What I Think About UNH

    I am asked all the time, why UNH? This even came up during an interview. I am never sure what to say, should I be truthful and say it was a choice made out of necessity or should I try to play up my school? I usually end up explaining that I like the location, the in-state benefits, and that the academics are quite good. About the most generic answer out there.

    To make up for all those insincere answers, today I am presenting the real answer. This is how I would thoughtfully answer such a question. I will try to keep a civil tongue and stick to the facts.
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    What makes a school is its people. The faculty are generally quite good, most have strong backgrounds and a true interest in their respective fields. That said, I find many of the faculty to be slightly unmotivated, sitting on tenure positions teaching about one class per semester. It is harder to be involved with them, especially as an undergrad. Some run undergraduate research programs that I've heard are quite good but for the most part UNH faculty exist to teach. Those that do serious research tend to distance themselves from the undergrads, creating a distinct barrier.

   To be quite honest, UNH would be a much better school if the students were more motivated. About 60% of the student population is in-state, and most of them were very average in high school and continue to be average. The out of staters tend to be students from nearby states who couldn't quite make it into their own state schools. In both categories there are exceptions of course. There is a small minority of students who came perhaps from a difficult background but are eager to leave it behind or highly motivated students who had unusually bad luck during the admissions process. Age twenty is past the formative years, few people transform themselves at this age. Habits have already been set and a certain worldview is already formed. Sadly, the majority of the students just try to get by the weekdays to party on the weekends. UNH has some great parties but I don't really live for them. I personally find it difficult to celebrate when the future is uncertain at best. Most kids either don't care or are ready to accept mediocrity.

     The administration is garbage, quite frankly. Always going on about the budget and making stupid cuts in areas like library hours and materials. Or trying to get excellent faculty to retire. What they should be doing is cutting the fat, but that would mean reducing themselves, which of course will not happen.