The University of Connecticut

Date: Feb 22 2014
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
What I am about to write is about my own experience at UConn. Of course, everyone's experience is different and I just wanted to provide my own personal insight.

UConn was the last school I wanted to attend, in all honesty. I was looking at private, city-schools with a strong focus in political science and international relations. When making my decision, I just could not ignore the affordability of UConn (I received a tuition waiver). Trying to be pragmatic, I made a financial decision to go to UConn.

Social Life:

I tried to go into my freshman year with a completely open mindset, I tried to meet everyone I could, and just made a genuine effort to get involved. But, many things at UConn I felt failed me. My RA barely knew my name and made no effort to get to know anyone on the floor. We did not even have any kind of floor meeting and people weren't even wanting to get to know each other. Greek life rushing happened the first weekend we arrived, and I decided not to rush. Because of this happening so early, Greeks and non-Greeks never really had a chance to get to know each other. Also, being that it is a public school a lot of people came knowing other people from high school, having already come with a group of friends. If anything, I wanted to meet other people than my high school classmates. I am sure that there are many people who have excelled socially here, but I do believe that it is definitely not easy, especially if you do not plan on rushing or do not have old friends.

Academics:

I am in ACES and planning on pursuing a major in PS. I find that at UConn there isn't much of a focus on liberal arts, but I do believe you can still get an excellent education by coming here. I have not been challenged very much, but if you do the work you will be more than fine. I have been overwhelmed by the sheer size of my classes and often felt like just a number. I was not given much attention by my adviser, and while I understand that it is difficult given the size of the school, I feel as though the school should focus more on enriching each student's education. You really have to self-advocate and try to get opportunities yourself. Oftentimes, I felt as though I was just going to classes and not really getting as much out of my education as I could have at other schools.

Athletics:

Obviously the sports are great! I personally did not make my decision for athletics so it was not a make it or break it for me. However, it is a little disheartening to see how sometimes I feel the focus change from academics to athletics.

Surrounding Area:

I knew going to Storrs would not be anything close to a city. The University itself is its own "city," as there is literally nothing except a few stores that are in the process of being developed. It is completely in the middle of nowhere. For some students, that is not a problem at all. For me, personally, it has left me feeling pretty isolated without the ability to walk on or off campus on my own.

If you know exactly what you are getting into when choosing UConn, then for some it can be the perfect choice! For me, it just wasn't and I am looking into possibly transferring next year. My advice to incoming freshman is to join greek life and try to get as involved as you can, because I believe that is the key to success at UConn.

I'd be happy to answer any questions!