HBU vs. UH Main
HBU vs. UH Main
This semester has been much more enlightening than the last here at UH. I wasn’t entirely thrilled to leave HBU, but after some disappointments with certain people, the costs, and the implementation of the semester system from the quarter system, I found very few reasons to stay. HBU was a great stop for me, however. Academically, it was and is an awesome place. It is small, the classes are like high-school size, and the professors know your name! This intimate configuration of student to faculty is a blessing to most students anywhere. I once had a class of only 7 students! I couldn’t cheat! Lol. A public university will never beat that! Also, it is easier to make friends at HBU since you see the same people over and over. Heck, you even see the girl you fell in love with walking around with her new boyfriend. Oh, wait! That is a con! At UH, you meet someone and never see them ever again! I still have not run into that cute girl I met on the second day! There were several things I did not like at HBU. Many times, I felt like it was like a prison. There were a thousand rules you had to follow, like going to convo, OMG, how I hated that. Not only did I hate going, but when I went, most everyone was playing Nintendo DS, surfing the web on their laptops, or just doing homework! I was like, “what’s the point?”
I am glad I moved to UH. It is a totally different and more filled student experience, at least for me. Academically, HBU is still superior, but not as much as people think. Heck, this semester I am taking classes that are very challenging. For example, out of 130 students in my Cell Bio class, 30 failed the first test and 18 got a D! There were only 11 As! We are talking about seniors who are pursuing a bio degree! To make matters worse, the GPA-killing professor boasted that it was going to be the easiest test of the semester! Moving on, UH is huge… over 36,000 enrolled students, making it the third biggest university in Texas (only UT and A&M are bigger). You get to walk a lot, so you get your exercise! When you compare Moody Library with MD Anderson Library… well, there is no comparison, the library here is like 5-6 stories. UH is a research university, with much more money, so comparing both institutions is not fair. At UH, our Wellness Center is better than the best Bally’s Total Fitness I know! We have Chillis, 2 Chick-fil-A restaurants, Einstein Bros., Starbucks, Kim Son, Subway, Taco Bell, 2 Pizza Huts, Pita Express, and a bunch of other places to eat with friends without leaving campus! There is even a bar on campus to go have a beer after a test! I know HBU is a small Christian university, but as stated earlier, the biggest pros are that the classes are small and the friends you make are high quality (not all, but most). I think both universities are great, but I feel UH is more of a fit for me. Here, you can smoke in the parking lot or with your professor (not that I smoke much), and we have pretty good football team! I don’t have that much more before I finish here, though. My academic career has been so different compared to most students I know. I started at HCC Town & Country, transferred to HBU, and then transferred to UH Main! All for an undergraduate degree! Of course, there will always be an aura of prestige when one graduates from a private university, but I am a fond believer that it is in the student, not the institution. I feel more well-rounded by being at different schools, I can compare. You want to know the worst thing about UH? The parking. I kid you not, I spend more money in gas looking for a parking spot than driving to school! I spend up to 40 minutes looking for someone to leave so I can take their space. Finding a parking spot in UH is almost the equivalent of an orgasm. 
On another note, all universities in America are run like any business, they all want money. They all want you to stay as long as you can to milk you for money. I find it ridiculous that we live in the most powerful country in the world and students have to pay tuition. Look at Germany, Norway, Sweden… they all provide free university education to their people. Why can’t we have that over here? Epic PHAIL
August 27th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Hey! I understand your sense of frustration. I totally get it, and you know what?! You aren’t the only one. Several (over 6 people from HBU) students I know transferred out of HBU. One went to Sam Houston State University, others for cheap classes at Kingwood, and the rest to UH.
HBU has a challenging science college, difficult but rewarding. If you find yourself that you are repeating Bio 1 for the third time, you have to stop and ask yourself, “what am I doing wrong?” and “is med school and the life sciences really what I want to do?”
Bio 1, I found, was all memorization when I took Hopp. As you no doubt know, all upper levels are much more challenging than Bio 1. The hardest classes at HBU are General Physiology, Neuroscience, and Immunology (Genetics with Horn as well). The reason I left HBU was due to financial reasons, I did have the Presidential Scholarship but it just wasn’t enough to help cover all the semesters until I graduated. Personally, I would recommend you transfer to UH. Some classes are easier than at HBU and some aren’t, it depends on who is teaching. As a whole, it is a more laid back school. Also, it is better to graduate from UH with a 3.3 GPA than from HBU with a 2.95 GPA. UH students are admitted to Dental and Medical school ALL the time, not to mention Pharmacy and PA programs. A new school could be what you really need, and you would save money as well.
I don’t know who you are, but you can look for me in Facebook, or e-mail me at mickeyoscar@hotmail.com if you want more info.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:11 am
hey its me again…and btw, i dont care about convenience or campus life…i just want easier professors and get my gpa up and catch up on my courses!!! so what do you suggest: hbu or UH? im planning on transferrring to uh for the spring semester next year…please i need help badly!!! and do you think i should stick with the bio major or change my major to something easier?? i dont know…im just afraid that if i change my major, its gonna require even more time to graduate…well the most i would spend for college is 5 years…i care more about my gpa…im not planning on applying to me school first anyways…im planning on getting accepted to a program first then i get to med school…i just want to get the basic pre-med courses out of the way and then take additional courses to graduate and get my bachelors degree…summer school at hbu is so impossible
hard and expensive… im gonna spend a total of 5 years here at hbu cuz im behind…and i dont know if it would be easier to catch up at uh. my life at hbu is like gambling..its expensive and kinda challenging for me…
August 27th, 2010 at 9:57 am
hey oscar, i am a sophmore hbu student right now..im pretty behind, i took bio 1 and chem 1 on the 2nd semester of my freshmen year..im also taking bio 1 again for the 3rd semester here at hbu. i got better prof. hope i get an A..i also took chem 2 over the summer..its was so hard..i got a c and dropped out with the W. im considering transfering to uh, because its cheaper, but im still debating..people told me uh is easier, but not all the time, depends on professors, and the class is soo big, its hard to get around, but if uh really is easier, then i need to go.. i also plan on going to uh to take a lot of summer classes there.. are they the same or harder than hbu?? cuz im never taking hbu summer classes again..its hard and i wasted 2,470 dollars for just 1 class..i have a 2.95 gpa here at hbu..and i want to get a 3.5 atleast…i dont know if i should stay at hbu or transfer to uh..i’ve been told by 3 students from uh that transfered to hbu told me to stay at hbu..i can afford it here, but it’s still expensive..im paying 10,000 for this semester right now..lost my scholarship!! please help me!!! i dont know where to goo!!!! im a bio major..and i heard in uh, theres more requirements that i have to take like more physics and additional calculus 2 and 3, and at hbu i need another 7 courses to finish my bio major degree after the pre-med basic requirements courses. calculus 2 & 3 are not required at hbu. and i suck at math..
im so worried..please HELPPPP
July 6th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Okay so I am seriously considering going to UH or HBU annnnd this is the only blog that I found comparing the two schools. It’s like I like the small classroom idea, but I’d rather be on a campus with more students and surrounded by more people. Thank You much for this blog. It helped!!!
December 10th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
HBU girl:
Thanks for stopping by! UH is a great school, the more I attend, the more things I discover. Classes are tough, but most professors drop your lowest test grade. Also, there is no roll call, you can pretty much study at your pace. Professors hand every test back along with the key, so you can see where you need to improve. I can tell you right now, I feel more free and less stressed at UH Main campus!
December 9th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
thanks for the blog.. i havent been passing at hbu and am not happy with all the rules , seriously considering transfering to uh