University of Rhode Island Top Questions

The best attribute of the school is the atmosphere. The old buildings with ivy growing along the sides, a beautiful quad, and an awesome location near the beach has got to be one of the best highlights URI offers. It is a good setting to really focus and hone in on one's schoolwork. I would change the parking situation at the school. Everyday at least one of my friends or myself has a complaint and it often makes many students late to class. Sometimes for important tests or classroom activities I leave my house an hour early just to ensure my timely attendance. For me personally, the school is the perfect size. It is big enough to meet new people and small enough to have close ties with many people and see them frequently. I can walk to my classes when it is nice out but it is also big enough to have a shuttle for those rainy or snowy days that would make walking unpleasant. It is a good size for people from towns and smaller cities. URI is still regarded as a good school and many people have positive reactions when they hear where I attend college. Most people have friends that have graduated from the university and/or they themselves have graduated from the school. I spend most of my time in the library because I need absolute quiet to get my work done. However, on the scarce occasion when I have free time and no work between classes, I enjoy sitting on the quad and talking with friends. It may rain a lot in Rhode Island, but when it is sunny, it is really beautiful out and the quad is a good place to take in the great weather. The actual town of Kingston where the school is located may not be regarded as a college town. However, Narragansett, otherwise known as "down the line", or "Gansett" is a huge college town. There are bars only a mile down the road and almost all of the students who move off campus reside there. There are two main developments, Old and New Eastward where there are hardly any full time residents and this is where the kids have house parties and create the fun of a college town. I think the school's administration is extremely helpful, empathetic, and concerned for the student body's welfare. I feel comfortable approaching them and asking for aid, guidance, or strategies for bettering my college and future career. They seem to respond well to problems that arise within campus clubs and organizations. Recently LGBT had issues with housing and safety concerns. Within a couple months our president responded and found them a place near campus. All of the administration acts in the best interest of the campus and the school. The biggest recent controversy on campus was the graphic genocide posters and images of pro-life protesters on campus. It is fine to voice your opinion, but people that come to the school need to keep in mind that we are college kids, one person walking by that they were screaming at and shoving graphic unpleasant pictures in their face could have been someone who was struggling with the decision of abortion, have already done it and regretted it, has a friend who was contemplating it, or god forbid raped and pregnant. I am all for people having their own opinions, but there are certain ways to go about attempting to spread them and they must also keep in mind the emotions and impact the can induce in others. We may be a Division 1 school, but not all our sports are up to par. The only sport that our school shows spirit for is our basketball team. We have different events such as a Pink out where students buy a pink shirt and all wear it to the game. Many people have fun at the games and there is even an organization called "The Mob" that has a section for dedicated fans who cheer and root on our players. The unusual thing about the school is that there is rumors that asbestos was discovered in the library and that is why they are doing construction and have areas blocked off. Funny enough, there was a case study done on the Chaffee building due to mold and asbestos. This seems to be an unusual trend at URI. One experience I will always remember is when I forced all my roommates to come with me to go see Jerry from the famous Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory speak at a building in our school. We hadn't known each other that long and I really wanted to go see him because I had worked at Ben & Jerry's for 4 years at that time. Needless to say they all made fun of me and didn't want to go but came anyway. We all got free ice-cream samples, went back to the room, ate ice-cream and stayed up all night bonding and talking. That little event sparked a great evening and I'll never forget it. The most frequent student complaints are (as I said before) the parking, or lack there of. The second biggest concern would be the amount it rains in Rhode Island. The third would be the line to wait at the dining halls and that there is only one entrance that both commuters and dorm residents share. The fourth would be not enough study rooms in the library during finals season. The fifth and last most frequent complaint would be that you can't take food or drinks out of the dining hall, not even a cookie.

