<p>That board is pretty dead so I thought I'd try here. The school just appeared on son's radar. We'll not be able to get out there to visit, but it's a CTCL and we've visited two of those he loved, so we're hoping it's more of the same.</p>
<p>TIA.</p>
<p>Here was my review after a visit, and there are other reviews as well. My son really liked this school.</p>
<p>Oops. I meant to attract those who actually have/had a student there. I did read all the reviews. Thank you for posting one! The recruiter we spoke to did a wonderful job of selling it, as most of the campus tours do as well, but I want to know what it's realllly like from parents/kids who've been there. ;)</p>
<p>Is your son definitely applying? I noticed kathiep visited a few years ago, but her son decided not to apply even though her review was quite positive.</p>
<p>As of now (still one year away from applying, son is a junior), he is applying.</p>
<p>Maybe our boys can be roomies!</p>
<p>Your line about parts of the school feeling like a junior college was interesting, as I thought the exact same thing while touring Austin College. And yet my son loved the place. That's why I'm hopeful that Juniata would be a good fit. </p>
<p>I know CC'ers apply to colleges all the time without visiting, but the idea of considering a college that's so far away in a state he's never been to and having never set foot on the campus just sounds nuts to me. but we might do it anyway.</p>
<p>Oh, are you from Texas? Is your son a rising junior or senior? We kind of decided that we would limit geography somewhere, but our son's limits are much more lenient than for our older son. Plane fares could change that!</p>
<p>I'll PM you with details!</p>
<p>Not from a parent of a current student, but of someone who visited last year:</p>
<p>My daughter visited twice last year, once in the spring and once in the fall with an overnight. She loved the school on the first visit, but after an overnight, decided it wasn't quite right for her - the host student spent most of the time on the cell phone with her boyfriend, and other students on the hall seemed to disappear during the weekend to go home. </p>
<p>I think if she was the type of student for whom academics come first, who would spend all her free time in the library or lab and really did not care about the social aspect of being at college, she would have felt it was a better fit. Or maybe her visit was on an off weekend?</p>
<p>A little off topic on something we found odd at the end of the process: She applied, but withdrew her application in January after she heard from her first-choice school. A month later, Juniata informed her she was waitlisted; if she wanted to stay on the wait list, she was to call/email someone in Admissions and let them know. She emailed them to reconfirm she withdrew her application the month before, and no, did <em>not</em> want to stay on the wait list, as she had decided to go elsewhere. Imagine our surprise when she received a letter in the mail in May saying she had been denied admission to Juniata.... I have a feeling they can use this to bump their stats for "# of students waitlisted", which I'm sure other schools do as well.</p>
<p>The academic opportunities are fantastic, especially for the sciences, but in the end, she decided it was a little too small and far away from a big city for her, and there was not enough going on during the weekends to outweigh that. Not parties, mind you, just lacking that critical mass of students that creates a college community seven days a week. This was the end of September, so maybe it was too early in the semester? </p>
<p>As a parent, I loved the idea of some of the traditions, like Mountain Day. (The president cancels classes for the day and all the students go hiking, canoeing, picnicking, etc. It's a complete surprise when it's going to be.) I agree the school does a great job marketing itself during its Open Houses. I would have been more than happy to have her go there.</p>
<p>Flatliner, thanks. It is interesting about that young lady's application. I can tell you that my son visited a school and somehow was put on a list for seniors. The fist letter told him that if he applied, he would get a decision within 2 weeks, and the app. fee was being waived. My son is not a senior, so he ignored this notification. A couple of months later he got a letter stating that he may still receive priority noitification and now the essay, the recs and the fee are being waived! Again, he is still not a senior. He recently was mailed a paper app. by the school with another 2 week priority notification offer.</p>
<p>A good friends son just graduated from Juniata. He had a good experience there but when he started he was thinking of majoring in biology. After the first semester he decided on Philosophy and the school didn't fit so well, but he was happy enough there that he did not transfer. He ended up with a double major in English and Philosophy and did a year abroad in England. His biggest complaint was the location.</p>
