University of Rhode Island Top Questions

I really like the staff at URI. Teachers although not all of them, are very helpful. In addition i feel like the advisors really do a good job of keeping you on track to take the courses you need. The material is tough but it is college so you should expect that to begin with. I would definitely say URI does a good job of preparing students academically as long as you actually do the work.

I am a huge fan of the academics at URI. Many classes are in large lecture halls and involve taking notes from projecting screens with power points. In these cases you will not have much of a personal relationship with the professor unless you frequently attend office hours. Other classes are on a much smaller scale. If you attend small classes it is very likely that you will find some type of admiration of many professors. Most are very informative and helpful, and I have never met one that I didn't enjoy. Participation is comfortably encouraged in multiple classes, especially those at an honors level. If your GPA is 3.3 or above, I would highly recommend signing up for honors courses as often as possible. They are more interesting, interactive, and usually don't have exams. My favorite course was an Honors Tutorial on Traditions of World Religions which was inspirational to say the least. If you have difficulty academically, it is not hard to find help. Aside from office hours where you can meet one on one with your professor, many classes include twice a week SI sessions where a teaching assistant goes over topics already learned in class, clarifying any questions students have. There are also tutors available in Roosevelt hall. Overall, I have not found any problems academically at URI.

I believe the academics are a little below the norm. I don't think it will stay that way for long, however. I compare U.R.I. to my old school, The University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and the overall level of academia and challenge is lower. There is a greater difference between requirements and majors than I've noticed in other schools. Also, the teacher you have greatly shifts how much you'll learn. For example, I am an Economics major and when I was taking macro my teacher was not good and provided no challenge. This made my future studies harder. If I had a different teacher, Dr. McIntyre for example, I would have learned much much more. I feel as if U.R.I. is still accepting many students that are hoping to coast through college and this makes class participation minimal and professor interaction outside the classroom difficult.

This is an incredibly broad question, but there's an important issue at the heart of it that will help in understanding an academic experience at URI. Remember, URI is a public state university that people generally are not quick to associate with prestige. This leads several major archtypes of professors and students that teach at and attend a school like URI. There are professors who are just starting out and hope that they can advance their respective careers beyond URI, professors who found themselves unable to do just that and had to "settle" for URI, professors who are obligated to teach regardless of their desire (ex. researchers and graduate students) and professors who are well aware of what kind of school URI is and choose to teach there for that reason. It is important to note here that none of these are inherently better than any of the others, and you will likely have a professor that fits into each of these archtypes before completing a degree. However, the background of a professor is incredibly influencial on things like approachability, enthusiasm, relatability, and how knowledgable they will be in helping with any given problem a student may present to him or her. Knowing something about a professor also gives them all the more reason to know something about you, and some of those relationships will be absolutely invaluable later on as graduation nears. Some of the professors in the last category are absolutely incredible people who can answer any question about the academic process (or defer to the exact person who can) and do so willingly and enthusiastically. This is, of course, a rare breed of human being in general. Some of the best and most helpful professors I've had were simply recent graduates who still remembered how they learned best in school and applied that to their own classes. There are plenty of professors who do not fit any of these archtypes, and some people find them fantastic or terrible because of this. The other thing to remember is that your milage will always vary. I have heard incredibly negative things about most of my favorite professors, and some of these things were very justified. Knowing your professors goes with knowing yourself. The major archtypes of students at URI are too many to fit in one list: stoners, Greeks, people with athletic scholarships, people in school because their parents told them to, people in school because they had no better ideas, so-called "dumb" kids who worked as hard as they could in high school and were ecstatic to get into college at all, kids who could have worked harder to get into a more prestigious school but didn't care enough to (more on this later), people attending on their parents' dime, people attending on the governments' dime. All of this blends into academics. Describing "the academics at your school" entirely depends on your approach to college. If you are going to get a degree because you like a -subject-, then you will probably find that subject at URI. Pharmacy, marine biology, and nursing are among the standout programs if you are invested in getting a quality education in your field of interest (which you probably should be, if this is your appraoach). If you are like me and enjoy learning and thinking and applying skills but not enough to like the idea of applying all that to a single field for the rest of your life, then you will likely join the academic department that you get the most out of. Particularly interesting here is the attitude in the departments that grant the typically "useless" degrees. Almost member of these departments is so because they enjoy what they do and get more out of it than anything else they have encountered. The point is this: the quality of departments at URI seems to vary wildly. And while some of the stories I've heard about the chemistry department make cameos in my nightmares, some people will get more out of sticking to their subject no matter what while some will get more out of being part of an environment they thrive in. There will come a point where you will need to decide on one, both, or neither.

