<p>hey, i hope those of you considering applying to the U of A read this. i can’t say im very happy with the way things turned out. ive gone to a highschool just down the street from the university for years, and i always thought i would end up going here in college. i guess i can understand why the retention rate is so low compared to most other universities- don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of great things that i love about the U of A, but the negatives outweigh the positives so much that it makes going here unbearable. </p>
<p>i recently graduated from high school just a month ago, and have been taking summer classes here. this helped me learn about the U of A really indepth and get a good experience of what it will be like. ive decided that i am just going to go to an out of state school that i have been accepted to, even though its 50k a year. here are some things you might want to consider</p>
<p>-parking is horrible. don’t even bother driving a car, honestly. the parking people will always find a way to **** you over. the few parking spots there are, are almost always taken. i had no choice but to park in temporary metered spots that were only 20 minutes, as there was nowhere else to go. i have attended this school for ~10 summer class days. i have received 8 parking tickets, and i now have to pay ~$200 in parking fees. i suspect the university raises a lot of money through these parking tickets. they are like rats, they just go around looking for people to ticket. they don’t seem to understand that there is literally NOWHERE to park sometimes.</p>
<p>-cliques. U of A is like a continuation of highschool. i always thought college would be different, apparently not here. in part this may be because a solid 50% of the kids here are from NW arkansas. there are a lot of cool people here no doubt, but so many people treat this like a HS and don’t interact with othersout of their social circles. every girl in a sorority dresses the EXACT same way, same color/style shirts/outfits i don’t really understand this. fraternities and sororities are pretty dominant on campus…</p>
<p>-registration/advising. this killed it for me. just to register for summer classes, i had to call fifty people, and i had to get through all of this BS. the way this school is run/administration is horrible. not only that, i cannot register for classes until AUGUST 12th because all of the orientation dates are filled. i repeatedly asked the administration at the U of A to allow me to have a meeting with an advisor just so i can sign up for classes. this is extremely important for me because i want to register for honors courses, and these fill up so quickly. in fact, its only june and already two of the honors courses i want to register for are full. i wanted to come to the U of A to LEARN, and they are no allowing me to do this. they care more about their nonsensical rules than having their students pursue learning.</p>
<p>the professors here are great, and the campus is beautiful. the professors are willing to help/talk to you about anything, and they love teaching the kids. the way things are run? horrible, its frustrating, and if you are attending this place next year, you will see for yourself. i hope those of you strongly considering the U of A visit it, and sit in a few classes just to get a feel of the place. i don’t think the administration cares about the students. i hope they realize they are losing smart students who can add so much to the campus. i am planning to finish my summer classes and never come back to this place</p>