an additional 200million into research which helps everyone and everything in so many different ways. In a few years, UNT will be a much bigger name that it is and soon to be up there with UT and A&M. We're passing all other universities and leaving them in the dust. (Besides UTD, but they're going down a different path that is AWESOME for UTD)

And brining up UTD, UNT has FINALLY created a school of engineering, and they did an awesome job of marketing it… I mean holy shit they did a good job, let me explain: The school of engineering is across the highway from the main campus, BUT it's where ALL of the new sports facilities are. The school of engineering is ALL NEW so it looks amazing. And there is a dorm RIGHT THERE next to the school of engineering with the NEWEST and BEST cafeteria. Now to paint the picture for you…

As an engineering major, you live in the best dorm UNT has to offer, you eat at the best cafeteria, you have a minute walk from your dorm room to the football stadium and all other sporting events besides basketball. In your dorm you live with all the kids who are in your major and then you can basically never be late to any of your major classes because the building is RIGHT NEXT to your dorm. So, UNT has done a good job in their planning to get engineering majors to come to UNT and join their new program.

Another positive is there are TONS AND TONS of music concerts all the time that you can go to, well duh, we are known for our school of music internationally…

Also, there is A LOT of diversity at UNT which, as an International Studies major I enjoy.

PROFESSORS! THE PROFESSORS ARE AWESOOOOME. I have not disliked even ONE of my professors. And I'm generally very critical of who is instructing me.

As for classes themselves, I mentioned that there is a commuter/community college feel to it sometimes because kids go to class, leave class, go home and that's all it is. So yeah, there is that aspect to it which does put a damper in the university experience, and a lot of classes you will just go to and leave and never talk to a single person.

But this is not the experience for EVERY class. In my Chinese language classes, all of us talk to each other outside of class, talk in class, help each other out and stay in contact. So that is a very enjoyable environment.

Also, the stereotype of it being a commuter school is fading more and more every year!

And if you've read negative comments about parking on any review of UNT, well, those are outdated. Parking is no longer a problem here.

So if you've an incoming student for Fall 2011 or even 2012, 13, etc. Your experience here is going to be awesome. As a current student, trust me. It's not going to be how it was in the past with all of it's negative stereotypes. Just make an effort and be involved with the school, go to events and make friends! (And of course study hard)