UNLV's strong and weak points

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Nevada
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<p>Positives:
- Great work being done on the campus buildings and grounds. The facilities will be excellent when the program is complete in a year or two.
- Obviously one of the best hospitality and tourism schools in the world
- Top 100 Law School (Boyd Law ranked 88th in 2008)
- Under Grad Education program ranked 82 out of 180 in 2006
- The MBA program is no slouch! Trust me!
- Programs are being expanded every year
- Great athletic program
- A renewed commitment by the state and university itself to better its academic standing
- Extremely low average debt upon graduation
- Weather (if you are not here in July and August, Vegas has amazing weather!)
- A great place for internships and part time employment for undergrad and grad students. People in hospitality/hotel management, business, and law have great opportunities to learn outside the classroom</p>

<p>Negatives:
- It simply grew too fast from the late 90's onward
- Very poor student housing, although there is a new dorm complex being built
- Admission standards were too low, but now starting to come up
- Low PhD count for professors (but is quickly rising)
- 4th tier ranking in US News (which is important to some, but not myself)
- Not much Greek life (for those into that sort of thing)
- College gets pegged as a 'party school', when the reality is that you cannot drink in this town under 21 years old anywhere due to gaming laws</p>

<p>Simple facts:
- Its is mainly a commuter school, but when the new dorms are done, it may start to change
- Parking can suck sometimes
- Mostly locals or in state residents
- You can get in trouble (gambling/drinking), but just as easily enjoy the mountains, hiking and outdoor activities as well as many other things besides partying (but it is available for those who seek it, obviously!)</p>

<h2>- Las Vegas has an amazingly low cost of living right now (2009), but jobs are scarce</h2>

<p>Overall... in comparison to New York State Universities, I would say in 5 years it will exceed them in many areas. Definitely equal to or better than Florida state colleges.
They are making great strides, especially since I first visited the school in 2004. I think they will move into the third tier of schools by 2010, and higher by 2014.
Personally... I would choose UNLV over a SUNY school.</p>

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<li>U P D A T E -</li>
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<p>Just had a meeting on campus today with about 50 graduate students, most PhD’s, and 4 academic advisory professors and department heads…</p>

<p>A question was asked about boosting university prestige and quality of education…
The answer was that ‘UNLV is supposedly dropping a quarter of its projected budget on research funding for current and new coming grad students over the next 5 years. They are actively pursuing some higher profile professors and lecturers in the upcoming summer as well. It is also funding the campus expansion, purchasing real estate around the campus for future projects and increasing library and laboratory funding.
The academic quality will come as a result of the increase in sat requirements (+ 10% in each category), decrease in admissions (75% down to 55% by 2014) and the heightened academic rigor by imposing mandatory internship hours and writing intensive classes necessary to graduate’.</p>