Most of my professors know my name. All of my favorite classes are within my major, and all the classes I don't like are math classes. Students study pretty often, and class participation is common. The conversations really vary. Students are competitive, most unique class I have taken is color science. My major is Textile, Merchandising and Design. The department is great and very helpful. I feel like the schools academic requirements are weak, should be stronger. My department gears education to jobs after school.

Academics are very good at the University of Rhode Island. Since clinical graduate programs are so competitive for my major, I make it a point that professors and staff in my department know my name. They are very friendly and very helpful. My favorite class had to have been Spanish. It may not be apart of my major, but I enjoy learning other languages. I am near fluent in Italian and have studied abroad, but I decided to take Spanish as an elective course and it was very enjoyable. I like doing things when I am not required to do them. Reading is a prime example of this ( I hate to read when it is assigned but I love to read for leisure). Spanish was not required for me since I already finished my language requirements but I decided to take it as an elective and also I like a challenge. It was interesting trying to switch from Italian to Spanish and try to not keep referring to Italian when reading or writing. My least favorite class was economics. I always found it boring, even in high school so I never really paid attention and suffered for that in college. I had to follow the text book religiously in order to understand the terms and formulas the teacher spoke about in class. It is rare that I do not like a class and this was one of the few but only because it contrasted with my interests. Class participation is highly regarded at our school. It is a part of our grade and most days (minus the days before holidays and long breaks) the classrooms are full. Some classes every single seat is taken and no one else is aloud to enter the class. They have strict rules on the amount of students per class. I surround myself with good people who have a positive and promising future and therefore a lot of my friends study a couple hours a day. We normally get a room in the library together or go over each others houses to do homework after classes. Most students are fairly committed to studying considering how the rooms fill up in the library and sometimes even all of the tables are occupied on all levels of the library. I believe that students have intellectual conversations outside of class. We normally intertwine fake propositions with our school work. For example, my friend is a business major, another a communications major, and another an engineer. We always joke about the processes and strategies we would take to open a bar with a psychological firm in back of it or some other funny thing like that. On a more serious note, we talk about things that were interesting in class that we learned or help each other with an outside idea to a homework assignment. Sometimes a completely new perspective being brought in could spark a whole new string of opportunities. Students in my department are pretty competitive because only 5-7{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of applicants get accepted and so one must be ambitious to go anywhere with their undergraduate degree. As for other majors I am not too sure but it is seen more as students working on projects together rather than being competitive. The most unique class I've ever taken had to have been Philosophy of Art and Beauty and that was when I studied in Rome. Prior to this class I had been completely turned off to philosophy but it gave me a whole new outlook and now it is my minor. We looked at different pieces of art and read different compilations of various philosophers and interpreted how they would view the artwork. It was really unique and cool. My major is very competitive. There are many other aspects that are less intense (such as behavioral, school, or counseling psychology). I am focused on clinical psychology and the programs after undergraduate are extremely hard to get into. My department has been very helpful in preparing me to take the GREs and helping me get all of my necessary requirements together. I spend time with some of my professors outside of class for academic reasons. One of my previous professors is who I am conducting independent research with this semester, another was the overseer of the psychology peer advising program that I helped advise for, and another is leader of the Psi Chi Honors program I am in. I see them at meetings, luncheons, and appointments. The school's academic requirements are fairly easy and not very time demanding. If people want to slack, they can and still get by and pass. I don't believe in doing that though, it is all about harnessing skills and information and if they want to pass that by they can. URI let's students learn and progress at their own pace. The education at this school is geared toward getting a job. We have people come in and speak in our classrooms, workshops with graduate students, and internship opportunities well publicized. The University of Rhode Island has very good resources and career goal directions (this could possibly be because it the state with the highest unemployment rate).

