I agree 100% with @handlmom. WhileRomeBurned seems to have a vendetta against the University of Hartford. Not sure what anyone there may have done to you or one of your children, but in reading various posts on this site, you seem to comment a lot, and the comments are always negative. My older son is an alumnus and my younger son just completed his freshman year. Both of them love the place and had great experience. My younger son just finished his freshman year in the engineering program, with a 3.9 GPA. When asking him if he wanted to transfer to another school (which he could easily get into with that GPA), he said “absolutely not”. He loves uHart, and my older alumnus son loved it there as well. Maybe you can find better things to do with your life than rip apart what my sons and many other students have found to be a good school.
I am just looking at this post again after several months of not being on this board. I want to again leave another message here for prospective families of UHart reading this thread. As is apparent, whileromeburned, has some serious issues with the university, and is adamant to point out any and every negative aspect to anyone willing to read their comments. That said, UHART is a wonderful university with many very happy and successful students. Like ANY university, it is not perfect but be aware that the comments of whileromeburned are not accurate. He is posting stories from three years ago as well as bringing up an incident from the spring that was deemed to be isolated and had absolutely nothing to do with the university other than it being a student. That incident could happen ANYWHERE and has nothing to do with the demographic average student attending UHart. I am disheartened to see that someone would take so much time and energy to bash a school and is obviously disgruntled for whatever reason. As I pre ioysly said, I am the parent of a current rising senior there and am happy to share my daughter’s POSITIVE experience with anyone who has questions.
@popsofjsasms which engineering is your son majoring in? I’m glad to hear he’s happy with the program. Congrats on ending his first year with such a great gpa! Is there a “typical” student at UHart? What do they do on the weekends? Is there anything he doesn’t like about the school? Is he in an LLC, if they have one? How are the class sizes? Thanks for any info you can share. We live locally and have heard good things. My niece graduated a few years ago and liked it a lot.
Taverngirl, sorry for the delayed reply, as I only logged back into this site again after not logging in for a while: My son is majoring in computer engineering, which is sort of a hybrid between electrical engineering and computer science. I’m not sure there is a “typical” student at UHart, but here are a few pieces of information to give you an idea of what the school is like and what type of student may like it there and do well there: The school is very diverse. You name a race, religion, nationality, etc… and you will find it there - I think being exposed to this level of diversity can only be a benefit after graduation. It is also for students who would prefer a smaller campus and smaller class sizes. One of the reasons why my son feels he did so well is because in classes such as calculus and physics, he was in a class with maybe 20-25 students, so you get to know the teacher, the teacher knows you, and can focus more on what those 20-25 students need. At a large university, he would have been in an auditorium with 100- 200 students for freshman calculus and physics classes. For Freshman Year, he lived in Hawk Hall and was in the STEM wing, with other students who were studying engineering. He also feels this benefited him, by living with and near other students who had the same classes. He has gotten involved with clubs, he works out/lifts weights in the gym area. I don’t think there is anything he doesn’t like . In fact, last week, he told me he is really looking forward to going back in a couple of weeks for the start of the 19/20 academic year. I told him “enjoy the rest of your summer, school will be here soon enough”. But the fact that he is looking forward to going back shows you how he feels about the school… and one final thing: All of the engineering programs at University of Hartford are ABET accredited. If someone is interested in pursuing an engineering degree, you should make sure whatever school the student is attending has programs that are ABET accredited. I would consider that to be very important.
@popsofjsasms thanks for your reply! I think my son will definitely apply this fall. The small class sizes are definitely a plus and something that we were concerned about with the larger schools on his list. Did your son request to be in Hawk Hall, or does the school try to put those students together?
To get into Hawk Hall, you need to write an essay, explaining why you want to live in Hawk Hall and be part of the given RLC . It’s not a long essay, just a couple of paragraphs as I recall. STEM is one of about 8 different RLC’s in Hawk Hall. There are four floors of rooms, split in half, so that’s how you end up with 8 RLC’s in the building. You can also write essays for two different RLC’s, so if you don’t get into one, you still have a chance to live in Hawk Hall by getting into one of the other ones.
Hi my son was just accepted to University Hartford for Fall 2020. He is entering a health science program so the small class size really impressed him. We know 3 students who attend here and all LOVE it!
@Pongo1 congrats to your son! My son has UHart on his list, though it’s not his top pick (very close to home). The other students you know that are happy there, what are their majors? Also, can you share if you received merit and include stats if so?
We know 4 kids there. One in nursing, two in DPT and one on engineering. The small class size is amazing for the large science courses which are extremely tough. My son is an athlete so I cannot get into details about scholarship but as you have read they are very generous. He actually liked the older dorms better than Hawk Hall. It was a little too sterile looking for him. Did your son apply yet ?
