Northern Arizona University

I very much enjoyed my time as a student at NAU. I did attend the university during a time of transition when the housing crisis for upper-division and even sophomore students began and when many construction projects began to obstruct the once beautiful scenery on campus. That being said, I had wonderful teachers in both my major programs as well as elective courses. The small-town feel of Flagstaff is just big enough to not feel like a small pond, but not huge like Tempe or Tucson. Students attending... Read More NAU should be prepared for off-campus housing after their first year, but I still visit Flagstaff often as it is my favorite place in the world. My critiques of the university are not with the quality and level of education, merely with some of the logistics of the campus.

First, NAU is really a school where you get what you make of it. The professors are wonderful if you simply go to their office hours. Talk to them and get involved with their research, you won't regret it. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved on campus and in the community if research isn't your thing. The students are usually pretty friendly unless you're trying to get a seat on the bus during passing period. The engineering department also has great clubs and events for students, to... Read More make classes and exams a little easier (like free food, LAN parties with smash bros, and building awesome projects to launch tennis balls.) With that in mind, the mechanical engineering program is difficult but doable. I would recommend taking five years if you can, just to keep your sanity. Please look at your advisement report and use the jacks planer to figure out your classes lest you take 10 liberal arts classes you don't need. The advisers are always swamped and you can't guarantee they got your schedule right the first time. NAU's administration isn't the best because they are overworked and understaffed. So pros: awesome professors, faculty, programs, and involvement. Cons: you might want to do your own admin work when you can.

I loved the university I attended for my undergraduate degree. It was not a huge university so that it was not overwhelming, but it was big enough to meet new people and attend fun events. There is decent transportation to get you around the school for your classes, and the class sizes are fairly good. First year 101 classes can be fairly big, but afterwards it gets to be about high school sized classes so that you actually get to know your professor and your classmates which is nice. As far as the... Read More classes go for the program, I really enjoyed them. There was only one teacher I did not like because they put their political views in the class, which was not appropriate, but they were a graduate student teaching and left right after they graduated so they are gone now. When choosing classes I would just be cautious of non-doctorate teachers teaching the class. All of the actual teachers were great though, and I honestly cannot pick a favorite or even one I did not like. They are all supportive, helpful, open, and absolutely great at what they do. You can tell they all enjoy their work because it shows in their lectures and how they interact with you. If you put in the effort to reach out, you will not be disappointed. The only way you will not make good connections with these professors is if you do not try to.

NAU has a great community. I was a transfer student from Santa Barbara City College. I traded the beach for the mountains and it was amazing. Since I was a transfer, it was a little bit difficult to make friends. It became easier once I started having smaller class sizes and started focussing on my major. Although the school seems big, the town is very small. By the time I was a junior, I pretty much knew at least one person in every class. I never had a problem getting into the classes I needed.... Read More Some people say that NAU is extremely easy to get into, which is true, but I think the education is underrated by many. I can honestly say that the quality of my education was amazing. During my senior year, I was provided with internship opportunities for my capstone course which helped me be employed after graduation. The campus is beautiful and the teachers care. The location of campus is walking distance from downtown and has beautiful views. For someone who is looking for a school with lots to do outdoors, this is it. Summer is beautiful because of monsoon season, and winter is extremely cold. It can snow all the way until June! NAU is a great change of pace especially if you are looking for a mountain town vibe. What sold me on going to NAU was how incredibly kind everyone was while I toured campus. There are fraternities and sororities but it is against the law for sororities to have houses. Greek life house their own housing dorms on campus. This helps keeps the partying in control as well as the safety. So many building have been newly upgraded and the campus is very clean. I miss it already, and cannot wait to visit!

Attending Northern Arizona University is great over all! The school is constantly improving and growing and full of great students and activities too! One of the best parts was that tuition was locked in for your first four years of attendance. I made some of the best friendships of my life there. I never had any issues with academic advising or any professors. Of course, always read the professor reviews first when you can. At the very minimum, if you're willing to put in the time and work, you... Read More will be successful here. Every professor I had was very passionate about their courses. The campus is also full of amazing resources, be it tutoring, mental health, or physical health.

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a beautiful campus that is situated on a mountain at 7,000 feet! The campus provides an experience that is hard to find elsewhere. Meaning, anyone can go hiking, skiing, exploring, and swimming in the nearby rivers and lakes all day. The education at NAU is constantly improving and the professors and staff are dedicated to their students' success. I was able to ask any question about classes, graduate school, research opportunities, etc. and they would always... Read More find a way to help me out. I loved the time that I spent at NAU!

Northern Arizona University (NAU) was an excellent school! I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a major in Finance and minors in Psychology and Spanish. The W.A. Franke College of Business is an impressive college within the university where I spent most of my time. It offers coursework that teach students the fundamentals of their chosen field but also supplements these concepts with real-world applications, which is highly valuable for today's business environment. In particular,... Read More the finance curriculum was supported by case studies that give students the opportunity to analyze actual business problems and develop solutions that could be implemented. The only thing that I wish were different is a more quantitative track of for finance majors. Finance is becoming increasingly more quantitative and technical, so I believe the core finance concepts should be supplemented with computer science and statistics.

