Rhode Island College

Date: Dec 27 2011
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
I needed fewer than 60 credits from RIC to graduate with a BA in psychology, so my experience may not have been as lengthy as others. But I feel as though I absorbed all that RIC had to offer in that time. I never lived in the dorms, so I cannot speak to that. I do feel, however, that I've

been around the block

when it comes to college, and I hope I can give a candid review of what RIC is like and hopefully aid your decision on whether to attend or not.

This college is perfect if you are looking to spend as little as possible (and I don't mean that necessarily in a negative way). If you are in state and coming from CCRI, have good grades, there are a few ways to get a substantial scholarship from RIC that will make tuition incredibly inexpensive. (That was my situation.) I never wanted to pay a lot of money for school, end up in debt, and not even end up with a higher paying job than the next graduate from your humble state school when it was all said and done.

Because tuition was so cheap in my case, I never expected all that much from the school: You get what you pay for. Isn't that how the saying goes? The campus is severely lacking in aesthetics, no doubt. Most of the buildings are decrepit eye sores. If you're looking for a beautiful campus, with lush grass, statues, and ponds where students can feed the ducks, then this is not the school for you. This is a blue collar place with blue collar people (most from R.I. and a lot from the general Providence area).

A lot of the students commute. And let me tell you: Parking can be really annoying. Free spaces are seldom, even the far away ones. Plan on getting a power walk in before all of your classes. This is the worst in the fall semester when it is hot for a good month and a half. You work up a lather during your walk and then go into rooms that don't have air conditioning. That's right: RIC doesn't seem to have air conditioning in most of the rooms. Even when rooms are "supposed" to have AC, it never seems to be working. You'll thus have to keep the windows open, so get ready to hear lawn mowers and heavy machinery and construction outside!

There's always construction going on at RIC. I don't get it. The construction is always going on, yet I never see any improvements with the school. Anyway, this is bothersome because sometimes roads will be blocked with dump trucks. The general noise is irritating. And the fact that construction is going on at your college just plain sucks. Who wants that?

You would think with all that construction that they might be able to fix the flooding problem. But no. It seems that it only rains at RIC for some reason.

Anyway, the student body is nothing to write home about. Most people are very unhappy it seems. (RI does lead the nation in suicide attempts.) It is actually a pretty depressing scene. There's barely any campus life. I see kids walking alone to the dorms on the regular, as if they have no friends. Barely anyone talks before class, and many of the kids are there because they "have to be there," just trying to make mom and pop happy. Honestly speaking, I think the majority of RIC students are average or less than average intelligence. It is seldom when you meet or hear someone speak at RIC, and you think, "that is a bright kid."

The faculty has its pros and its cons. I've had some egregiously bad professors at RIC, and I've had some pretty good ones as well. (On the whole, I'd they say don't expect a whole lot out of you.) Like any other college today, though, you can pick out who you want to take a class with (so that's on you more than the school.) Make the most of your opportunities. However, RIC could offer more options for classes to make scheduling easier on the students, especially ones that don't live on campus, which seems to be a good portion.

If you want the "college experience," go to a different school. Period. Point. Blank. RIC is a local school for local people who are looking for a degree at a discount price. Many people who go there are also working jobs, continuing their degree, or changing careers. That's why the place is dead so much of the time. It's kind of a no nonsense school. The people aren't there with the intention to have fun. They are just "doing the job and going home."

I've highlighted a lot of flaws I see and many others see with this school. I found them annoying, but they weren't deal breaking. Intellectually, you can get whatever you want out of RIC. Take classes with the best professors there, read text books, utilize the library, socialize with different kinds of people, take internships, etc. If you want to be smart, be smart. That has nothing to do with where you go to college, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.