University of Hawaii - Manoa | UH Manoa

<p>I am a high school senior from Nebraska.
I was recently accepted to UHM. I got a 26 on the ACT and have a 3.4 GPA. I want to go to UHM to study art, specifically ceramics and glass. Does anyone know from personal experience about the art program?
I also want to know about dorms... are they really as crappy as everyone says? This doesn't matter much to me as long as they are livable and don't smell particularly awful.
I have heard over and over that UHM has crap academics, ****ty dorms, and that the locals are racist to haoles (yes, I am a white guy from Nebraska.)
Does anyone have personal experience going here out of state for undergrad? This would be the most useful information for me.
Does UHM have any kind of scholarships for out of state kids?
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Does it really take six years to graduate? I would not be able to go unless I am sure I can graduate in four years (BFA.)
Thanks</p>

<p>Listening in as my son has them on his “preferred” list for Ethnobotany, but I’ve heard/seen some of the same comments and wonder.</p>

<p>They do have some out of state merit scholarships. I saw those on their web site.</p>

<p>I am a graduate student at UHM. I don’t know anything about the art program, but I can offer some more general comments about the university and Honolulu in general.</p>

<p>I lived in the graduate student apartment apartments my first year, which are right next to the undergrad dorms. From what I saw, the UH dorms aren’t particularly nice, but they aren’t terrible either. There is one residence hall that was built in the last few years which seems pretty nice, and the other ones seemed pretty comparable to dorms I’ve seen elsewhere.</p>

<p>I will admit that I don’t think much of UH’s academics on the undergrad level, but I’ve really only interacted with a small portion of the undergraduates, and the fact that my frame of reference is defined by my experience at Rice probably colors my perspective somewhat negatively. Honestly, the academics are likely no better or worse than most other public universities.</p>

<p>I also wouldn’t say that locals are “racist” to white residents, but there definitely might be some culture shock coming from the Midwest. There are certainly some elements of the culture that can seem unfriendly, at least on the surface level (see: “Defend Hawaii” stickers with images of assault weapons on many of the cars driving around town), but I can’t imagine running into any overt racism unless you’re walking around badmouthing the locals. The university is full of out-of-staters anyway, so it’s not like you’ll be the only haole in the neighborhood.</p>

<p>I have no idea about time-to-graduate, but I can’t imagine it’s that hard to graduate in four years.</p>