You Want It, We Got It

Introduction
I chose UAlbany because I wanted a large University with a smaller college feel. That's exactly what I've found here. Enough kids to stay entertained over four years, but lots of familiar faces so you always feel comfortable.

UAlbany has a reputation for being a party school, but that's a very limited stereotype of the place since we have so many committed, brilliant students alongside the party kids (in fact: many times, the same kid can be both!). And to be honest, you shouldn't waste the amazing academic resources here (and amazing they are) if you're not willing to work a little.

Campus Life and Social Life
There are literally hundreds of things to do both on and off-campus here at UAlbany. Cultural, religious, interest-oriented clubs, intramural sports, a sketch comedy club...you want it, we've probably already got it.

I'm the first to admit that we do NOT have the best athletes in Albany. One exception is basketball, not so much because we win games but because there's a lot of school spirit about this particular sport. Every year, we host an event called "The Big Purple Growl," which features the Men's and Women's Basketball teams playing home games...this year, the game completely sold out on campus and became a raging party of a time. Awesome school spirit around here. We also have great intramural sports like soccer and dodgeball.

As for partying, there's plenty of that too. Often, kids will go downtown on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to check out the bar scene or hit up one of many apartment parties or parties at dorms on-campus. As for the students that do not like to drink or smoke pot or what have you, there's plenty of activity on campus. Fairs, comedy nights with famous comedians from Comedy Central...you'll find what you're looking for.

Partying is fun, but I have to warn you that on any given night you will encounter many a drunk stumbling home. Funny most of the time, slightly annoying when you're trying to sleep. Advertisement
Academics
There are so many academic opportunities here, it's impossible for me to know, much less list all of them! UAlbany right now is working to provide even more challanges for UAlbany students by providing a special Honors College, and introducing other Honors programs. If you're a Science guy or girl, we have excellent Science departments, including a Nanotechnology College (one of the few in the country and internationally ranked as such).

I'm an Economics major, though, and I have to say that the department here suffers for having a large number of professors who can't speak or understand English well enough to communicate everything I'm trying to learn.

Your workload at UAlbany will all depend upon your major and the classes you take. Some students work nonstop, while others hardly work at all. Expect to do some work.

Student Body
The students here represent very diverse backgrounds and interests so there's really no generalizing, except for maybe on a geographic level. Roughly half the students here are from Long Island, specifically around the Capital Region area. Of course. But we have kids from all over New York, the country and the world.

Albany kids do what college kids everywhere do: we listen to music, go out on the weekends, and watch movies with our friends in the dorms. Some of us are active, others are apathetic. Some like to drink, some like to dance, some like to paint...we have absolutely everything.

In Closing...
If you want a big University with a smaller, friendlier feel, you've found your match.

If you hate cement, don't come here, because the University at Albany's academic podium is the second largest intraconected cement structure in the world! (The first largest being the Pentagon).

Cool fact: under all of our classroom buildings there are tunnels so don't worry about the cold.

You can't have a car your first year, but we have city buses that go downtown, to the mall, or to the grocery store at almost any time of day, for FREE.

And just to give you the lay of the land in terms of campus housing...we have five quads here: Indian, Dutch, Colonial, State, and Alumni. The first four are on the Uptown Campus (where almost all the classes are). Alumni campus is located on the Downtown Campus. The first four campuses mentioned each have 8 lowrise buildings and one 22-story tower. I live in the tower and it's so cool. You'll meet so many people!

If you'd like to Study Abroad, this is the place for you. When you come to SUNY Albany you can use any study-abroad program within the SUNY system, which means you'll have over 100 countries to choose from.

As you can tell from my neverending response, I love this school! Go here!