I-Search
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
(UABP)

Keyana Mapp
Mrs. Rayford
AP Literature
16 November 2011

THE RESEARCH QUESTION
College is very important to me and I know I am not the first in my family to go but I am probably the most excited to go. I have look at so many colleges and I have to narrow down my choices. After having three colleges on my list, I have narrowed it down to one, and I decided to narrow it down to The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. I want to attend the University Of Arkansas at Pine Bluff because, a visitor from the college comes to visit Normandy and I was ecstatic by his presentation. After the presentation, I knew that the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was the college for me. I have always wanted to attend a HBCU (historically black college or university). I plan to visit the campus during my winter break to get the feel of the college and see how the atmosphere was. Before I decide to go see the college, I am going to do my research on it and get a background check to be sure. From the research, I do on the college. I hope it is interesting because I am so anxious to choose the college I am going to and start my life on my own.
MY RESEARCH PROCESS
I started my research process by going straight to the online website because I believed that would have the most information. I also talked to one of the admission officers (Whimper C., Personal Communication RE: Information on UABP, E-mail to the author, 1 Oct 2011) who visited Normandy High School. After I found out that the online website did not provide all the information I needed, I decided to go to the guidance office at Normandy High School to see if they had some brochures on UAPB (U.A.B.P Professional Boundaries (n.d) [Brochure]). I was lucky because I got the last one that had a lot more info on the college. After doing all this, I still was missing the clery report. Therefore, I emailed Mr. Carl Whimper (whimper@uapb.edu) and asked him if he knew anywhere I could obtain some information about that and he gave me a website (Eden K., (2010) U.A.P.B Retrieved from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff office site www.uapb.edu). With this information about the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, I had a paper to write.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM RESEARCH
While doing the actual research on the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff I learned that my major, Chemistry, is one of the top ten majors that the University. I was pleased to know this. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The neighborhoods that surrounded the school are not the best but they are manageable places to adapt to, (Kimberly Yon, 2010; Carl Whimper, 1979).
The tuition of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for an out of state undergraduate student is $370.00 per credit hour around $ 18,751 a year. This is not including the room, board, tuition, or miscellaneous. Room rental for an out of state undergraduate student is $2,885.00 for single occupancy, for double occupancy it is $2,071.00 and for triple occupancy its $1,274.00 per semester. Board fees for an out of state undergraduate student are $1,515.00 per semester. Eden K., (2010) U.A.P.B Retrieved from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff office site www.uapb.edu). The room and board fees vary during different seasons because, more people enroll in the summer and fall seasons. Then the miscellaneous consist of childcare services, transcripts, test fees, id fees, missing keys fees and insufficient fund checks, which can cost you up to $400 per semester if you do not keep up with your payments and things. If you purchase a new book, the fees range between $180-$200 and to rent the prices range between $90-$150. Transportation fees range between $100-$200 per semester Eden K., (2010) U.A.P.B Retrieved from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff office site www.uapb.edu). At the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, you would have to buy your own personal belongings from the campus stores or the stores in the neighborhood (Whimper, C. Whimper C., Personal Communication( RE: Information on UABP, E-mail to the author, 1 Oct 2011).
About 17% of the African American race graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the last four years, 23% graduated with in the last five years, and 32% graduated in the last six years. There are a number of museums around the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for the community as well as the college for students to enjoy (The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. U.A.B.P Professional Boundaries (n.d) [Brochure]).
When I was trying to research are clery report on the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, I could not find one bad thing about them and that made me wonder, if they have some embarrassing things that they did not want the outsiders to know about them or were they just that good. Therefore, I continued my search and I finally found something on them. In their clery report, I found out that in 1999 there were at least 25% of the college found to be using illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and meth. Then in 2002, they had another problem with the students abusing alcohol. It was 8,000 males and 6,000 females involved in this case Eden K., (2010) U.A.P.B Retrieved from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff office site www.uapb.edu).
I also learned that you could excel in your chosen field of study through a curriculum of more than 30 Undergraduate programs, Master’s degree programs, Certificate and Associates degree programs and develop workplace readiness through internships, co-ops and fellowships in the U.S., and abroad. I also learned in order to attend the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff you have to have a composite score of 14-18 on the ACT and a 360-480 on the SAT (n.d.).(Eden K., (2010) U.A.P.B Retrieved from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff office site www.uapb.edu).

REFLECTION
Overall, I like the simple fact that this is a historically black college and university but there are just too many things that do not fit me. Out of all the things I learned about UAPB, the last thing I would have ever thought of was being around many bad influences as they described the students to be at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. I usually do not recommend the things I read online because half of the time the reports are not accurate. Then I end up feeling bad because I am influenced by a bad reputation of that person, place, or thing. I am going to read more on their clery report because there are things that were unbelievable, and I do not think the school would have these types of things going on in their campus. I applied to this college and I want to learn deeper details about the things I have read to make a decision overall, I am not going to just give up hope. On the bright side, I also read some good things on the University. Like the different internships that the college offers with other companies, which is a big thing with them because, other colleges do not have great opportunities like these. After thinking it over, UAPB has not had any bad clery reports since 2002. Not even a major report like that. This influenced me because the college has changed directors since then and the college had changed. My college advisor even told me that it was a good university. I have gone to him for information to. Even though UAPB has flaws, I think I could look past them and grow to love this school. I look forward to all the good things in life and I hope to see this university in it. I also learned that you should not judge a book by its cover and this cover is not going to mess up my future at UAPB. So now knowing that I am going to attend The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the fall of 2012 I am excited. Excited to know that I will be in another place I can call home and be safe. Also so, my mother will have no worries about me. All in all this University is now my University.
References
U.A.B.P Professional Boundaries (n.d) [Brochure]
Whimper C., Personal Communication RE: Information on UABP, E-mail to the author, 1 Oct 2011
Eden K., (2010) U.A.P.B Retrieved from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff office site www.uapb.edu