One thing I really appreciated about URI when I came here as a freshmen were the living and learning communities. I was part of a learning community meaning that for your freshmen year all of the same students were in your classes. This really enforced the idea of study groups into my study skills early on. Although I opted to not live in a living community, if I had I would be living with the same people who I was taking all my classes with. This means it's really easy to just go down the hall to ask a classmate a question about homework when your chilling in your dorm. One thing I would change is the quality of teachers teaching the introductory level courses. I've found myself lacking in basic understand of concepts I've learned in introductory classes because the teachers weren't the greatest. But so far in my experience the teachers in the upper level classes are excellent, and as long as your not too shy to ask for help with a basic concept they are more than willing to help you. Overall, I think URI has been an excellent choice for me, and has allowed me to work my hardest, and if your willing to go that extra mile and make yourself stand out in the crowd, then you'll meet great mentors that can stick with out even after graduating. The most important thing to realize is that these great opportunities won't always be thrust upon you, but instead you have to go work to get them. But once you do, you have a world of opportunity waiting for you.

One thing I really appreciated about URI when I came here as a freshmen were the living and learning communities. I was part of a learning community meaning that for your freshmen year all of the same students were in your classes. This really enforced the idea of study groups into my study skills early on. Although I opted to not live in a living community, if I had I would be living with the same people who I was taking all my classes with. This means it's really easy to just go down the hall to ask a classmate a question about homework when your chilling in your dorm. One thing I would change is the quality of teachers teaching the introductory level courses. I've found myself lacking in basic understand of concepts I've learned in introductory classes because the teachers weren't the greatest. But so far in my experience the teachers in the upper level classes are excellent, and as long as your not too shy to ask for help with a basic concept they are more than willing to help you. Overall, I think URI has been an excellent choice for me, and has allowed me to work my hardest, and if your willing to go that extra mile and make yourself stand out in the crowd, then you'll meet great mentors that can stick with out even after graduating. The most important thing to realize is that these great opportunities won't always be thrust upon you, but instead you have to go work to get them. But once you do, you have a world of opportunity waiting for you.

I love URI, I only applied here and one other safety school. But as I am continuing my education here, I am questioning if it was the best decision. Not many people are crazy over academics or just hanging out, but then again this is the same for many schools.

People say believe URI is just a fall back school. I had opportunities to go to the University of Michigan and Penn State, but I thought that URI was a better selection. It was not just a fall back plan for me.

One thing I would change is that there is no shuttle to off campus locations from URI's campus. The majority of social life takes place off campus. The school is trying to change that image by building new dorms (which are beautiful) and putting in a student center and dining hall; but the bottom line is that on the weekends, kids want to go to house parties, or go to the beach. I believe that URI needs to do a better job of recognizing this and institute daily shuttles to the Narragansett area. This will help reduce parking problems (which is a major issue at this University) as well as reduce the ammount of drunk driving. I believe that the school does a great job creating a "community" image among URI students. Events such as Oozeball and Earthday and Springfest bring everyone together. Overall; If you are a freshman and you are thinking about transfering.. consider sticking it out a second year (because I was in the same boat). The more people you meet, the more fun you will have.

Uri has a beautiful campus, its the perfect size, although it seems alot smaller once you actually know where your going. The people can sometimes seem a little clicky, but once you have found your niche, then the school becomes an amazing place. Most of the proffessors are willing to help you out but they also expect you to work hard. Basically if you make the effort to make college a good experience, then URI is a great school, but if you sit back and do nothing, then you won't enjoy it as much.

I love the size of URI, its big enough that you can get lost in it, but small enough that you'll probably see at least one person you know walking around. There isn't a big bar scene or anything around, but the beach is great, and its easy to get involved in clubs and club sports. Housing is a really big issue, not enough of it and there should be public transportation from "student neighborhoods" but its difficult to get.

The thing that surprised me most is that there isn't really a town connected with URI, or one that you can get to without driving, anyway, so it doesn't really function like schools built around the "college town" I feel like people don't really take it as meaning much when I tell them I went to URi, because it's not really very prestigious, so people don't really think about it as a big accomplishment. URI is a big campus, it's easy not to see people you know for a day or two, and hard to find a group of people to make friends with because they are all so dispersed. But, there are a lot of extracurriculars offered, and joining one of those groups is a good way to meet people with similar interests.

I have nothing but a positive experience at URI. It was my last choice of schools to go to, but after attending the school for a year I know it is the best school for me. The administration is awesome too. They're always there for help when you need it. The engineering admin. also set up engineering dorms for freshman which really came in handy. All the kids in the dorm were in most of my classes. It made it really easy to adjust to school because all the kids in the dorm were going through the same EXACT same situation i was. It was also good for study groups and doing group projects becasue we all had the same classes