American University of Beirut
speciality: Chemistry

AUB, simply put, was home away from home. The campus in Beirut is located in Hamra, an area loaded with accommodation, nightlife, and food – lots of food. Unlike the cement jungle surrounding it, AUB has lush greenery and a very big campus. The campus motivated you to get involved in varsity programs, as there are facilities available for numerous sports and extracurricular activities. I chose to not do varsity sports but regularly booked facilities for leisure time with friends. AUB hosts students from all over the world, with societies and clubs to suit everyone. The cultural diversity made the campus very vibrant – it felt like its own little city. The campus staff are very welcoming, and professors (most of them at least) tend to be eager to teach students. I did however have a poor experience with a professor in my first year – but I guess the picky annoying professor is a must in every facility. Most of the students are welcoming, some are stuck up as you would expect, and premed students tend to be untrustworthy – the competition is toxic to say the least. I was lucky enough to have the chance to get involved in organic chemistry research as an undergraduate student, and the state of the art equipment available made the experience worthwhile. Some facilities need improvement – one of which was the chemistry department. The building is well over 20 years old and there is lots of room for renovation. However, given that AUB was established in 1866 and has been growing ever since, you would expect some facilities to be worn out. The engineering and business department blocs have recently been renovated, and work remains to go on despite the deteriorating economic status – which is a good sign. This brings me to my last and arguably the most important point. Lebanon’s economic status has been going to bits lately, and the overall safety in the country itself has decreased as you would expect. The campus dorms and facilities do remain very very well secured though.