The University of Houston

Date: Jul 08 2011
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
First off, being a part of the Honors College has greatly impacted my view of campus life and of the faculty in general. I was immediately immersed in a culture that not only encouraged, but practically forced me to do my best work. Naturally, the staff are brilliant and almost always available, even to just sit down and talk to. The staff are genuinely interested in the students, not just giving their lecture and going home. They'll host events like going out to dinner with a professor.

The campus itself is rather beautiful. There's an art piece or sculpture outside just about every building, not to mention an amazing fountain/pond on the west side of campus. Now I'm not gonna lie, the third ward is situated directly off campus which is a little troublesome when you think of it in and of itself. But when you consider that the dorms are on the complete opposite side of campus, it's a little smaller of a pill to swallow. There is the occasional robbery, but the University always has police officers on call that will escort you wherever you need on campus.

As a freshman commuter, I quickly found out how bad the parking situation could get. Or, so I thought. Yes, it's true that UH is a commuter school with probably too few parking spots. No, it's not true that you can't find a parking spot if you're willing to walk a little further, or take one of the many buses that are running around the clock. Also, in driving to and from campus this summer I noticed that a couple thousand (no exaggeration) more parking spots are being added.

If you are planning on commuting, take it from a commuter and get involved somewhere on campus. It's honestly nearly impossible to not find something you're interested in. There are dozens of intramural and club sports teams, not to mention 14 NCAA Division I teams. If sports isn't your thing, then there are seemingly endless honor societies and other clubs that might catch your interest. And if after all of that, you still are unable to find something you like on campus, STARTING a club is super easy. Either way, if you are commuting, and you don't find a club or some other extracurricular activity, it will certainly be easy to get "lost in the crowd".

One word of caution however. If you have financial aid in the form of scholarships, do yourself a favor and make sure that you're taking 30 hours a year. I discovered too late that 30 hours a year are needed to maintain a scholarship and am now having to take summer classes which wouldn't normally bother me except for the fact that 2 summer classes, 6 hours of credit, will end up costing me close to 2 grand. Spending 2000 to save 3500…it's a tough pill to swallow, so make sure you don't have to!!