Elizabeth Hubert

Review of UMass Dartmouth

I attended UMass Dartmouth immediately after gradu...

I attended UMass Dartmouth immediately after graduating high school in 2010 for environmental chemistry. I stood from Fall 2010 to Fall 2011 before transferring to Bridgewater State University in the Spring 2012 where I am about to graduate from with a bachelor's degree in geological sciences. I tried my absolute best to appreciate UMD for what it is, but to this day, I WILL NOT recommend it to anyone unless they are an engineering major.
Firstly, I found the chemistry students horribly mean. HORRIBLY MEAN. This may seem dumb, but I minded my own business day-to-day and would overhear people talking s@#t about me. I have no idea why because I didn't know or talk to anyone. I commuted from fifteen minutes away and sped home as fast as I could every day after school. That is NOT what I want out of my COLLEGE experience. Apparently, these people weren't mentally mature enough for college. They were stuck in high school drama club. I also found many of the teachers rude and/or pompous. I LOVED Dr. Timothy Su. Dr. Melissa Silvia and Dr. Catherine Neto were nice too. They are the only teachers I actually liked in the chemistry department because I either found other rude or I did not know them. The advisers were nice people as well, but not very helpful compared to the amazing adviser I have not at BSU.
Secondly, I could not exist in such a stone, cold school (this is literal). UMD is made out of concrete. All of the buildings are dark, gray concrete and they leak when it rains, especially the Science and Engineering Building (Liberal Arts was the lightest and least leaky, in my opinion). My sophomore physics teacher actually had to let class out early because our lecture hall was so cold, we could see our breath. That is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE for over $10,000/year. The campus was not very pretty either. I know some students don't mind not having lots of greenery around campus, but when you're paying good money for a good education, you deserve to be in a nice and healthy environment, not one with trash and concrete.
Finally, I found the administration rude. I only met a few people that were nice. The woman who handled my federal work study was extremely coarse to me and my work study supervisor (who was an off-campus supervisor and a personal friend of mine). The people in the office where you get your transcripts are rude just because like many so-called "customer service" people. I don't know what it is about this school. Maybe all the darkness and concrete gets to everyone, but 99% of the people I met were jerks and I hardly spoke to anyone!
I know UMD offers a great education at an in-state rate for Massachusetts students, but I find that everything that comes with the education is not worth it. I feel bad for those who lived on campus while I commuted. I was forced to stay in a single, freshman dorm for my freshman orientation. The dorms were so hot during July without proper ventilation (even just a window that opens all the way) that I slept completely naked with no sheets on the bed. Good ventilation only comes for upper classman dorms, apparently, because those were gorgeous, like apartments. Unacceptable for the price. I'm sorry. I hope others have a better experience than I did. I tried my best to appreciate UMD, but it took a serious toll on my not being able to make friends with such terrible people.