<p>Acquaintance at work has a son that will be a freshman this fall.</p>
<p>If you PM me in a couple of months or post again, I can get you info or get her telephone number or email address for you to answer questions.</p>
<p>She and her son really liked the school on their visit.</p>
<p>My D is applying this year - the internship opportunities and very strong pre-health programs are what is attracting her, plus their entrance into a new sports conference where she can be competitive athletically. An alum just endowed a scholarship for Juniata grads to attend med school here at Rochester, so that is a plus - there are similar programs that alums have started at Vanderbilt, Harvard and Florida, to name a few, looks like they really want to give back to the school in this way. The location is a little out of the way, but hop on a bus and in a half-hour you are in a totally different world at State College if things are too quiet on campus. D is definitely not the party animal type, so this would not be a big issue for her.</p>
<p>Yeah, Juniata moved to a new conference with strong mid-atlantic privates away from a conference of PA publics. They're known for a very strong mens and womens volleyball programs.</p>
<p>My twins have it on the radar...it might be more of a fit for one though than the other. (one is thinking about accounting/history minor) We had some transportation issues this summer so I am getting a DVD tour of it and reading others until we can visit ourselves.</p>
<p>I am a 2007 grad and can answer any questions you may have about the school. I would have stayed forever if I could.</p>
<p>mtday, great I would love to learn more. Here are some questions that I have. </p>
<p>If you are planning on a non-science major, and not considering peace and conflict studies, would this still be a solid college pick?</p>
<p>If you are not an athlete, but might participate in some intramurals, could you be happy?</p>
<p>What is the Gravity Project?</p>
<p>Are some departments much less well funded than the sciences, and theatre?</p>
<p>Are Juniata's traditions really that exciting (ie: camping out for days for a good table for the Christmas/holiday dinner)?</p>
<p>Oh is the food, really? Does it annoy you to have to live on campus and have a meal plan until senior year?</p>
<p>How many kids really go to Penn State on weekends for parties? Does the shuttle bus there and back work out? </p>
<p>Is there anything to do on Juniata's campus on weekends? What is there to do? Do you feel trapped in that area of PA? </p>
<p>Are POEs that different from majors and if so, how?</p>
<p>What truly happens if you are caught underage with alcohol on campus?</p>
<p>I noticed that they have a small endowment. Do you notice any financial problems as a student?</p>
<p>What did you like least, and what did you like most about your alma mater? </p>
<p>**Very important Q-Do a lot of kids leave the campus to go home or elsewhere on weekends?</p>
<p>If you could answer half of these questions, I would be thrilled, LOL! Thanks so much for volunteering your time. BTW, I love your moniker!</p>
<p>NEM's questions will keep you busy for a while :), but I'll add a couple:</p>
<p>1) What do you know about the semester-long research at Raystown Field Station?</p>
<p>2) Want to piggyback on NEM's question about the weekends. What's the social atmosphere like?</p>
<p>If you are planning on a non-science major, and not considering peace and conflict studies, would this still be a solid college pick?</p>
<p>My POE was Religion and Social Change--it was individualized (i'll explain more below)--and I spent most of my time not taking anything beyond my required science classes. All of the departments have phd level professors, who love what they teach and love teaching. Our politics, history, English and language programs have a history of producing amazing grads who often come back to Juniata to teach. While our Science program is what we are known for its not where all of our talented students are.</p>
<p>If you are not an athlete, but might participate in some intramurals, could you be happy?</p>
<p>the inter mural program is thriving, not all the teams are amazing, some are very good, but there is a required number of girls and boys on each team to keep things fair. There is volleyball, soccer, basketball, and bowling. I think they've also done flag football, lacrosse, and handball in the past, its all motivated by student interest. I did indoor field hockey, which wasn't really inter mural but was inter squad (basically the field hockey team let us recreational players come and play with them during the off season.)</p>
<p>What is the Gravity Project?</p>
<p>*It is a professional theater company based out of Juniata. How that applies to Juniata students is that it functions as sort of a Grey's Anatomy for theater. Juniata students get real expierence doing real theater for a real company without anybody dying and with supervision. *</p>
<p>Are some departments much less well funded than the sciences, and theatre?