Like in any other major school, in bigger lectures the professors are less likely to know students on a first name basis, but a good suggestion would be to meet with teachers after class to speak with them. My favorite class(es) has been in the philosophy department with a specific professor. I enjoyed the content, style of teaching, and assessment nature of the class. My least favorite has been probably in the chemistry department because the material to me is very dry. Depending on the class, such as in honors level classes, the students speak intellectually and compete with one another. In these classes the participation level is fairly high.The most unique class I have taken so far is my Economics: Competing Traditions course in which I got a different perspective of my major. In terms of my major's department, most of the professors of economics are well educated and informative, though some are tough graders. I try to spend time with professors either after class or during office hours. I believe the academic requirements at this school are sufficient for well-educated and willing students. Certainly, education at this school is geared towards getting a good job in good profession, especially with all the research and intern opportunities available.

I find that academics at URI are what you make of them. If you simply go to class and do your homework and study on your own, yes you'll pass the class, but that might be all you get out of taking that class. If you talk to the teacher outside of class, meet them in their office just for some good conversation, if you make study groups, and put your self out there, you can come out of the class with so much more than a basic understanding of the subject matter, and new colleagues and mentors that will be valuable connections after graduation. I find that the honors classes really allow for the most intellectual class conversations. A lot of the normal classes can be too large to have a good conversation, but the smaller honors classes allow for that and really let you interact with everyone in the class. I've had some extremely though provoking conversations in classes like Philosophy and Literature, The Origins of Fantasy, and the Honors Colloquium: Are You Ready for the Future?. These are the classes that really allow you to grow as a person. And I should add that anyone is allowed to take honors courses, even if you're not in the honors program, and I encourage everyone to try at least one.

I find that academics at URI are what you make of them. If you simply go to class and do your homework and study on your own, yes you'll pass the class, but that might be all you get out of taking that class. If you talk to the teacher outside of class, meet them in their office just for some good conversation, if you make study groups, and put your self out there, you can come out of the class with so much more than a basic understanding of the subject matter, and new colleagues and mentors that will be valuable connections after graduation. I find that the honors classes really allow for the most intellectual class conversations. A lot of the normal classes can be too large to have a good conversation, but the smaller honors classes allow for that and really let you interact with everyone in the class. I've had some extremely though provoking conversations in classes like Philosophy and Literature, The Origins of Fantasy, and the Honors Colloquium: Are You Ready for the Future?. These are the classes that really allow you to grow as a person. And I should add that anyone is allowed to take honors courses, even if you're not in the honors program, and I encourage everyone to try at least one.

Some classes are very easy, I have some big lectures but I also have a few professors who I talk to often and know my name

I believe that the academics are geared toward getting a job. With the vast amounts of internships available and relation to the "real world", I believe that URI does a great job in prepping its students for the "real world".

I was a marketing major. Nothing but good things. The Business school has phenomonal majors. Although the advising is a little week at times, the classes and professors are top notch. They teach very relevent things in a manor that makes learning kind of fun (I can't believe I just said that). But I just graduated last year and have a job in Boston. I find myself applying my education in a different fashion on a daily basis.

This depends on the size of the classes. In the larger classes it is usually harder to develop any sort of relationship with the professor. These are mostly the gen ed classes though and once you jump into higher level classes the numbers decrease. My second semester here I didn't have a single class over 15 students.

like every school there are good professors and bad professors. Seeing a professor outside of class for help is ALWAYS a good idea, even if you still don't ace the class they like you better and remember your face. Everybody thinks general eds are lame but once you get through them you get to take the classes you're really into. The Honors program is awesome, Land Use and Abuse in honors is a great small class where you have a couple big projects and a whole lot of discussion and debate. Really interesting and fun. URI graduates can get jobs easily but I think most plan on coming back to school at some point, pursuing a masters somewhere else. Engineering has like a 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} job placement or something crazy.

I was a double major, and I connected with professors from one major a lot more than the other. I think that one of my majors really prepared me for schooling beyond the undergraduate level, the teachers got to know me, and cared about how I was doing, and were really excellent knowledgeable teachers, and people.

