The University of Akron

Trash! The campus is trash! Everything is so overpriced! Please don’t fall for their we are so affordable now BS ads! The professors are so old they can’t even teach their subjects right, the learning atmosphere is so dry and dead, the food’s nasty and over priced, their staff workers and administrators are so incompetent and unsupportive, the academic advisors don’t even know how to advise you, the learning standards have completely fallen down to community college standards, it’s not even university standard anymore, the teachers curve grades a lot, students can hardly read or write, everyone is stupidly getting into student loan debt, and there are so much more! Please go somewhere else! This school is not worth your time and money.

Most of the buildings are old and run down. A lot of the classes are much larger than they need to be. I had several with 150-200 students and it is very hard to communicate with the professors in that situation. It’s often hard to find parking. The campus has a lot of non students walking around the outskirts asking students for money. There is often violent situations that I am alerted about from their text system. Aside from that the education is decent and the price is higher than I’d like but cheaper than some alternatives, but not all of them.

Although I absolutely loved the counseling services offered here, my professors at Wayne campus were awesome, the gym on main campus is awesome, although the housing is horrible. I lived on campus in Buglar here the heat and hot water is often out for DAYSSSS, 5 consecutive days during January winter all while I’m in out of state student with no support here, so I had no choice but to be in bed with 5 layers on. No one ever knows anything. I had to CC and forward emails from department to department, before getting clear answers. My biggest problem here is from department to department there are students responding to emails and answering phone calls. They lack the basic knowledge of the departments they work in as well as understanding or even people skills honestly to interact with the public or answer questions. Maybe it’s because I’m 29, so I look older. I just feel like regardless of age, it was VERY difficult getting support here, or finding consistent answers. Personally, I have a learning disability and due to not being in school for 10 years, I hadn’t had an IEP and I wasn’t sure how to get about getting one. My physical appearance doesn’t warrant for help, I seem independent, so when I would reach out for help, I would get confused looks, or just attitudes as if I just need to figure it out alone. Eventually I found Dr. Juanita at counseling services, and she was very helpful at the ending of my spring semester. Unfortunately I never got my IEP plan here just due to the frustration of not being heard in the mist of attempting to fix issues, so I chose to not re enroll. I will say, they WILL fix a problem, but all the hoops and holes you have to jump through is ridiculous. Especially considering the faults tend to be on thier end. I’m mentally exhausted. Being an older student returning to school after so long, I would think they would have some type of support group or something in place. I felt very lost and alone here. The underlying shame of having to return to school surrounded by young adults is already overwhelming, but to receive shameful looks or consistently deal with passive aggressive attitudes is a lot and makes the shame worse. I wouldn’t recommend main campus at all. Wayne campus is smaller, everyone is more helpful, and they help with a smile.

I am a little biased on this review. After visiting 6 Universities, my son picked this one to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering, so I think it's great! It's reasonably priced. It has great engineering programs. It is world renowned for it's Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering programs. It's a great place to get a college education. The campus is really nice too.

Class of 2014 here. I thoroughly enjoyed my four years at UA. I was a short-distance commuter student from Highland Square, but still got a totally “normal” college experience. I had a good group of friends, a solid professional network (to this day), helpful professors, and attended a lot of fun campus events/parties/athletics. For an urban area, the campus is gorgeous and the facilities are relatively new (union, football stadium, wellness center etc.). I graduated on a Saturday and started a high paying job in my field that next Monday. Does it get much better than that? Not if you’re like most of us and going to school to get a job. If that is my measure of my time at Akron, then it was perfect. It was only after graduating that I realized how much my program was recognized nationally for its quality and outcomes. My only complaints were the weather and city; two things of which UA has no control over. The city of Akron is objectively not that nice of the place (look up those reviews), nor is it an easy area to start a good career. Most of the city is dilapidated, low socioeconomic status, dangerous, trashy, heroin-ridden, and lacking opportunity. I was not from Akron, so this was a bit depressing for me. If you’re from NEOH, you’re probably used to this and it won’t effect you. That said, UA is a diamond in the rough in this town. I am male, but I never felt unsafe on the actual campus. Everything around campus is a different story. Be diligent anywhere south of Exchange St. A lot of negative reviews I see on here are from people who needed more hand-holding through the admissions and financial aid processes. NEWS FLASH: Financial aid sucks at every university in the US. It is a federal program and the process is the same everywhere you go. Most financial aid coordinators are paid like $12-$15 an hour, and that is also universal. You need to adjust your expectations for that process or vote for different politicians. I don’t know what else to tell you. All together, I’d recommend UA to most people depending on your field. It’s certainly way better than that other school down I-76 ;) Go Zips!