Pros and cons of UK?

I really like the univeristy of Kentucky and would qualify for a scholarship. However, my mom(even though she’s never been there) doesn’t really care for it and doesn’t really want to go see it. It has an 81% retention rate which is ok but not as good as the other schools I am looking at. Can anyone list their opinion of the school and what they think are pros and cons! Thans. I will be pre med but not majoring in the sciences, if that matters.

Retention rates at schools vary for reasons beyond whether the students are satisfied. I’d caution against jumping to conclusions such as School X is better then School Y based on retention rates.

What do you think UK offers you? Why do you think it will be a good fit?

@Midwest67 I have told my mom on multiple occasions that she gets these notions about a school and then only looks at it in a specific way. I don’t really care I was just curious if there were certain things most people like or don’t like. For example, do a lot of students get capped out of classes, stuff like that. Thanks

Pros:
Medical Center right next to campus, making access to health care and medical education easy
The Dorms are Awesome!
Many medical related programs of study
Urban feel without the danger of really big cities
People there are SO friendly
Ride Home Express brings students to some major cities at the breaks when dorms close down
Basketball
Scholarships make it affordable for many out of state students

Cons:
Parking
Construction around campus

My DD is very happy there.

@NaperMom thank you so much that is exactly what I’m looking for. What is your daughter majoring in if you don’t mind me asking?

She is a sophomore majoring in Math. Her boyfriend is a Computer Science major. They have found the classes challenging, while being able to keep strong grades, which is important to both of them due to scholarships.

UK in recent years has been very generous with merit aid to highly qualified students. The Patterson Scholarship, which is an automatic full-ride for any NMF, is a primary example. They are expanding there Honors program, which is very selective.

There is a ton of new housing that has gone up in recent years and I hear the new dorms are very nice.

From an in-state perspective, the bar to getting merit aid has become higher at UK than it used to be. UK as the state flagship is trying to raise its profile by attracting more talented students from both in and out of state.

Actually I think UK has been more stingy this year than in the past. Yes, NMF still get the Patterson, but I believe only 40 Singletary scholars were chosen. In previous years it was 50. The Singletary scholarship was also reduced somewhat - no stipend, no money for study abroad, and no ipad. The requirements for the GSP scholarship also increased. Furthermore, I talked with many parents at the first Merit Day last weekend. The general vibe was disappointment with scholarship offers. Many students with steller stats were only offered the Provost Scholarship ($1,500 per year). The new republican governor has cut funding to public universities significantly, so perhaps that is impacting scholarships. I do not have statistics to validate these observations, so this is just my opinion.

@catlover606 thank you for that! Uk is out of state for me so unless there was a decent scholarship offer there would be no reason for me to attend. Thanks

@pitt2021, my daughter’s a freshman with a double major in chemistry (biochem track) and biology, with a neuroscience minor. She’s as happy as I’ve ever seen her. I can only echo what other here have said. UK is so much more than just top quality Division I basketball. Lexington is a great college town. Good-sized, but not gigantic.