Sure, but you have to take into consideration that the sciences and theatre require significantly more supplies then say english. They need lights and microscopes and chemicals and frogs. An english major needs brains and maybe a hiteliter However, professional development funds, scholarships, internships, professors etc are all funded at equal levels. I was able to go to conferences and have amazing speakers that had nothign to do with science</p>
<p>Are Juniata's traditions really that exciting (ie: camping out for days for a good table for the Christmas/holiday dinner).</p>
<p>YES YES YES YES YES YES. I still take Mountain Day off each year. I have gone back for Pigroast and homecoming weekend. Madrigal is by far my favorite and camped out two years for it. Freshman year we were in 11 lords leaping and then we slowly creeped our way up and by senior year we were 3rd Tent and got the last two tables in 5 Golden Rings. It was one of my highlights of my college career (non academic that is). Traditions are part of what makes juniata so timeless, I go to alumni events how and we can all relate even if we graduated 5 minutes ago or 50 years ago over.</p>
<p>Oh is the food, really? Does it annoy you to have to live on campus and have a meal plan until senior year?</p>
<p>The food is average, it gets boring after awhile sure, but if you ate at your favorite restaurant 7 days a week 2-3 times a day it would get old too. I lived on campus all 4 years by choice, it is not required that seniors live on campus as long as they are in good standing academically and have had no problems otherwise. My junior year i lived in an international house and cooked myself meals on the weekend so only bought 10 meals a week. My senior year I had a 2 person campus owned apartment and cooked all my meals except for lunch 3-4 times a week. Meal plans have changed since I graduated to be more flexible so I can't speak to the options now. But when I was living on campus eating in Baker really didnt bother me. Sure there are some nutriously bad meals, but you'll never starve</p>
<p>How many kids really go to Penn State on weekends for parties? Does the shuttle bus there work out?</p>
<p>none of my friends ever did, we only went to State College to eat Indian food at the restaurant there and to go to the Wal-Mart before Huntingdon had one. I also swing danced at Penn State a few times a year because their dances were bigger, but I wouldnt call that a wild party. People only go to Penn State if they have friends there. I didnt really know anyone who took the shuttle buses but I'm sure people did.</p>
<p>Is there anything to do on Juniata's campus on weekends? What is there to do? Do you feel trapped in that area of PA?</p>
<p>There are 100000 things to do on any given weekend, speakers, musicians, movies, sports games, hanging with friends, dinner at professors houses. I never felt trapped, I grew up in Washington DC and honestly, having lived back here 2 years now, would much rather be in PA. It is a slow pace of life and not for everyone, but it was a situation that I thrived in and miss terribly. Examples of things that I did in a given weekend, attend a volleyball game, a comedian, had dinner with friends at Boxers, movie at the Clifton 5, played a giant game of monopoly where we turned the entire campus in the board.</p>
<p>Are POEs that different from majors and if so, how?</p>
<p>Yes and No. There are two different kinds of POEs--Individualized or Designated. A Designated POE is a major, Your S or D wants to study Bio, with the goal of being a Doctor/PA/Dentist. They take a prescribed set of classes, pick out a few electives and graduate in 4 years with a BS and a ticket to grad school. Individualized are for kids like me who have a slightly more esoteric goal in mind (I do grassroots organizing for a Christian organization fighting hunger) I took courses from Peace and Conflict Studies, Religion, International Politics, Sociology, Pscyology and Anthropology (among other things) and turned it into a concise POE that allowed me to get a job that is exactly what I studied to do. Another friend did marketing and education with the goal of being a Director of Student life at a college.</p>
<p>What do you dislike the most?</p>
<p>Leaving. There were things that at the time I was annoyed about, but honestly my expierence was amazing. This is not enrollment BS, I loved Juniata heart and soul.</p>
<p>What truly happens if you are caught underage with alcohol on campus?</p>
<p>Not a ton, there are 4 things that will get you kicked out the Pinch, Punch, Steal, Deal (aka Sexual Assault/Harrassment, Fighting, Stealing, and Drugs.) The first time you are caught you have to attend an alcohol education thing and if you are on an athletic team sometimes there are reprocussions there. If you are an education major you can be removed from the program (PA state law). I drank underage (but not until my junior year and not in excess) but never got caught. I never really had friends get caught either.</p>
<p>I noticed that they have a small endowment. Do you notice any financial problems as a student?
*endowments are not the true measure of a school these days, they suffer at the whims of the market just as much as we do. The school offers a metric ton of scholarships (I received one with no financial need), facilities are constantly being updated new buildings built. Sure it'd be nice if we had more money, but only to do more, not because they're not doing enough, if that makes sense *</p>
<p>What did you like least, and what did you like most about your alma mater?
I loved EVERYTHING, specifically the faculty, they were mentors, friends, advisor's as well as strict disciplinarians when it was needed. I hated leaving, the prevalence of rice in the dining hall and their comedic skills at plowing in the snow</p>
<p>1) What do you know about the semester-long research at Raystown Field Station?</p>
<p>*its like studying abroad but, not. You spend the entire time fishing, hiking swimming, catching birds, doing expiraments, its a Nature lover's dream. It started after I graduated but I have friends who did it and they found it to be a fantastic expierence. I had a friend work as the RD there, the dorms are amazing they over look the lake and are nestled in the woods. *</p>
<p>2) Want to piggyback on NEM's question about the weekends. What's the social atmosphere like?</p>
<p>equal opportunity. If you want to get sloppy drunk every weekend there are people to do that with, you're straight edge and like World of Warcraft there are people who like that, if you're somewhere in the middle there are people like that. College is what you make of it, if you sit in your room calling your boyfriend and talking to hs friends then yeah there isnt a lot to do, but if you get out there and make friends you'll find that there is too much to do.</p>
<p>Wow, you are a wealth of info. Thanks!</p>
<p>What about the ethnic diversity? Ever hear of problems for minorities?</p>