OT: Just got accepted to UCONN!!

[Husky15]

You are an upstate NY kid with 2 Cuse alum parents and you are a UCONN fan? Infinite respect my friend.

It's crazy! I go to a small school of around 375 and am a very vocal UCONN fan, (my gym teacher used to call me Calhoun, now Ollie) and my teachers let me watch the UCONN BE tourney run in 2011 during school. Unfortunately, SU is number one so my teachers, friends and family have been giving me crap all year but I know I just have to wait a couple months before the roles are reversed!

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Congrats!

If you have the grades and the money, study abroad if you are a business major. I did when I was in Storrs in the 1990's when only 10% of the student body went abroad and it was the best decision I made personally and professionally. I am still involved in the business school today and study abroad is a big push right now, then want to move it from 25% participation to close to 50% in the next few years.

Oh, and don't try to join the Century Club your 2nd night in campus. That cost me half of my liver and most of my GPA first semester.

Best decision I made in college was to Study Abroad. Agree with this 100%

 

[WestHartHusk]

As a second semester Sophomore in the business school, you'll likely take nearly all of the same Gen Ed courses your first two years.

Good:
Oskar Harmon (econ 1201) - The class itself isn't that easy but the way he has it set up makes it very easy to get an A.
Jamie Huff (WGSS 1124) - (Elective) - Women's studies class, very easy course and Ms. Huff is EXTREMELY easy to look at.
Kochanek (Acct 2001) - Financial Accounting is not easy by any means. But is easily the best (and most widely taken) professor to teach it to you.
George Bentley (Geog 1700) - Very nice guy and makes the class interesting. Easy to get an A in here if you show up.

Try to avoid:
Adam Fry (Bio 1102) - You have to take a 4 credit lab course as a UConn requirement. But whatever you do don't take Bio with Fry, he's an @ssh0le. Take Geoscience instead.


Granted, you're not going to be choosing your classes until you go to orientation in the summer so just try to keep this thread in the back of your mind.

ALSO: GO TO AN EARLY ORIENTATION. The sooner you go, the more likely that the classes that you want to take will have seats available. Many freshman have to take the same courses, especially in the business school. Try to sign up for a late spring, or early summer orientation if it fits your schedule. I did, and I was able to not have any Friday classes my first semester and still manage to take 17 credits

Business school grad myself and definitely agree on Kochanek. My recommendation for lab science - astronomy. The lady is a cooc (if she is still there), and you won't get above a B+, but you have observations at midnight on the top of the Math building. And if you use your imagination, there are a few ways to make looking at the stars even more fun...

 

[Krugs17]

Tough, but great position to be in. Wait until you receive the other responses, narrow it down to 2, then make a list of pros/cons for each. It's an underrated method, but it has worked very well for me in the past; especially when there are two females I've been working on and they are both in the same bar.. Always shoot for the three!

Also, you absolutely need to use ratemyprofessor.com regardless of where you end up going to school to help you when selecting classes/professors each semester. I used this tool all 4 years and it made college a breeze. The feedback is fantastic and usually right on point.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

UCONNgrats! I went there starting in '89 for the business school. I'm sure it's even better now than it was then - and even back then it was a name that opened doors to interviews. I was blindsided by the Finance (201?) requirement for my MIS major and by the time I woke up from my complacency it was too late and I ended up with a C. You're a more serious student than I was but anyway watch out for "the tough class".

I graduated from the Business school in the late 1990’s. The faculty, outside of OPIM, were good, especially real estate, which I did not take, and accounting. The problem was that the building was a leftover from the 1950’s. So glad and jealous that that finally got fixed. The new building is nice.

 

[Sportsman5]

Do the first two years -- smaller classes for some of the core stuff makes it easier. I didn't even bother getting the sophomore certificate -- I just took advantage of the program.

I actually preferred larger classes myself. When I was in small classes I felt as if I was in high school. I seemed to have more week to week accountability in small classes and less self paced large tests and assignments. That's just pure personal preference though. I can see why some would prefer small classes.

 

[Sportsman5]

Yeah, I liked Michigan a lot, although my true allegiances will always be with UCONN, but after that it's kind of a toss up. Villanova and Maryland probably have the best academics but nova seemed kind of dead to me, I thought it was because I visited on their Business School day and it was packed but maybe there's more to that. I haven't visited Maryland or Pitt yet but Maryland is kind of scummy from what I've heard. I visited UCONN last year and saw them beat Cincinnati behind a great performance from Shabazz which was awesome! Only concern with UCONN is the lack of a college town. I also visited the Cuse because both my parents went there, I live an hour away, my uncle went there, both my grandparents live there, and I like to watch college basketball (went to the SU Duke game), but I determined that they are on the same level as UCONN academically and I hate Syracuse sports so I could never go there, plus I loved my UCONN visit!!

