The University of Baltimore

Date: Mar 22 2014
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
I am currently attending this school and will soon be transferring out to a different school. I picked this school over MICA because my family wanted me to go to an actual university and I heard that the graphic design program (original major) was pretty strong and it was much cheaper than MICA so that was a major plus for the school. It is a bit of a bore and difficult to meet people. I like the quietness of the school, but it can be way too quiet sometimes (to the point where it gets eerie) and people here are rather asocial and will rarely make an effort to talk to you. One girl I talk to during class said one week in the dorms they had a puppy petting area set up so people could pet puppies and meet other dormers, and all of five people showed up, while the rest of the dormers stayed in their rooms. If you are more introverted this school caters well to it.

The thing about the school that made me feel negatively about it is how many people will look down at it and its lack of a reputation. My old high school teachers were not pleased when I decided to to UMBC over MICA and when I tell people that are not from Maryland where I attend they are like "what school…?" The school is not well known although it prides itself in up and coming. The fact is it still is a fairly "new" (est. 1966) school in comparison to other schools in MD and has a hell of a long way to go in reputation and education. It does sting a bit when people look down at you for your choice of school.

I read reviews how how rigorous the school was and I am very on the fence about that. I loved some of my professors here, such as my art history professor and my Japanese history professor because they were challenging and made the classes exciting (both were very bubbly teachers even though the classes were super early/late) and were kind and helpful but many of my classes make me feel extremely underwhelmed. I took AP courses in high school so I expected something much more rigorous than my high school classes but many of my classes turned out to be a huge let down. A few classes I have cracked my textbook maybe thrice (right before exam time) and I still managed to get a B in that class, and a few classes retaught things i learned freshman year of high school. This is a university that prides itself in being an "up and coming" school and an "Honors" university, so why don't I feel a challenge? My art class is literally the equivalent of my Foundations of Art (aka you get to draw circles and squares) class in high school. I took AP Studio and got a 4 but I was not able to get out of a Drawing 1 class? It was credited as a class unavailable at UMBC and that ticked me off. At MICA it would have gotten me out of a freshman class (like drawing 1), but at UMBC I have to retake a class I already passed in high school? Sometimes I feel stupid because of how underwhelming a class can be. I came here to learn and to be given a challenge, not relearn things that I learned in high school for free. I've seen the coursework my friends are doing at MC and feel more of a challenge than here sometimes.

The parking here is a nightmare and is nearly a literal war zone. This is because most of the students are commuters. Have a class at 11am and arrive on campus past 10am? GOOD LUCK FINDING PARKING CLOSE BY. I have been on campus as early as 9 and even then it is nearly impossible to find a spot anywhere near my classes.

The food is very meh. I don't like eating the school food (I'm not a picky eater either) and usually pack lunch or eat at the library's cafe which I feel has some of the better food than other areas on campus.

The thing I love about this school is how small it is. Getting from one end of the campus to the other has never taken me longer than 30 minutes, walking at a slow pace. Once I learned where the buildings I needed to get to were, getting to them never took more than 15 minutes. However, the amount of construction going on at the school is annoying and makes the campus look 10x more hideous.

The school does not have a vast range of majors to choose from. Research carefully and have a good idea of what you want to do before attending this school. Having a good idea of what you want to do when you go to college is important but is extremely necessary if you decide to go to such a small school with few options. If you go in with one major offered at this school and decide to change to a different major that is not offered at this school (or has a very poor reputation at this school, such as Communications or Visual Arts), you will either be stuck in said major, changing to a major that you do not want to do at all or end up completely transferring like what I am currently going to have to do.

What would I do over if I had the chance? Accept the school I now have to reapply to and listen to the advice given to me. Research the school top to bottom and visit the campus. See what the campus is like and how you fit in.