The University of Rhode Island

Date: Nov 29 2012
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
I went to URI all four years of college. I made AMAZING friends who I still speak to and see regularly. The dorms my freshman year were god awful, as I was put in one of the worst ones with a terrible roommate. When I moved off-campus, life was much easier and I was a lot happier being there. The commute (usually 15-20 min) isn't terrible, but definately not convenient. You have to leave a full hour before your class begins to make sure you have time to park/ get on a shuttle/ walk to class. Other than that, the houses students live in (in Narragansett) are in close proximity to each other and a couple bars, which was fun. Rent was cheap (I found a huge house with 3 other roommates that I paid $375- $400 per month for). And majority of the houses are directly on or within walking distance of beaches/fishing spots/ scenic places.

When it comes to academics, the school is incredibly disorganized. Over the course of my four years, I had a ton of unecessary problems when it comes to paperwork, etc. I didn't find many advisors to be very helpful as they would give me contradicting information a LOT of the time. There were plenty of times I would have to fix errors that the staff were supposed to routinely handle in the first place. I stopped going to my advisor my sophomore year and began contacting the dean in my department (College of Arts & Sciences) anytime I had a question or needed academic advice. He was amazing and very helpful, and I still contact him periodically anytime I need help.

There were MANY times I would have to deal with difficult staff members and would be told one thing, only to go to a different department and be told something completely different. If you are not proactive and on top of things, you will find out about a problem months later- then they will tell you it's too late to correct.

I was also an out-of-state student, so I also paid full price for my tuition. Do I think it was 100% worth the money I paid? No. However, many of my fellow graduates, including myself, were hired immediately following graduation, which is a plus. I simply feel that for the amount I paid, the school should have been more on top of things- they do not communicate with fellow departments. If they do, it's news to me because I found many to be, for lack of a better word, incompetent.