My daughter was accepted into the Architecture program last week. We have yet to visit UB so I have a few Q’s. I see the campus is broken into 3. The academic spine is on North with the Architecture Building on South. I see Res halls on both and hear North is the better place to live (but no reasons). Given she would have to bounce back and forth, will this be a hassle? How convenient is the shuttle, and does anyone have input on North vs South? Do you get to choose or request either? Is one more social than the other? If anyone with experience can offer some thoughts on this I’d appreciate it. We will visit in March. Thanks for any guidance.
North campus is located in a more suburban area, its more family friendly persay. It’s safe to walk around at night, there are generally more people around, and it’s located in Amherst which used to be the number 1 safest city in the US a few years back. South Campus, although only a few miles away, is located in more of a run-down area which isn’t necessarily deemed to be the safest. While the campus itself is very safe with police prescence and blue lights, the surrounding area is almost like a downtown area. There are higher crime rates and more issues around south campus.
Getting from North to South and vice versa is not difficult. UB has a solid bus system, The Stampede, which constantly runs between the two campuses. You can track the buses on your phone and they are usually on schedule. They are always running.
Placement in the campus housing usually depends on when you put in your housing deposit. If you wait too long, even if you choose a residence hall on North there is more of a chance you’ll be placed on south so get the deposit in early.
For freshmen year I would definitely recommended choosing North campus because it is more social, and even though architecture is on south, a majority of your classes for the first two years will be on North. You’ll probably spend a lot more time at North and this is most likely to be where you’re going to meet people and make friends. It may be more difficult to adjust if you have to worry about shuttling back and forth between North and south to get home.
Hope this gave some insight.
Thank you for your feedback. We look forward to visiting in March