The University of Houston

The University of Houston is underrated academically. It is ironic that UH seems to receive more respect nationally than it does in Texas. I think that this is because kids grow up in this state brainwashed to be Aggies or Longhorns. UH has ranked programs in English, Accounting, Optometry, Hotel Management, and several areas in the sciences. I have had several buddies visit me who attended other colleges and they were always surprised at the quality of the campus. For some reason, people tend to associate our school with some of the neighborhoods in the poorer parts of the city. They are stunned when they see our facilities and greenspace. Overall, I am happy with the quality of my undergraduate education and feel I got a lot for my educational dollar. I made some life long friends at UH and will be a Cougar for life. The key at UH is to find your niche and enjoy the opportunities that the school and the 4th largest city in the country provides. We may not be UT but I loved attending our football games ( great band and cheerleading team) and yelling for the Coogs. I am now teaching high school English and feel that UH prepared me to give a little something back to others.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

It's kind of awkward to see the negative comments coming from alumni, being that they had 3+ years to leave... but anyway, yes, I am a Cougar. I'm not going to be kissing anyone's ass, being that I originally came to UH as my fallback school when I couldn't go to A&M and I couldn't afford University of St. Thomas. And I haven't been regretting it. I'm writing this to diminish those bad reviews, because their stories are nothing more than half-assed whining. Within my first year at school here, we've had breakthroughs in Sports, Science, and Library reconstruction that is amazing. I don't usually hear a lot of complaints from people I know or ever except from commuters. Something like "I woke up late and missed my class... traffic sucked". Living on campus doesn't cost that much... why not have the REAL college atmosphere and actually live on campus. If you're not stupid, you can find a way to get free housing. Something that I'm doing. The only thing that is weary are the teachers that have funky grading scales, which as far as I know within my own degree are far and few between. People that come here who were in racial cliques in high school can definetly be ready for a culture shock, but you'd have to expect something like it being that it's Houston. What's really cool about UH is that there are so many things to do that you could get overwhelmed with signing up with all you want to do. I did marching band and I got to be in the Super Bowl. I can't think of any fAGGIE or Longhorn that can claim they got any PR close to that within the last hundred and some-odd years they've had graduates. It's a plus having a car here, but you don't need one... being that there is a Metro route here. The one thing that people are scared of is the night life. Yeah, we're in the 3rd ward of Houston, but it's not as bad as people say. Mostly stories of burglaries and property crimes. But if you read up on FBI crime reports - there's more of that in Caucasian-Station and Austin. UH has gotten a lot of bad rep from people... mostly failed Aggies who come to UH to finish the degree they barely worked on or to get a degree that will actually be worth something in the world. I've met countless numbers of them too. This so-called "apathy" with UH students is a bunch of bull too. It's like at other school... if you try to find something to be a part of... you'll love it. If you're lazy or if you have an extinuating circumstance like... you have a full-time job or a family to attend to, then yeah, be ready for nothing but studying. The hardest things I've had to do deal with besides my studies are dealing with people who are going to UH when they hate it. UH is a great school with World recognation for our programs, and if it wasn't great, we would have become one of those crappy A&M or UT system schools. As a final note - if you are a person that hates UH so much or don't want to be a part of the atmosphere, try DeVry.

1st Year Male -- Class 2007

Useful Schoolwork: A+, Individual Value: B-