University of Houston — Attraction in Houston

I’ve attended UH for 4 1/2 years. I think they were great about how they responded during COVID. I felt supported online during that time. I appreciate the racial and religious diversity on campus. It’s so beautiful to see people from all walks of life from all over the world. The school does a great job at representing the city of Houston when it comes to diversity and embracing other cultures. I love Cougar Grounds and their staff. I was able to try different organizations and my favorite was RUF. My current advisor is amazing! HR is also helpful and supportive. I felt heard and safe when I needed them to step in. Thank you!

HOWEVER… It only takes a few professors to ruin your experience each semester. I’ve experienced psychological abuse from professors and disrespect. Eventually, I did get help for those situations once I knew who to go to. My advisor I had in the beginning of my time here, was overwhelmed/stressed with her job, unhelpful and rude. I suffered from an extreme amount of stress and eventually became sick mentally and physically. Majority of my professors were good or okay, BUT it only takes a handful to bring you down and fill your mind with junk. I hope UH looks after its’ students well-being more than it does anything else. I hope they also look after their staff. Professors and staff need support too. Many of my professors complained about their job, not feeling supported, not having enough professors for the subject or enough advisors. I’m pretty sure there were over 3 suicides in the past 4 years as well. It made me sick and overwhelmed by grief.

One professor projected his insecurities and trauma on the entire class. It made us extremely uncomfortable and it took me a bit to recover from that. I like this school but I also hate what it allows. I visited CAPS once and didn’t feel supported or helped. Actually I felt like the person didn’t even care or just had no idea how to help me even though they are “trained” ? lol. What ended up helping me was an encouraging community and friends. Without that, I would have fell hard.

PLUS, not feeling safe is a common occurrence. So many robbers, rapists and violence.

For housing, you never know if you’re gonna get hot water, roaches, or when the next fire alarm will go off. Sometimes the school feels like a social play ground (positive) and other times like a prison. It can be a very toxic environment. If you come to UH, I DO NOT recommend the liberal arts school. They usually tell you what to think instead of how to think for yourself. The entire curriculum had a trend to demonize religion (mostly Christianity), sometimes white people and portray minorities like we are all helpless. It was always the same narrative. There seems to be no sense of different views or opinions. It’s all through the critical (enter word here) lens, instead of looking through a variety of lens. My major is English and an Asian-American studies minor. Discussions can be great but sometimes felt pointless. Thankfully, some of my professors were open to hearing different opinions without being critical or rude. I really appreciate those professors. Marxism and Communism were often praised over others.Things that were said often felt biased. Also would not recommend the Asian-American studies minor. It feels bad saying that, but it was just very toxic. It’s not what you think it will be. Thankfully I got to learn some useful things like Asian-American history and their experiences in the USA by reading a required book. Make sure to read reviews on ratemyprofessor.com before choosing your classes.

I think it’s helpful for me to be honest and have my voice heard. I’m not the only student who feels this way. I also don’t want to hold on to any negativity towards the school, so this may be a healthy way to express my concerns without being bitter towards the school. I’m extremely grateful to be able to get my degree as a first generation student, as well as for the professors that encouraged me and taught well. Although there were many trials,...

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I just graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, and I have to emphasize how unwilling many degree-wide departments are to help students. Parking has towed me from my apartment complex, I've received tickets in the campus garage that I pay for, and there's absolutely no forgiveness if you aren't familiar with each individual book of rules followed by a department. One of my advisors was so unreachable that I only know what she looks like because of a photo in a hallway. Any questions directed at the registrar always get a "you should have known better" response, and a notable lack of sympathy. The entire campus is practically student-run, which sounds fun in theory, but just shows you the totalitarian grip a sophomore can develop after sitting at a desk for long enough. This is a for-profit institution through-and-through, and there are a lot of reminders. One of which is no free parking for more than twenty minutes anywhere on campus. Not a single spot. Many times, some of the most qualified and knowledgeable professors are gridlocked because research and grants make the university money, not actually educating their students. No amount of cougar spirit and red Fridays can distract from the fact that this place is out to siphon money out of kids' pockets. Please know what you're getting yourself into, as when you enroll, there is practically nothing you can do to get your way, as there's a clear lack of accountability anywhere. It's not a matter of if you make a mistake rather than when, as there's a lot of bases to cover. Also, prepare for your inbox to be pelted with emails about absolutely anything, as the university likes to cast a wide net when advertising.

This place takes some serious consideration. Two students, a month apart, jumped off of our tallest lecture building in the middle of the day. Students were walking out of class into a crime scene. The first one wasn't enough, and it wasn't until the second that UH even pretended to care about it, where they closed the building and installed fences to prevent anyone else from jumping. On safety, there's practically no investment. My apartment had a couple robbed at gunpoint at 7 PM on a weekday, and someone was shot to death in the indoor stairwell of my friend's off-campus STUDENT LIVING apartment. All UHPD does is handle freshman alcohol poisoning cases and drive around parking lots on four-wheelers.

The place gets more expensive every year, with my tuition contributing over $50,000, and parking now $404.25 for the Spring 2024 semester. Go to community college for your core classes, and transfer wherever you want. I've met some great people and some genuinely incredible professors, but despite bonding like cellmates with a mutual hatred, I really can't go...

I cannot explain my disappointment in this University. As a student at the Bauer college of business and Senior graduating this semester the university has been very unhelpful whenever students have problems. First of all, there are safety issues and concerns on campus that the university chooses to ignore, as a female student I do not feel safe walking 3 minutes from campus to my car in the parking garage. All my fellow students know that you shouldn’t walk alone regardless of gender, but not everyone has a walking buddy every time. Safety is the bare minimum. Robberies, and even worse crime where people get hurt are not uncommon (even during broad daylight these incidents happen). Now I understand this might be inevitable at some times but the university seems to not care at all and do the bare minimum.

Second of all, there are a variety of services the university offers that fail to serve its purpose. Basic services such as student advising where advisors give out wrong information that end up at the students cost, example: advisors tell us to enroll in the wrong classes which cost the student money. Also when I go to the service desk for problems about my graduation they tell me to not worry about it and don’t give me the correct info. 2 months later I come back and tell them my problem still isn’t fixed and the SAME staff laughs at me for not knowing the graduation procedures. I only figured out thanks to my fellow students that I had administrative issues.

Another important service is CAPS, (counseling and psychological services). When I was experiencing mental health crisis I reached out to this service multiple times but just gave up. It takes a lot of courage for students to reach out for help, unfortunately this service is often used at it’s maximum capacity and students need to find other ways to get help. This is tough when you don’t have the money or resources to do so. Luckily I managed to cope. I don’t blame this service particularly as it is good in theory. But in reality many of the things the university offers look good on paper, but in reality it is all watered down disappointments. Don’t even get me started on how they handled the two incidents at Agnes Arnold SP’ 23.

Perhaps you think I am exaggerating but I am simply stating my experience and issues which other students don’t know how to explain. People think it is normal and shove issues under the rug, but I truly think the university can do better. Yes there is a good school spirit, some fun events, and opportunities for students to excel. But don’t try to cover up all the problems with glitters and glamour. I urge the university to please do better for...