I am a current student at UAF studying foreign languages. I am taking Russian, Spanish and French right now, and you can probably imagine how difficult it is to keep them all straight. I often hear from my Spanish teacher tell me I have a Russian accent in Spanish! Well, with all of these languages running around up there, I often find myself in one of my professors' offices trying to sort things out! All of the professors are willing to help out-of-class and are incredibly dedicated to their students whenever they need assistance. The three language classes I am taking are 101 (except 201 Russian) and are all conducted in the target language. Anybody who's ever taken a language knows that listening comprehension, that is to say - knowing where one word ends and another begins when listening - is one of the hardest parts of languages and being able to reproduce them.
Do you enjoy the experience at your school?
My time at UAF so far has been nothing less than enjoyable. It was strange when snow first fell in the third weekend of September, but it quickly warmed up to 40 degrees for a week or two. Now (almost the winter solstice), the sun rises at 11:30 and sets at 2, and the average temperature is a tad cold at 30 below zero, but you walk into a building and the first thing you feel is a rush of hot air being provided by ceiling heaters! The food here is fairly decent. Being allergic to eggs, I find breakfasts a little challenging, but fruits, cereals, and yogurts are always available. For lunches and dinners, I have noticed that the vegetarian food is often better than the normal people food like the burgers, pizza, and rice. They have specialty meats every Sunday, which is a welcoming gesture to the students. Ohh! And the soft-serve machine is amazing!
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Being an in-state resident here makes UAF really affordable. I'm paying the university (in advanced of course) $11.40 every hour I'm in class, which is really cheap comparatively. For out of state students I believe the cost per credit hour is $161 while for in-state is $141 (Undergraduate class rates). Either way, UAF receives millions of dollars in funding by both state and federal sources to do undergraduate and graduate research projects, and to give to its students as scholarships. UAF is primarily an engineering school and has many opportunities for funded projects and cold-climate housing sustainability retrofitting. In addition to just the class costs, it is affordable to live and eat on-campus, and the fee for the gym (which I use very often as well as the ice rink and the swimming pool) is really cheap for the semester.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Don't be intimidated by the cold weather. You can always add more clothes whereas down south you can only take off so many. If you're looking for cold, or for a very unique experience, UAF is the place to be. Also, what will all of your friends back home think when you say, Yeah, you're going to Yale, but I'm going to Alaska!
Which types of students will excel at your college?
UAF is great for engineering and undergraduate research, as well as music, language, and education. If you LOVE the outdoors and enjoy hiking, camping, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snow machining, or ice climbing, the outdoors program here is amazing and has trips almost every week to take advantage of all of these opportunities. Also, if the cold is Too cold for you, it's a short drive over to the hot springs. Just... try to forget about all of the ice everywhere =P
I am a current student at UAF studying foreign languages. I am taking Russian, Spanish and French right now, and you can probably imagine how difficult it is to keep them all straight. I often hear from my Spanish teacher tell me I have a Russian accent in Spanish! Well, with all of these languages running around up there, I often find myself in one of my professors' offices trying to sort things out! All of the professors are willing to help out-of-class and are incredibly dedicated to their students whenever they need assistance. The three language classes I am taking are 101 (except 201 Russian) and are all conducted in the target language. Anybody who's ever taken a language knows that listening comprehension, that is to say - knowing where one word ends and another begins when listening - is one of the hardest parts of languages and being able to reproduce them.
My time at UAF so far has been nothing less than enjoyable. It was strange when snow first fell in the third weekend of September, but it quickly warmed up to 40 degrees for a week or two. Now (almost the winter solstice), the sun rises at 11:30 and sets at 2, and the average temperature is a tad cold at 30 below zero, but you walk into a building and the first thing you feel is a rush of hot air being provided by ceiling heaters! The food here is fairly decent. Being allergic to eggs, I find breakfasts a little challenging, but fruits, cereals, and yogurts are always available. For lunches and dinners, I have noticed that the vegetarian food is often better than the normal people food like the burgers, pizza, and rice. They have specialty meats every Sunday, which is a welcoming gesture to the students. Ohh! And the soft-serve machine is amazing!
Being an in-state resident here makes UAF really affordable. I'm paying the university (in advanced of course) $11.40 every hour I'm in class, which is really cheap comparatively. For out of state students I believe the cost per credit hour is $161 while for in-state is $141 (Undergraduate class rates). Either way, UAF receives millions of dollars in funding by both state and federal sources to do undergraduate and graduate research projects, and to give to its students as scholarships. UAF is primarily an engineering school and has many opportunities for funded projects and cold-climate housing sustainability retrofitting. In addition to just the class costs, it is affordable to live and eat on-campus, and the fee for the gym (which I use very often as well as the ice rink and the swimming pool) is really cheap for the semester.
Don't be intimidated by the cold weather. You can always add more clothes whereas down south you can only take off so many. If you're looking for cold, or for a very unique experience, UAF is the place to be. Also, what will all of your friends back home think when you say, Yeah, you're going to Yale, but I'm going to Alaska!
UAF is great for engineering and undergraduate research, as well as music, language, and education. If you LOVE the outdoors and enjoy hiking, camping, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snow machining, or ice climbing, the outdoors program here is amazing and has trips almost every week to take advantage of all of these opportunities. Also, if the cold is Too cold for you, it's a short drive over to the hot springs. Just... try to forget about all of the ice everywhere =P