University of Hawaii at Manoa Top Questions

Come here for any Asian or Pacific language (I'm pretty sure you can't learn Marshallese anywhere else in the world), any type of Asian Studies (our library has 2 floors of Asian collections), Geophysics (volcanic islands), NOT Astronomy (go to UH Hilo where the observatory is!), Tourism Industry Management (Hawaii's biggest industry), Marine Bio/Oceanography (obviously), Tropical Environmental Studies, International Business (Schidler College of Business is like #20 in the world), and other related programs. I'm an anthropology major and I have to say the department is pretty solid, especially regarding Asia/Pacific anthro. Don't come here expecting to get a 'mainland-quality' education in many traditional liberal arts and sciences, unless you've heard otherwise from several sources. There will be decent programs, but mainland schools will be better.

First, most students start off as an arts and science major (or you could be a pre-major such as pre-business, pre-med, etc.). Because of this, most students will be attending bigger classes with over 100 students, so professors are likely to not remember your name unless you speak with them on a regular basis. As students progress into their major, classes are smaller (at the business school, we have about 40 students per class), and people generally know each other after the first year of business school. In the business school, we are able to spend time with the professors as majority of them have office hours where we can come in to ask for additional help. I have personally went to two of my professors outside of the classroom, and they have proven to be very helpful. In one case, one of my professors let my group come in and helped to create a code for our semester project (it has to do with Microsoft Access if anyone wanted to know specifically), and it was just something we would not be able to do on our own. I believe that at least for the business professors, most of them are making attempts to help students out with education in getting a job versus learning materials for the sake of learning. Although what would make the things we learned put to use is networking, whether it is with classmates around campus or within a club that brings in professionals.

Students don't study! No motivation.

Come here for any Asian or Pacific language (I'm pretty sure you can't learn Marshallese anywhere else in the world), any type of Asian Studies (our library has 2 floors of Asian collections), Geophysics (volcanic islands), NOT Astronomy (go to UH Hilo where the observatory is!), Tourism Industry Management (Hawaii's biggest industry), Marine Bio/Oceanography (duh), Enviromental Stuff focused on Tropical region (duh), International Business (Schidler College of Business is like #20 in the world), and other related programs. Don't come here expecting to get a 'mainland-quality' education in much else, unless you've heard otherwise from several sources. There will be decent programs, but really can't begin to compare with say any California or East Coast institution.

I am a psychology major and I have to say UHM was both challenging and rewarding. I was able to befriend many members of the faculty and they have helped me not only grow as an individual but also grow as a student. I was just recently accepted into graduate school, thanks to them : ).