Sounds like good reasoning all around. My best advice: If you get into Mighigan, than go. If you don't, than go to UConn. Don't even consider the rest. I'm not kidding.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

So far I've gotten into Pitt and UCONNs business schools and am waiting to here back from Michigan--Ann Arbor--, Villanova, Maryland, and Syracuse. However, getting into UCONN has pretty much cut the cuse from my list.

I have been to all of your choices (colleges are a great place to go for a walk and catch a sports game after a busy day travelling for work). Villanova academically is below UConn; but, you may like that it is a smaller school and it is in more of an urban setting (train access to Philly right from campus). Pitt, Maryland, and Syracuse are close to UConn academically. Maryland’s campus is huge; but, oddly in a sketchy area. Good access to the DC job market, though. I actually like Pittsburgh the city over the last 10 years and it is urban, too; but, its alumni network is distinctly PA and if you are looking for a job in NYC or Boston, for example, it may be a tough sell after graduation. Syracuse is in the middle of a jobless backhole called upstate NY although it has a strong alumni network in NYC and Syracuse the city is trying to clean-up. That said, both Pitt and UConn would be cheaper and are better academically that UConn. Michigan is obviously the top of the heap and it is located in a great, if somewhat snobbish/elitist town. But, academically, if you can get into Michigan and can afford it, you should go there. I can only hope that UConn is at that level in the future.

 

[uconndoit]

I graduated from the Business school in the late 1990’s.

So did I! J/k

 

[Penfield]

Best decision I made in college was to Study Abroad. Agree with this 100%

I didn't do study abroad because I didn't want to miss out on getting MBB season tickets during the fall semester, or miss any of the games during the spring semester. If I had to do it all over again I would probably have to do things differently. You really don't get opportunities like that after school.

To @Husky15 - Congrats! It will be the best 4 years of your life. Have fun and enjoy college life, but don't forget what you are really there to do.

 

[Excalibur]

I actually preferred larger classes myself. When I was in small classes I felt as if I was in high school. I seemed to have more week to week accountability in small classes and less self paced large tests and assignments. That's just pure personal preference though. I can see why some would prefer small classes.

Fair point, but the better professors tend to teach the Honors classes, so there is another advantage there.

 

[Sportsman5]

Fair point, but the better professors tend to teach the Honors classes, so there is another advantage there.

Personally I was a better learner on my own than in class. Hence why I preferred larger classes where tests were based more on the book and slide shows as opposed to specifics the professor mentioned in class. I went to all of my classes except a few 8 ams, but just learned way better on my own time. Again, just personal preference, but each student should figure out their best learning style. If the original poster learns best by class interactions and asking the professor a lot of questions, than the honors program may be of help to him. If he learns better on his own, than having certain professors or small class size may be either not important or a disadvantage because small class exams, projects and papers can be structured different than classes with a lot of students. Small classes may have long papers, group projects with presentations etc. Large classes are going to be more multiple choice tests or short answer to make grading easier. If you are a good writer and like a lot of interaction in class, than small class size probably suits you well. If you are an independent studier and like straight forward exams with specific write vs wrong answers as grading criteria, than large classes probably are better. That's why it annoys me that small schools with mostly classes less than 25 students say their students have a learning advantage. I believe it completely depends on the students learning style

 

[CL82]

Best decision I made in college was to Study Abroad. Agree with this 100%

Wow I spent a lot time studying broads in college as well. I didn't limit myself to one though, which occasionally was problematic.

To the OP - congrats on getting into UConn. I'm not sure that people in Connecticut fully appreciate how UConn's reputation has risen nationally.

 

[Kembacity]

Don't take intro to film in von der mehden. You'll rarely get there for friday 8am film lab and when you do you'll fall asleep.

It seems like an easy A but its not.

Oh that Bob Smith does like his exam questions. I remember the first time we saw a question that literally asked how he responded to a question in class, because he knew everyone wasn't showing up on a regular basis. Good class though, I thought at least

 

[OkaForPrez]

Oh that Bob Smith does like his exam questions. I remember the first time we saw a question that literally asked how he responded to a question in class, because he knew everyone wasn't showing up on a regular basis. Good class though, I thought at least

Is that you Bob? Has to be because nobody liked your class.

 

[Husky25]

Fear Kochanek

Dick Kochanek might be the nicest professor on campus. I loved his stories, especially the one from his childhood about the 12 year old baseball player who had already hit his prime. Simply classic.

