University of Nevada--Las Vegas | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Emily

Class: Sophomore
Major: Architecture
Gender: F

High School: East High School (Anchorage, AK)
Transfer Student: Y

Big Picture

I think the student body population and the campus size is great. I can walk from one end of campus to the other in about 20 minutes and it's pretty condensed. THe only complaint is parking, but I can still always get a spot as long as I plan ahead. The buildings are pretty damn new compared to a lot of campuses I've visited, but the school is only 50 years old. The library, student union, and recreational center are all brand new. The rec center is awesome. The dorms are also really nice compared to a lot of schools I've been to. Each room has two people that share a sink and mirror thing. Then between two rooms there's a private bathroom with a shower so you don't have the community bathroom situation which I loved. I lived in a coed by room dorm which I think a lot of them are. Definitely Tonopah or Dayton are the best to live in. Another perk is that you can have a car your freshman year, which you'll really want because there's so much to see! Las Vegas is definitely definitely not a college town. If you think you want a college town experience, I'd say screw that. Once you've been to Vegas and see all the opportunities and variety of jobs and entertainment, you'll wonder why you ever wanted to go to a school where the biggest event of the week was meeting at Dairy Queen. The people are somewhat sketchy, but that's just my opinion. Plus, all your friends want to come visit you! I don't think there's a whole lot of school pride, which sucks because that's something I was really looking forward to when I came here. However, the tailgates at football games are always packed and the basketball team is really good so those games are always fun to come watch. There isn't really anything unusual about UNLV, except that it's in Las Vegas which itself is unusual. I've had really good professors and my class sizes have been like 20-30 people with only 2 lectures of about 100. I think the most frequent student complaints are the parking situation. My personal complaint is that the dining hall's food get old really quick. But the student union has a decent variety of food (taco bell, panda, sub connection, some italian place, jamba juice, starbucks, and some burger place).

Academic Life

Professors know your name if you want them to know your name. My biggest suggestion is using ratemyprofessors.com I always use it. It will help you avoid those hard grading profs and the ones that just teach straight out of the book (unless you like that). I'm an architecture major so there's a lot of competition between my class students. They study a lot. However, I have roommates that do almost all of their classes online and I don't think they have to study much (One is a hospitality major, one is in event planning). Overall I've heard a lot of positive things about other classes and my classes have been great. You get what you want to get out of your classes. The most unique class I took was a graphic software class. I learned how to use photoshop and illustrator and I looooved it. The school of architecture is pretty nice. I never took architecture classes in high school and I don't feel like I'm far behind at all. They really break it down for you and you get a good transition into it. It's a 5 year master's program from an accredited school and most students have jobs right after graduation. I don't spend time with professors out of class just because I think it's weird.... The academic requirements were nice. I liked taking gen eds just because I can't stand architecture all day every day and it allowed me to explore other areas. There are some weird requirements like Nevada consitution which was sucky, but the women's studies class is really really neat. I think the education at UNLV is geared toward getting a job for sure, but there's so many other jobs in hospitality and services that you can get caught up in.

Student Body

Compared to many campuses I've visited everywhere from Portland to Corvallis, OR to Hawaii to North Carolina I haven't seen so much diversity anywhere else! I don't have a single class of just caucasian students. I literally have every race in every class. It's awesome I love it because my high school in Alaska was the most diverse in the state. The college is a commuter college and I think a lot of the students are on the Millenium scholarship or WUE so it's not expensive to go here and so it's not like only the rich kids can attend. I'm not sure about the religious or LGBT on campus but I know they have a lot of awarenesss and groups. I don't think any students would feel out of place, although there are the girls that walk around with their Louis Vuittons and hair extensions that make you feel uncomfortable. Compared to other schools, I think this one has a lot to do with image as far as girls go. There are a lot more girls that dress up probably because they still live with their parents. The dining hall is just a mix of everyone. I think the football players usually sit in one corner but the rest is just whoever happens to be there. I think most of the students from UNLV are from Vegas or somewhere in Nevada. A lot of people come from California as well. The students aren't really politically aware. Presidents are usually affiliated with a fraternity and that's where they get all the votes. I have a feeling that a lot of the students are democrats though.