University Buffalo

Ub is not a bad university,but is not a very good college either. The number of students are too huge that most of the gen ed class you are one of 200s, and at times, the time for questions is not enough or not approachable. I was in psychology department and until 200 levels, there are like 200+ students per class. I transferred out after 2 yrs not because I hated UB, but i don't like winter and Buffalo has the longest winter in the East coast so be prepared if you are coming. And one fatal flaw is that Ub lacks majors for a huge school, such as agriculture, hospitality does not exist so the choices of majors are limited. And, last but not least, the dormitory sucks so do not go to the dormitory unless you are from all the way from the west, since dormitory is very noisy and always smell like alcohol(goodyear hall). If you do, I advise to reside in clement hall since there is tops and pho restaurant nearby.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2013

Useful Schoolwork: B-, Campus Aesthetics: D

I graduated from UB back in 2014 with a BS in Chemistry degree. I landed an internship, with an unaffiliated company in the greater Buffalo area, and have been rolling in the chemistry field ever since. UB had a few good points, namely the low tuition cost for in-state residents and the new faculty members seeming to care about their students. Another plus was the Campus was in a lovely, very safe city with a local community of very friendly people. But, there are many downsides though to UB.

Parking- the university needs more campus parking. It can take almost 30-60 mins to get a parking spot many days, I remember.

Campus facilties: lots of computer stations to check email and submit reports, which was somewhat helpful. The libraries need a lot of work, but Lockwood library is for beast mode studying.

Dorm Life- I stayed in the dorms one semester and I hated it. The students were unprofessional, undisciplined, and rather listless. Rent an apartment in Amherst and commute. Your study skills will soar and you'll learn independence and time budgeting, useful skills in life and careers.

Faculty- As I said, I was a chemistry major upon graduation, but my first two years I was a declared Physics major. The physics faculty were kind, helpful, approachable, and quite gregarious in helping me get through my 200 and 300 level courses. In chemistry, many of the faculty teaching were cold, condescending, unfriendly, and at times, obtuse. The TAs were understanding and helpful. But, the faculty in chemistry is like a whole new ball club, and I bet there's reasons beyond retirement or other official cover stories!

And with that last comment, I have to state that in my senior year, I learned much more teaching myself the skills used in both the lab and in industrial research, allowing me to gain that internship, and then land job after job in the chemical field. So, go against the currents of UB and teach yourself. With self-taught hard work and mental discipline, you can achieve more than others with major socio-economical advantages and their graduate degrees!

Another negative was the school seeming obsession with telling students in order to succeed, you must go to grad school. I would expect this school's faculty to at least have some idea how to help their future graduates achieve some sort of job after college, instead of just saying "Just go to grad school!" over and over.

My advice: UB is a good school for low cost of attendance and ability to transfer courses to other schools. Many of my classmates took maybe one or two years at most of 1st and 2nd year courses in their major then transferred to a better school with the credits from UB. I was stuck at UB because I did not want to keeping working low-paying full time careers to pay tuition another 3-4 years due to higher charges at better school.

There are positives. The walkways around the North campus are absolutely beautiful during the summer and Fall, with the leaves changing alongside Hamilton and Audubon roads. The North Campus lake is gorgeous year round, and the faculty I had outside chemistry and in the gen. ed classes were nice, intelligent, and very helpful. UB has alot of positives, and with the new chemistry faculty, I can recommend the school to a future chemical student.

4th Year Female -- Class 1923

Faculty Accessibility: B, Education Quality: D