University of Hawaii at Manoa Rankings by Salary Score™

Since I do not know much about the other departments at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH Manoa), this review below is specifically for the UH Manoa's CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT & especially the CHEMISTRY PHD OR MASTERS PROGRAM. I enrolled at the UH Manoa CHEMISTRY PHD PROGRAM on August 2013 & graduated on December 2020. My overall experience at that UH Manoa Chemistry PhD Program was UNSATISFACTORY. Here are my reasons: 1) Chemistry Department is UNDERFUNDED for the Undergraduate Teaching Labs. The Teaching... Read More Laboratories are RUN DOWN & several glassware & chemicals use for teaching undergraduate students a chemistry laboratory course are worn out & expired, thus, difficulty to really run a teaching lab to properly teach undergraduate students a chemistry laboratory course. In addition, TAs do NOT get their own laboratory classroom key & instead have to rely on the Chemistry Stockroom Manager or a Professor to open up the laboratory classroom. Undergraduate Students have to SHARE equipment with OTHER TA's Lab Course instead of having their own locker of chemical equipment to run a Chemistry Lab Class. I heard many Mainland US Universities are much more ORGANIZED in terms of the Undergraduate Chemistry Lab Courses than this University of Hawaii at Manoa Chemistry Department. 2) Most of the UH Manoa Chemistry Department Faculty Research Lab are also UNDERFUNDED. If you are planning to get a PhD in Chemistry or a Masters in Chemistry from this UH Manoa Chemistry Department, keep in mind that most of the faculty at this department do NOT have sufficient funds available to run a proper Research Lab. Because of the lack of funding, you may end up doing TA-ship, especially during your "All But Dissertation" or "All But Thesis" status INSTEAD of RA-ship. FYI: TA-ship is a DISTRACTION, which will resulted in PROLONGED STAY at the UH Manoa Chemistry Department 3) Average to complete a PhD in Chemistry Degree at UH Manoa Chemistry Department would be 7+ Years (compare this to other universities in the Mainland U.S.; most Mainland U.S. Chemistry PhD Programs only take 4-5 years to complete the Chemistry PhD Degree). Meanwhile, for Masters, average to complete a Masters in Chemistry Degree at UH Manoa Chemistry Department would be 4+ Years (in the Mainland U.S., average to get a Masters in Chemistry Degree at most Mainland U.S. universities are 2-3 Years). Some at UH Manoa Chemistry Department even ended up DROPPED OUT or EXPELLED... Why take so long for most Masters & PhD Students at the UH Manoa Chemistry Department to complete their degrees, Answer: See my Reason # 1 & 2 above, for they linked with this # 3. With my case, I started the program on August 2013 & completed on December 2020 (that's 7.5 years). 4) Inevitable to encounter a TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT at this UH Manoa Chemistry Department. Many UH Manoa Chemistry Masters & PhD Students struggled with Depression & other forms of mental health struggles. In addition, very COMPETITIVE environment. These 2 things are a formula for TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT, where conflict & harassment between graduate students (& even between grad students & professors) may arise. Most common Toxic Work Environment Behavioral Problems: Gossiping, Rumor Spreading, & Social Isolation of Peers. LACK OF TRUST in this department. In addition, most of the faculty of the UH Manoa Chemistry Department LACKS CARE & proper training in how to prevent an escalation of a Toxic Work Environment. Most common problem most of the UH Manoa Chemistry Department Faculty have is NEGLIGENCE to their Master & PhD Students working for them. There are others I could share, but I feel it's very sensitive to share. But the most common problems are the ones I listed in this # 4. What cause a Toxic Work Environment to form at this UH Manoa Chemistry Department? My answer: Has to do with Problems # 1-3 above. 5) The UH Manoa Chemistry Department Faculty do NOT really support their students well. With my case, I ended up seeking Career Advisement from the UH Manoa Career Center INSTEAD from my own PhD Dissertation Advisor (FYI: Technically, it is the sole responsibility for the PhD Dissertation Advisor to give Career Advice to their PhD Students & they MUST support their PhD Student's Decision. If the PhD Student decides to use his/her PhD Degree for Post-Doc, then their advisor must support that. If the student uses his/her PhD Degree for Industry after graduation, again the Advisor must support that & give good advice as well as being a good TRUSTWORTHY reference for their student). To summarize, if you are planning to enrolled at UH Manoa, especially if you are planning to do a Masters or a PhD Degree at UH Manoa, I STRONGLY SUGGEST to AVOID THE CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT to get your Masters or PhD Degree. Get your Masters or PhD Degree at OTHER DEPARTMENTS at UH Manoa is acceptable (though do research carefully about the faculty & the Department's Work Environment, especially research carefully if there's a guarantee that you can get your PhD degree in 4-5 years or a Masters Degree in 2-3 years). But, if you are selecting the UH Manoa Chemistry Department to pursue a Masters or PhD Degree, I'm sorry to say, that's a bad choice & it is best that you SHOULD AVOID UH MANOA CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT TO DO YOUR MASTERS OR PHD DEGREE.

I am currently a graduate student in physics, and I did my bachelor's in astrophysics at UH too. I am extremely frustrated with the physics department nearly all the time. The TA pay is horrendously low, and the faculty doesn't seem to care if you actually get your degree or not. Even the "adviosrs" cannot answer simple questions about what is required to get degrees they offer, and other professors will tell you completely false information. They just use us as cheap labor to teach the intro labs and then... Read More kick us out if we can't pass* an extremely difficulty written exam. We cosntaly ask the department to update it's policies, and get nothing in return. I would not recommend the graduate program to anyone.