@Pongo1 thanks for the info. He’s applying soon - just finishing the final draft of his essay. Civil engineering major. So you’re saying all intro courses are capped or small, such as chem, physics, calc? That is indeed a plus!
Yes that’s what we were told. Good luck to him !
Does anyone have any information about the full-tuition scholarship competition? My son has been accepted for Fall 2020 and was invited to attend this competition in January. We’ve never dealt with anything like this before. Any feedback would be great!
I also got the email for the full scholarship competition. from what my college advisor explained to me, we will have to do an interview with the admissions people and then write a short essay on the spot. mid feb is when they will let us know if we got the scholarship.
To help admitted students make their decision here are the updated, objective ranking and effectiveness measures for Hartford. These data are most useful when compared with that of other schools to which you’ve been admitted (e.g. Quinnipiac University, UConn, etc.) Some links to help are included.
A. Hartford provided data to the federal Department of Education’s College Scorecard:
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?129525-University-of-Hartford.
- Acceptance rate (of those who apply)=81%
- Retention rate (students returning after freshman year)=74%, so 26% do not return
- Graduation rate (after 8 years)=58%, so 58% earn a degree within 8 years (under 50% earn a degree in 4 years) while 42% transfer, are dismissed, withdraw, etc.
B. Independent, 3rd party rankings:
- US News ranking of 399 National Universities (#1=Princeton) 2020=211 2019=194
- Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranking of 970 colleges and universities (#1=Harvard) 2020=360 2019=274
- Forbes Top Colleges ranking of 650 colleges and universities (#1=Harvard) 2019=542
- Money Magazine Best Colleges for Your Money ranking of 744 colleges and universities (#1=University of California, Irvine) 2019=not ranked
C. Non-profit Education Reform Now Connecticut uses federal data to evaluate colleges’ financial value and success in graduating first generation, underrepresented minority and lower income students:
https://ctmirror.org/2019/11/12/too-many-ct-colleges-not-delivering-for-their-students-education-group-says/
- Four CT schools have both low rates of graduation for first-time students and high net costs (after scholarships, discounts, etc.) for low-income students, compared to national peer schools: Southern Connecticut State University University of Bridgeport University of Hartford Western Connecticut State University
- Hartford's six-year graduation rate for underrepresented minorities: 2017=43.9% 2016=46.1% 2015=41.9%
Best of luck choosing a school that’s the best fit for you.
Does anyone know how many get invited/attend the scholarship competition. I understand it could vary from year to year, but I’m just trying to see how many are trying for the 10 they are giving out.
On campus scholarship competitions have become common at colleges seeking to increase their yield (attendance) of admitted students and, in particular, encourage commitment by higher caliber students with stronger high school grades and standardized test scores. Hartford has held these competitions for a few years.
Think of it as a marketing event where the school flatters the student, parents, etc., showcases its programs, faculty and resources like new facilities, buildings, etc. All invited students have already been offered generous tuition discounts (aka scholarships). The “winners” are offered the enhanced full tuition scholarship. Most schools provide every student a reward just for participating, perhaps an additional $1000.
Hartford has had about 200 students competing, although the number may be higher.
For those considering depositing at University of Hartford here’s a news roundup of relevant stories from the local paper, the Hartford Courant:
https://www.courant.com/search/university+of+hartford/100-y/ALL/score/1/?
Another recent piece of news can be found here:
UHartford has a program that my daughter is interested in that no other college offers, but is twice the cost of instate tuition for programs that offer part (but not all) of what she wants. I’m wondering if anyone knows how heavily they recruit for the Montessori BS program. From the looks of it, it was created by a very generous grant. I’m wondering if any of that grant money is going to offset costs for students.
@vwlizard In recent years Hartford’s areas of investment and growth have been primarily in health sciences (e.g., nursing, prosthetics, etc.). To my knowledge the Montessori BS is not “heavily recruited.”
Any money used to fund that program is not likely to be earmarked for scholarships, merit awards, etc. But the university overall provides an average tuition discount of about 63%, even to students whose families have high expected family contribution. So do the math and see what kind of offer they make. And don’t hesitate to negotiate, tell the financial aid office what the state school will cost, etc. This really is commonplace these days, especially among enrollment challenged private institutions (UHart is one).
Btw, Is she considering this for 2020-2021 or 2021-2022? I’m asking because like many schools Hartford’s finances are under significant pressure and sizable budget cuts and layoffs are likely. Plus with the uncertainty of classes being held on campus this fall semester you probably should consider if it’s worth twice the cost.