The academic part of URI is ok. The gen ed classes are a waste of time. I struggle a little bit with physics class. I went to office hours and to extra help sessions and I still didn't do as good as i wanted. All the classes though do offer extra help, and the prof. will always meet with you when you need to. Most of them you can talk to on a first name bassis, which makes it extremely comfortable.

I am an Industrial Engineer and am the only girl in my year. I have a very small class in my major therefore the student-teacher ratio is excellent, and all my professors know my name. I have to study a lot for my classes, and I do not get any free electives. The IE department has luncheons to help everyone get to know eachother and the professors have helped me out a lot with internships and projects related to my field of study.

I HATE the chemistry department at this school. The biology department isn't that bad though. I enjoy going to the classes and learning new things. My department is the Marine Biology one and it has several very prominent people in their respective fields that teach here.

As a undergraduate chemical engineering student, my graduating class was all of 9 students. Therefore, we had very close personal interaction with all of our major professors. In other courses, such as general education requirements, large lecture halls were the primary venue, and as such the professors can't be expected to know all the students' names. Those of us who do not require frequent assistance would have no reason to interact with the professors outside class time. As for the students' behavior, it depends again on whether the classes are in the major or not. In the major group, we tended to be a strongly-knit team, but were also competitive. We were required to participate in many of our major classes. The chemical engineering program (at the time of my graduation) was definitely geared toward preparing students to get a job.

In most classes the professors will know your name unless your taking a class with hundreds in it. I myself study alot so I can guarntee an A. Class partispation is common. Yes some U.R.I. students do have intellectual conversations outside of class. Usually about politics and types of governments and workers unions. Well in some programs the professors will help you land a job if they like you and think you will perform well. In other programs I think it may be just temporarily about learning for its own sake. They professors can help you land jobs or internships where you want to go if you show them you are presentable and ready to do so. The most unique class I took as an elective was Jazz History. It was fun and it taught me alot about the music then and how modern music has been influenced by Jazz music.

I love most of my Sociology Classes but some professors are major asses. I won't name who, but some definitely grade unfairly.. I mean if over 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of your students either fail or drop you, you should see that there is something wrong.

As an animal science major i couldn't be happier. All of my professors know my name and they truly care about me. One of my professors had a bunch of the AVS majors to his house for a Bar-B-Q! I love how hands on my department is. As a freshman i was at the farm once a week for a class learning how to trim sheep hooves and taking care of the pigs. As a sophomore i was already giving vaccinations to the animals, drawing blood, and delivering baby animals! URI's AVS department believes hands on is the best way to learn, and i couldn't agree more. Outside of my department i have taken some pretty unique classes, like a class entirely on Volcanoes. I was also able to take a seminar class on Marine animals at Mystic Aquarium which was amazing. The only thing academically i would change is our Chemistry department. It is not good, but we all find ways to get through it, including getting help from most of our AVS professors.

Since I was a chemistry major I had a very small class which was nice because it was very close knit and we all became good friends. I wouldnt say students are competitive as much as they are willing to work together so they can all do well and there are a lot of resources around campus for help or tutoring as well. My psych class was about 800 people but the way the school breaks it up for recitations once a week still made it easy to have a one on one experience with a teacher. All of my classes encourages participation and sometimes it was even a decent part of the grade because the teachers felt it was very important and it helped them know whether or not everyone was understanding them . Another way they do this is by spending time outside of the classroom. I found it VERY easy to meet with professors outside of class. They were very helpful and encouraged students to come to their office without hesitation. I really enjoyed having this quality in my teachers and it showed me that the school really focuses on learning.

This totally depends on what department you go into. URI puts a lot of money into its pharmacy program, for example. The theatre department is wonderful, and the faculty are second to none, but we get absolutely no funding so our building is falling apart (the arts and music majors will sing a similar tune, no pun intended). General education requirements are extensive and terrible, so get them out of the way early.

In smaller classes the professors know my name. students study often, and are not that competitive. The most unique class i've taken is theater 100.

I am a nursing major and there is a lot of work associated with our classes. Our classes are not easy and are very challenging but not impossible. Class sizes range from very small (20) to very big (600). Usually your gen eds and intro classes are large, but you can find gen eds that have a small size. The education at URI is a good one. Many employers respect a degree from URI.

