University of Hartford

If I could give UHa zero stars, I would. I graduated from two different programs in two different schools, and while I had a positive experience in one, the other was downright detestable. Now if I’d only realized this sooner.
My first mistake was attending their Audio Engineering Technology program, which is basically a joke. Rather than preparing students for careers in audio engineering, the coursework provided me with the skills necessary to repair broken equipment. Had the school been up front about this in the beginning, I would have gone elsewhere, but instead I was assured that attending and graduating from this program would lead to a career in the audio engineering industry. When I secured an internship at National Public Radio, the overall deficiency of my education became overwhelmingly clear. Recognizing that this Bachelors of Science was nothing more than BS, I applied to the University’s graduate Accounting & Taxation program, was accepted, and started the day after my undergraduate graduation.
Immediately, the disparity between schools within the University was apparent. The professors in the Barney School of Business had, for the most part, come from industry and therefore had useful experiences to share. Some had held significant positions within the finance, accounting, and insurance industries and could use these to impart meaning to their courses. The school’s accelerated Masters of Science in Accounting & Taxation (MSAT) prepared me, in just one year, for a career in accounting and the school’s career fair led to two job offers. This stood in stark contrast to the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture’s career placement services, which were essentially nonexistent.
Beyond the disparate academic quality, the rest of the University is both unremarkable and disappointing. There is little in the way of residential life outside of drinking and drugs. The campus empties out on many weekends as students return home. The nearby city of Hartford provides little in the way of activities, further isolating this campus. Dormitories are badly in need of demolition and reconstruction. There is only one worthwhile dining hall on campus, which is only open on weekdays. The on-​campus convenience store is astronomically overpriced. The balance of campus facilities are dated, greatly impairing their usefulness.
My final complaint about this institution is its cost. For the quality of the majority of its programs (the Hartt School excluded), $ 38,000 per year cannot be justified.

Small, private, solid, pricey
The quality of academics varies from school to school. One of the strongest colleges is the Hartt School of Music, Dance and Theater. They have a excellent and well-​deserved reputation in the music world.
Student life is mixed. First the cons–
— A LOT of people leave on the weekends. It’s a little bit of a suitcase campus with a lot of students from CT, MA, NY, NJ, RI. There’s a lot of rich kids and they all have cars, so the place can empty out leaving you with nothing to do on a Friday night.
— Student body. Hard to pin down the percentage, but there are quite a few rich kids that daddy forced into college. They’re just there to drink and smoke. You can mostly avoid them by taking morning classes and going to the library or the gym.
Pros
— The main campus is self-​contained. Look at USC, Cal, or anything in Boston and you’ve got bums and other lowlife wandering through campus. UHA isn’t crime free, but it’s completely surrounded by woods, a river, and a huge fence. Strangers stick out.
— It’s a small school. You can get to know people. It’s nice to recognize faces. Office hours for faculty don’t have a line a mile long. Not too many classes taught by TAs or GSIs.
— No football team.
— Fun Stuff. If you work at it, there are enough student life activities, scavenger hunts, TAG games, movies, concerts, plays, elective classes, and sports events that you can keep busy. My personal favorite was crashing donor benefit dinners. Free food and entertainment.
THE FOOD
I used to be a tour guide and the #1 question was «How is the food?»
My answers depended on the kind of people on the tour. Sometimes I’d come back with– How good of a cook is your Mom?
The real answer is that U-​HA has so many different choices you really can’t go wrong. Maybe you were the kid who only ate frozen pizza, McDs, and hotdogs, or the adventurous one who doesn’t want to eat the same thing twice. And for everyone in between there is something for you. They have
a pizza and burger grill, a traditional food steamtable line, and a sandwich bar. You really can’t screw up a ham and cheese sandwich.
The dorms are a mixed bag. Some of the brick and mortar buildings are a little rough, but liveable. I liked that they had a designated quiet dorm.
No doubt there have been some changes since I graduated. Recently they’ve made their phys plant a lot more environmentally friendly for example.
Check em out. Save your pennies.