Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-29-2011, 10:50 AM
 
6 posts, read 6,924 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

Hello all,

My kid was accepted to UH honors college and I'm on a fact finding journey about UH and would love to have some of your feedback. We live wayyyyyy "up north" in big10 country so visiting to get to know the Houston area is for the most part impossible.

We're researching everything like which dorm is best/worst? Whats the general vibe of the area/college? General concerns with the area/college? Must see's? Whatever you do don't...? Crime vs safety? Is the public transportation good or does the kid need a car? etc. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks in advance,
tMolson
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-29-2011, 11:16 AM
 
2,639 posts, read 8,255,338 times
Reputation: 1366
He will need a car. The area surrounding the Univiersity is not the greatest and in order for him to shop, eat out etc he will need a car. You dont want to walk anywhere outside of the University. And I wouldnt recommend walking around campus at night without a friend.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 12:25 PM
 
1,045 posts, read 2,144,046 times
Reputation: 909
Quote:
Originally Posted by westres1 View Post
He will need a car. The area surrounding the Univiersity is not the greatest and in order for him to shop, eat out etc he will need a car. You dont want to walk anywhere outside of the University. And I wouldnt recommend walking around campus at night without a friend.
Have you attended this univeristy?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 01:18 PM
 
153 posts, read 324,378 times
Reputation: 92
West is right. Your son definitely need a car. I don't attend UH anymore. However, my friend still calls me to tell me what is happening at UH. Last year some person got rob right in front of the biology building. I believe I received an email from UH of this incident. I'm a guy, and I get nervous walking around there at night.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 01:24 PM
 
6 posts, read 6,924 times
Reputation: 11
Thanks for the info so far and crime/safety sounds like it can be an issue, not good. As for needing a car, I know many schools don't allow freshmen to have a car so is this the case with UH?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 02:05 PM
 
635 posts, read 1,700,646 times
Reputation: 378
As an ex U of H alum, the campus for the most part is safe during the day and early evening. At night, you have to be more cautious of your surroundings just like if you were in any other place. The neighborhood around the campus is not great, but as long as your son takes safety precaution, he should be fine.

He will need a car to get around the city. U of H allows freshman to have cars on campus so that shouldn't be a problem. As far as housing goes, I believe they just built some new apartments/lofts on campus.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Houston and Old Katy
567 posts, read 1,614,627 times
Reputation: 411
Quote:
Originally Posted by westres1 View Post
He will need a car. The area surrounding the Univiersity is not the greatest and in order for him to shop, eat out etc he will need a car. You dont want to walk anywhere outside of the University. And I wouldnt recommend walking around campus at night without a friend.
My wife went there and this is spot on. She also paid out of state tuition for 3 semesters - ouch. She ended up with scholarship which qualified her for in state.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
8,892 posts, read 19,900,644 times
Reputation: 6360
Definitely needs a car. Does he plan to stay in the dorm or can he get an apt. elsewhere in town?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 09:00 PM
 
Location: West Houston
1,075 posts, read 2,906,299 times
Reputation: 1394
Quote:
Originally Posted by tMolson View Post
Hello all,

My kid was accepted to UH honors college and I'm on a fact finding journey about UH and would love to have some of your feedback. We live wayyyyyy "up north" in big10 country so visiting to get to know the Houston area is for the most part impossible.

We're researching everything like which dorm is best/worst? Whats the general vibe of the area/college? General concerns with the area/college? Must see's? Whatever you do don't...? Crime vs safety? Is the public transportation good or does the kid need a car? etc. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks in advance,
tMolson
While UH does have some dorms/campus life, many of the students there are commuters. This does nothing to diminish the University, but it does not have the on-campus atmosphere of a four-year undergrad college in a small college town (more of a Northwestern or Minnesota, very urban, lots of commuters; there is no quaint little row of campus hangouts/bars/restaurants/dives to which to walk).

As has been stated, wandering around at night is not a great idea. The surrounding area--well, I wouldn't let my kid live in the surrounding area (sorry if this offends anyone). He can do the dorm thing for a year or so, make friends, and move to a different area of town.

You have to have a car in Houston. It needs to be fairly sturdy (doesn't break down much) and it needs to have a good air conditioner.

Do: go to the beach! go to NASA! go to the San Jacinto Monument and Museum and the Battleship Texas! go to the Natural Science Museum! go to the Museum of Fine Arts! go to a performance of the Houston Grand Opera! go to a performance of the Houston Symphony! wander around our great urban parks: Hermann (great for people-watching), Memorial (great for jogging, running, walking, nature), Discovery Green (always some kind of activity going on). go to the zoo (cheap date...)! go to an Astros game! a Dynamo game! a Texans game! a Rockets game! a Cougars game (all sports)!

If you're religious, there is a huge variety of churches here (all religions, all denominations), most of which have a student ministry/group (excellent place to meet friends).

Do not: go to the Mexican border for a quick trip with friends (a time-honored Texas tradition that is sadly now too dangerous).

Do not: EVER drive into a low water crossing with water flowing in it (Texas is infamous for these). Just because this little low spot is dry most of the time and now has what appears to be a small amount of water over it---that water is moving fast and is deep. See those large measuring poles (10 feet tall) to the side? There's a reason they're there and there's a reason they're marked to 10 feet....

Do not: step on portuguese man'o'war's if they wash up on the beach (this = a trip to the doctor). They make a funny popping noise when you stomp them---then the pain and swelling begins...

Do not: drink and drive, or drink and boat. Bad idea.

Do not: bring a big, heavy, midwestern coat. Leave that at home for visits home. A light jacket or sweater or hoodie is all that's usually needed here. When it hits 32 degrees here (on the 2 or 3 days a year it does; this year, we had a whole week!) there is panic in the streets. Seriously. Grocery stores clear. Etc. For 32 degrees. If the word "snow" is mentioned, it REALLY gets interesting. We've already hit 87 degrees this year....

(This is for Mom) Do not: give them a charge card and let them loose in the Galleria. "But MOOOMMM! They were on SALE! These jeans are regularly $180 and I got them for $140!!!" $140 for a pair of freaking blue jeans? And yes, these are boys....girls are vastly worse (I will admit that I am an old man and I seem to have a "shoe problem"...as in, can't pass a shoe store...).

DO: take time out to have fun and smell the roses, and enjoy college and the benefits of the 4th largest city in the country.

Last edited by Malvie; 03-29-2011 at 09:21 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2011, 09:30 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
4,760 posts, read 13,782,207 times
Reputation: 3280
I haven't visited all the on campus residence options but I have visited two: (1) Calhoun Lofts are exceptionally nice (they may only accept grad students there...not sure), and (2) Cougar Village is also brand new and very nice. UH wants to be a residential campus and the UH President is working on both that and on being generally accepted as a Tier One university (some metrics met, more to go).

I think a car is necessary. I read all the UH crime reports and most of them talk about unsecured and unattended belongings being stolen. Remind your child not to walk away from a laptop in the library or anywhere else. When walking around after dark, don't walk alone. And don't get so busy texting or talking on a cell phone that you lose all awareness of surroundings.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top