Academics at URI are very good. I have had only one class after freshman year in which I had a TA, which I think is pretty amazing. Interactions between students and teachers is very personal due to small class sizes, in this regard URI does a very good job. The business school, which I am currently enrolled in is very high tech and brand new so I am very pleased about that. People also hear many good things about our environmental and pharmacy programs.

The freshman classes are mostly easy. Very straight for pre-requisite courses. Some of the classes are huge lectures with 100's of people and some classes are tiny 20 or less person classes.

definitely an awesome faculty/staff at URI, especially if you are in a science major. my major is nutrition/dietetics and they really help you out as much as possible. Principles in Food Science is an awesome class w/ a cool lab (you can cook and eat too, its fantastic) another great philosophy professor Dr. Krieger, ive never really looked forward to attending class until i took his PHL 215 (counts as a gen ed!) and i will try to find more of his classes that fit into my schedule because he is so smart but soo interesting and funny. i feel like URI isnt as much learning to get a job (even though that is made to be an obvious priority at uri) but it is to learn to gain knowledge and find something you love because most of the professors have passion for what they are teaching and really want you to know about it, FANTASTIC GERMAN DEPARTMENT TOO BY THE WAY! they are so encouraging and great to work w/, any of them. TAKE A LANGUAGE, and if you can't decide, take german, you really won't regret it.

go pharmacy

Pharmacy and Engineering are both really well respected, but most of the arts and sciences departments are above average. The lecture halls feel incredibly impersonal. The smaller classes are really well run, and you feel a connection with the professor.

the profs are iight..... there are no intellectual convos out of class but its good academically

Your general education classes suck. the teachers could care less about you but once you get into your major classes they want to you succeed

URI is not one of the top liberal arts schools in the country. However, you can create a superior level of education for yourself. You are given access to very successful and intelligent people within their field, and if you show genuine interest, they will indeed remember your name and help to guide you along your career path. I am a finance major, and I have established a very close relationship with the finance staff. This past semester, I received the opportunity to travel with one of my professors to a national academic/professional financial forum. My educational experience has been first class, but I owe most of the experience to pushing myself to exceed expectations and get the attention of my professors. If you are hard-working and genuine, you will receive the attention you deserve.

In the chemical engineering department, i have a few complaints. Most of the professors are nearing retirement, so they are all very old. They don't care much about the students, and i find a lot of the classes have a very large scale. I think the professors should focus more on teaching the content and teaching it well, instead of crunching information. THey should also make more personal relationships with the students, meaning, learn the students weak points, and help them fix them, or at least give them tips. There's also not very much help in the department of finding an internship for chemical engineers. For other engineers it seems much easier, but for chemicals, it's very difficult and very competitive.

The academic requirements at URI are quite reasonable and the overall academic atmosphere is typical of most colleges, in my opinion. There are good and bad professors and many students seem to enjoy participating in class, while there are always people who sit in the back and fall asleep as well. Class size ranges from ten kids and under up to 5 or 600 kids in some general education lectures. URI offers a wide variety of class options. I've taken classes as common as intro to psychology and intro to philosophy and classes as unique as history of the sea, human sexuality and travel writing. One of my teammates actually took a class on floral arrangements. URI has a fashion merchandising major as well as many majors geared towards the ocean and marine biology...seeing as it is the ocean state.

Chemistry department sucks

Quality of education is poor. Music department is a bunch of old cooks who failed at achieving their goals and fell back on teaching. They are stubborn and seem to hold the mentality of "their way or the highway", even though studies have shown that students learn differently, and have their own ways of learning. The portfolio system is an absolute joke, the grad assistants dont even correct the papers thoroughly. I passed in a paper from 11th grade for one assignment and got an A...how does that work??? I feel like education at URI is learning for its own sake and doesnt necessarily gear you towards getting a job/preparing for a successful career in your chosen field. Half the classes you are required to take are absolute bullshit, and have no relevance whatsoever towards ones chosen career path. Class participation is at an all time low, it is rare that i even hear questions asked of the classes.

There is some course I like and dislike. I hate the math class I had this spring semester because the professor can't really teach. I mean he's a nice guy and all but he can not teach. Many students student mostly everywhere I go which is a good thing.