Facilities of the school do not accomodate the number of students they accept. Parking, Bus Transportation, Dining, Housing, Classrooms, Number of Teachers, Number of sections of a class that are offered, Class diversity/Elective/Major Electives offered (ie. very few of the classes in the course catalog are actually offered, many classes are fall only, spring only, offered every other year, etc.); These are all areas where the school is lacking. In addition, freshman and major advisors both do not... Read More provide very much assistance, and may actually lead you in the wrong direction or cause you to stay at the school longer than 4 years. Classrooms are horrible (I have had classrooms in basements, classrooms with no air conditioning, etc.) Classrooms are over filled; students may be sitting on the floor or standing for the first week or two of class. In addition, classroom size is not as it says on the website. For many engineering classes, the class ratio is 120:1 or 70:1, with few being 30:1. (I core CS class I took was 126:1) Dorm rooms are pretty standard other than some dorms dont have elevators and sometimes you will end up in a triple or quad; while they give you a reduced rate this can be incredibly inconvenient. You will wait in line for a long time for dining, especially in peak hours of the day. You wont have time to get lunch and eat during a 30 minute break. Meals are expensive (burritos are $8.50, sandwiches are $8, etc). Disability resources is a joke and the process to get accommodations is difficult. Good aspects are that teachers try to teach you. The bblearn website could be simplified, however, to make it easier for teachers and students. City and school choose incredibly inconvenient times to do renovations and said renovations will take who knows how long, they have been making renovations for the past 3 years since I got here. While this seems nice, you may experience lack of water in your dorm for multiple days, make shift dining options that give you food that isnt fresh, is cold, doesnt taste very good, etc., difficulty parking or poor transportation throughout campus for commuters, and more. Many processes, policies, and plans put into place have backwards logic or inconvenience students. Overall, many aspects of this school that were promised to me or were pivotal in my decision to come here did not meet my expectations in the slightest. For paying so much to attend, I expect a lot more from the school. As a prospective graduate student, I will not be furthering my education at this school and am actually considering transferring to finish my undergraduate degree somewhere else.

I attended Northern Arizona University from 1998-2002. While I began with a major in journalism, I changed my major to Elementary Education after my first semester. Like many people, I did not always appreciate the required general education courses I had to take before I began my studies that focused on my major. Although, I will say that I now appreciate the general knowledge I received taking the courses. The Education college was amazing and had such dynamic, world class professors teaching the... Read More courses. I remember one professor who had a couple hundred students in one section of her class. The first day, she had video cameras at each exit and asked us to say our name into the camera as we walked past. By the very next class period, she had all of our faces and names memorized! She had many, many cooperative activities to help us learn the concepts she was teaching. She was very memorable and made a huge impact on many of us. By my junior year I was part of a cohort focusing on multi-age classrooms. Our lead professor often traveled to schools in other countries wanting to set up multi-age classrooms in their schools. Our cohort spent many hours in local schools practicing methods and concepts taught at the university. By graduation, we had a good idea of what teaching in a classroom would be like. NAU had a great campus life. I especially enjoyed meeting up with a group of students in the Student Union at lunch time. And when I bashed my chin open on the ice of the local skating rink, the campus health center stitched me up! I took advantage of the campus swimming pool, and a life guard there helped me with my stroke. I even signed up for a private music room one time, just to tinker around on the piano. Fall and summer in Flagstaff are gorgeous. But the winter snow is a force to be reckoned with! I'm happy to live at a lower elevation now where the snow is not such an ordeal. NAU has a great, small town feel to it. If you're looking for a cheaper option and don't mind a small community, NAU is a great choice!

NAU is a wonderful institution and the upper-level Anthropology courses were both challenging and intellectually stimulating. Not all colleges offer five sub-disciplines to choose from including Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Applied Anthropology. The opportunity to specialize can be a great tool for post-graduation career opportunities. As an undergraduate student, I grasped the concepts of human social, cultural, biological, prehistoric,... Read More and language systems. This program features a holistic cross-cultural approach. I also conducted independent research studies and archeological fieldwork. Students are required to take four semesters of language, which was challenging for me but extremely useful post-college. I learned about non-ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, cross-cultural emphasis, diachronic approach, and holism. Courses that I recommend include ANT 301 - Peoples of the World, ANT 306-Peoples of the Southwest, ANT309W- Cultural Anthropology, and ANT465- Indigenous Perspectives in Anthropology. I strongly recommend doing fieldwork or an independent study, as this will enrich your hands-on experience. My favorite class was ANT 305 - Peoples of Southwest, there is truly no better place to learn about Native American culture than Northern Arizona. Flagstaff is in close proximity to the Navajo and Hopi reservations, which provides for fertile learning. Another great feature of the B.A Anthropology is having the opportunity to self-select your minor. You must complete a minor of at least 18 units. I enjoyed my general electives and took various courses in health and women studies. My main critique of NAU is the lack of career services and this field generally doesn't have a high earning potential unless you pursue an advanced degree. Perhaps there are more services now than when I attended in 2009. Overall NAU is a good institution with well-trained professors.