Sam Pickering is also an intriguing character as well. He didn't exactly strike me as a Mr. Keating (from Dead Poet Society), even though the Character is loosely based on him. He was just a good teacher. He made this accountant enjoy reading again, that's for sure.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I'm from New York and just got accepted into the Business School and Honors program with a scholarship of $15,000 a year totaling $60,000 over 4 years! So I was wondering what the benefits of the Honors program are at UCONN and if you guys could give me some insight into what is great about UCONN?

One look at the OP and you can see that he's gaming the Like-Post ratio.

 

[Kembacity]

Kochanek might be the nicest professor on campus. I loved his stories, especially the one from his childhood about the 12 year old baseball player who had already hit his prime. Simply classic.

Sam Pickering is also an intriguing character as well. He didn't exactly strike me as a Mr. Keating (from Dead Poet Society), even though the Character is loosely based on him. He was just a good teacher. He made this accountant enjoy reading again, that's for sure.

I don't know that I considered him a great teacher but definitely a fun teacher to take a class from. The stories that guy told were amazing, as was him rolling his pants up at the thigh while telling those stories

 

[Husky25]

I don't know that I considered him a great teacher but definitely a fun teacher to take a class from. The stories that guy told were amazing, as was him rolling his pants up at the thigh while telling those stories

Are you referring to Kochanek or Pickering? The roll up the pants comment confused me between the two.

 

[Husky15]

One look at the OP and you can see that he's gaming the Like-Post ratio.

You don't believe me? Look up Lansing, New York

 

[junglehusky]

Honors Program? I enrolled in Honors (after deciding on UConn over Tufts, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Rochester and Conn College - primarily to save $$ as an in-state student), proceeded to get D's in Calc and Chem 127, and dropped out. While my career might be slightly better off if I had stayed in the program, if I had stayed in it would have been because I was paying better attention to my grades and would have had a better record overall. So if you're the type of personality that can be motivated by that, by all means go for it, especially if there's a financial incentive.

If you wind up having to choose between UConn (or any other place) with an aid package and say, Michigan with none, I'd advise to ask some college grads who have a mountain of debt how they're dealing with it. There are cases where it may be worth it, for example if you get into an Ivy and your aspiration is to become a CEO or clerk for a Supreme Court justice, but a lot of the time it may not be. Just a decision you may have to make with your family. Having tens of thousands of dollars in debt is a major burden on someone starting out their life.

Regardless of where you wind up, I just want to echo the comments about finding groups/activities to spend your spare time. Invariably, that's where you make better friends. I did four years of symphony orchestra and two years in a biology service fraternity. Looking back, I wish I'd done the bio group earlier and maybe joined some other groups. Of course, I also wish I'd been more diligent with my grades freshman year!

 

[uconn17smith]

Same thing. From CT and just got accepted. Been a UCONN fan my whole life and follow the team to a fault. Can't wait for the next four years!

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I didn't do study abroad because I didn't want to miss out on getting MBB season tickets during the fall semester, or miss any of the games during the spring semester. If I had to do it all over again I would probably have to do things differently. You really don't get opportunities like that after school.

I missed UConn's first NCA title to study abroad - the women's title in 1995. I was actually watching he game on tape delay in France in my apartment with the 5 other kids from Storrs. It was late in the 2nd half and UConn just behind Tennessee at the time. My phone rings. I pick-up. My Mom is on the other end screaming that UConn won loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Dang it!

 

[1999.2004.2011]

I'm alittle late on this thread but wanted to give my two cents as a recent graduate from the business school (Class of 2013). The Honors Program for business majors isn't too bad as I had a bunch of friends in my Accounting classes who had to do an extra research/writing assignment to get honors credit for the acct classes they were already in. UConn Business School is well connected in the business world with many notable alumni in Hartford, Boston, NYC etc so be sure to leverage that at networking events and such. Best criteria to rate a school or specific program is job placement, and 97% of my friends who were accounting/finance majors all had full time job offers leaving school.

As for your freshman year, best place to end up dorm wise (if not in honors housing) is north. Decent dining hall, closer towards Carriage/Celeron/Hunting Lodge than if you lived in Buckley. Also as a freshman, load up your first semester schedule with easy gen eds so you can spend your time at uconn soccer /football games (or chasing co-eds). I survived during the college years on a diet of Wings Over, Raman and 40's of Steel Reserve (as I was flat broke--Thirsty's /Ted's) and it was the best time of my life. I wouldn't trade anything for my time at UConn, which was made especially sweet with a national championship and BCS bowl game during my sophomore year.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

You don't believe me? Look up Lansing, New York

Joking.

Like many, I'm happy for you and only commenting that more than two dozen Likes for an infrequent poster alters the ratio of Messages and Likes.