Academics at URI are a real gamble from class to class. There are some great teachers, and there are teachers who you won't understand or who shouldn't be allowed to run a classroom. Competitiveness depends on your major. Communications, good joke. Business can be fairly competitive getting more serious in Junior and Senior years. Engineering and Pharmacy are a competitive nightmare, you probably won't meet anyone outside your major after freshman year. Guidance counsellors can be a nightmare, you need to stay on top of your appointments. They hold all the keys you need to get into classes, yet often don't have anything helpful to tell you and are only useful for allowing you into classes. I'm a declared business major, the school knows this, yet i have to make it to a meeting with a guidance counsellor who confirms all this BS and sets me up with classes. If i missed this meeting im SCREWED. As a college student I feel plenty competent at signing myself up for classes, let's bypass the useless middle man already.

For the most part, the teachers are really nice. One problem i had was URI 101. My teacher didnt even no what she was talking about. She told me it was a pass or fail class. I did every assignment and went to all but one class and i end up with a C. I asked her about it and she said she thought it was pass or fail!?!?!?! As a freshman i thought the teachers took a lot of interest in the students. Especially hearing all these things in high school about professors not caring, they really do.

I hated lectures...we're talking 300 students or more... dislike that. Some teachers I loved, others not so much-- but you're going to get that anywhere you go. Some prof. take the time to get to know their students, others wont give you the time of day or make it seem like a hassle when contactin gthem. 1 prof. I had encouraged different groups every week and that we all get to know eachother, as this is what college is all about-- meeting new people and making friends.

professors do not know my name

Besides large lectures, almost all my teachers learned my name and cared about my peformance in their classes. I took theatre my freshman year just because and ended up loving it. The cool thing is you can take classes in whatever subject you want, even if it is not your major, and there are a lot of fun classes to take.

Besides large lectures, almost all my teachers learned my name and cared about my peformance in their classes. I took theatre my freshman year just because and ended up loving it. The cool thing is you can take classes in whatever subject you want, even if it is not your major, and there are a lot of fun classes to take.

The first two years many of my classes I did not know my professors personally. But in the nursing class you get to know them very well. All of my experiences have been very positive and I have had wonderful professors who are always willing to go out of their way to help you learn. I really can't speak for the rest of the university because the school of nursing is great and the other parts of the university are not shaped the same way as this school. It is deffinantly geared towards getting a job and bettering your skills that will prepare you for your individual nursing job.

Some professors sadly will only know you by your last name. Others will know your first and last name and that your favorite color is blue. It's really a hit or miss here. I can honestly say that I have at least liked the majority of my professors as people even if they weren't the best professors. Class participation really depends on the professor, but if you have a good one, you'll usually have good class participation. The English and Education departments are filled mostly with caring professors. Unfortunately, I've had a couple of professors who were not as kind and caring as others in the English department. In Education classes, you are pretty much guaranteed to have a good time. The Education professors are usually very organized, kind, and conscientious. They also try to make every class interesting and worth while. Education professors do tend to get overloaded with work sometimes, especially if they are teachers themselves. With this situation, you'll find that sometimes they are a little bit scatter brained, but you can still tell that they value thier students and thier classes.

My favorite classes this semester were Difference Equations and Complex Variables. I am a graduate student. I like working with my professors so eventually we get to know each other. So yes my professors know my name. The students are not so competitive. I would say that a spirit of co-operation dominates the relationship among students. My department is the Math Department. In my department there is a strong group of research in Difference Equations. Professors like G.Ladas, O. Merino and M. Kulenoviz are doing great research projects!!! I am really lucky to be here! Actually I will do research with the professor Gerasimos Ladas who recently announced as Highly Cited Mathematician. This is a great honor not only for him and the Math department, but for the University of Rhode Island as well, contributing in his good reputation all over the world. All the professor are really helpful in the math department and give their best for their students and for research. Other very important fields of research in the math department are theGraph Theory and Combinatorics.

I've had good experiences with academics. All it takes is a few extra minutes and it's easy to get to know your professors. They are always willing to take time out of their schedule to help you. The general education requirements are pretty much the same as most other universities and it's pretty easy to find interesting classes that will fulfill the requirements. Overall I approve of my professors and classes