Life at Howard

Hi everyone I have decided that I will attend HU in the fall. I was hoping to get to know a few people and learn more about life at the real HU. It would be great to know both the bad and the good. What will the dorms be like? If you recieved a scholarship do you live in a honors dorm? What is the biology program like? I would like to know everything. I would appreciate any help that anyone could possible give. You can post or e-mail me personally. I would love to find a friend who I could get to know prior to arriving to campus in August. Holla @ ya girl :grin:

it seem like i am the only one going to pre-orientation. its kinda sad. imma be sitting up in howard by myself....feelin like a loser...oh well i am not about to waste 300 dollars...

Kandy: Hello. I thought you would have tons of responses by now especially since you moved your thread. I can't stand to see "kids" twistin in the wind so here is what I know about the Quad. The Quad: The rooms are decent size. Some of the buildings are better than the others. Wander around, if you can and see what the "options" could be. Housing is really a challange but keep pushing for change if you want it. That said...It is ABSOLUTELY no question that you MUST go to the pre-orientation. Bring your mom or another adult with you. They will be able to advocate for you to get you in the best of what the Quad has. On another note many of my friends removed their daughters from the Quad and put them in the Tower ( i think it's called that) and in another place. These moms are very pushy and protective. They did not want their daughters living in a place with a "****-wall". You will learn what this is within the first 30 minutes of being at The Quad. The triples have way more space BUT, it has been a challange for 3 girls to bond vs. 2 girls. You want to really give this some thought. I don't know where you are from. I will tell you what diefference that makes later, if necessary. I do want you to go to www.thehilltop.com. If that is not the correct URL go to The Black Wire and you will see many of the HBCU student newspapers on line. Click on The Hilltop for Howards. You will find the Howard student newspaper for 2004-2005 and more on line. It is going to be a LONG summer for you so take the time to read the stories in the archives for the year. You will learn first hand (kinda) all about the quad and what has gone on their this year. That will give you and your folks something concrete to work with. You will also learn up to date and relevant information about your school and what you might be in for. Edit carefully what you wnat your folks to read about the quad. Some of it is trully worthy of the 11:00pm news :o Regretfully, their have been significant problems with the some of the girls in the Quad. The administration is(?) working on those issues. Now, on the other hand I have so many girls that I know who lived in the Quad. They are great! They share clothes, they share books, they do each other's hair, they laugh, they talk and they try and work things out. I hope you get a good RA/RD(resident director/assistant). The one that one of my "daughters" had was a REAL witch. She was divisive, she lied, she created a "funk" on the floor which ****! She was simply not RA material in my book. Having visited a few times I can say that you will have an infestation problem. Worry not all colleges have infestation problems. I tell you this cause one girl nearly went crazy because she had not lived with roaches, mice and rats big as cats. Well, the vast majority of folks have not either. Friends: You will make new ones. Your personality hints that you are open minded. You will do well. We had several sets of friends go to HU. They are still "friends" but have gotten closer with other girls and that is just the cycle of life. I just skimmed your post again. Are you from NYC? I'll go with that. You will be glad that your friend stayed in NYC. It will give you a place to escape to, balance and re-connect. Ummm, the NY girls are not involved in any current "mess". The NY boys are "constantly" in it with somebody. One got stomped on the Yard a few months ago. The California, Chicago, Texas and Atlanta kids...naw, you will gather your own information. That is the beauty of HU.(smile) I could go on and on. If you have more questions ask. I have my views and parental experience and the first hand experiences of 4 other HU Freshman girls...they will be Sophmores. They e-mailed and called me nearly every day with HU "life". They are telling me what to write for you and what to delete. That is why I say go, right now and read your Hilltop on line. Finally, for now. COPY everything, take down EVERY name and telephone number of every adult who "helps" you at HU. You will at some point need this information. For some reason "everything" gets lost or forgotten even your parents money Quickly make arrangement to be at the pre-orientation. Make sure you bring your mom. Beg her or bribe her if you have to. At Pre-orientation parents are getting their Freshmen into specific departments and doing LOTS of politicking on their child's behalf. You are gonna need this. Oh, I know this is gonna sound trite but, YOU HAVE TO DRESS YOUR BEST! Every day that you are their for pre-orientation. I kid you not. Get used to it. HU is one of the fashion and beauty HBCU capitals. You will see purses...designer bags 100 times more than you will see a backpack or a book. How my girls do it? I'll never know. Well, their moms spend major bank and would not have it any other way Lastly, have your parents ever been to Howard? If they have not you need some quick answers to them if you want them to keep you there. Seriously! 1) MANY of the locals, who do not go to college hang out and blend in with the HU students. If your mom and dad have "ideas" about **** boys you simply have to say: "what **** boys?" blow off the fact that they are calling you over to them and that they REALLY are disrespecting the fact that you are with your parents. This makes many parents glad that their daughter is too mature to deal with these boys... 2) The neighborhood...you must not turn up your nose or widen your eyes, gasp or nuthin. Pretend you are at Martha's Vineyard. Comment on the positives. This will increase your parents comfort level. It's kinda like, well, if she is not bothered by the "neighborhood" then guess we aren't either... 3) Glitches, glitches and more glitches at HU. Your folks will be livid at the lost papers, confusion and somewhat "lazy" and attitudinal front line workers. Soothe them and encourage them to keep going. Smile lots and make sure they have lots of water for the waits. Let them know that you will never have to deal with those people again. I just told you to lie...sorry. I am being called into a meeting...bye for now!

So College Mom...are you saying that living in the quad is not suggested? And are you saying that we should bring an adult with us to registration and try to get a better dorm? And I can't find that site you were talking about. Do you have the url?