<p>First of all where did you come from?
Secondly, I will be visiting in January!!!
Anyways, manwhich can you answer my question please?</p>
<p>
<p>I'm not affiliated with the admissions office so I can't really give you details. I'd imagine the answer to your question would be kind of the same as with any other high-level liberal arts college...admissions are not necessarily all about grades and test scores if you can present interesting things about yourself to the college. I did the common app online but I also mailed in some photography and a DVD of a short video I'd done in high school classes along with a little explanation of why I was sending it. I have no idea how it helped my application, as I had a solid GPA and very good SATs going in...I did however get some good feedback on it from the admissions departments at other schools. </p>
<p>If you want to get into the psychology of the admissions process I'd say that any kind of funny anecdote, tidbit or quirk could flag you in the admissions staff's memory...put yourself in their shoes for a moment: you are one of 5,000 applications that they will look at, they are going to see a thousand and one of the same kind of high-powered, high scoring student from a good school. That student who includes something different will stick in the memory of the admission staffer who reads it and that could potentially give you a leg up.</p>
<p>As for what they look at officially, the Princeton Review lists this:
[quote=PReview]
Academic Criteria Importance Rigor of Secondary School Record: Very important Class Rank: Important Academic GPA: Very important Standardized Test Scores: Considered Application Essay: Considered Recommendation(s): Important</p>
<p>Non-Academic Criteria Importance Interview: Considered Extracurricular Activities: Important Talent / Ability: Important Character / Personal Qualities: Important First Generation: Considered Alumni/ AE Relation: Considered Geographical Residence: Considered State Residency: Considered Religious Affiliation / Commitment: Not Considered Racial / Ethnic Status: Considered Volunteer Work: Considered Work Experience: Considered Level of applicant's interest: Considered
</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can do an interview with an alum off campus: <a href="http://www.union.edu/Admissions/Events/interviews_offcampus.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.union.edu/Admissions/Events/interviews_offcampus.php</a></p>
<p>You can call the admissions office to schedule that which always looks good as you are showing interest. My prep school college office also gave us lots of tips on showing interest...for example going to nearby college fairs and meeting the Union rep, getting your name down on the list, asking a few pointed questions and giving the admissions staffer a face to put with your name. A phone call or two to admissions made by you yourself to ask a question about your application or something else wouldn't be out of place either.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Does Union have any type of speech or debate team? Thanks!</p>
<p>What is the average GPA for union? I forgot!!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does Union provide generous financial aid to international applicants??
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Sorry for jumping in,manwich. I am also a sophomore from Union and stumbled on this thread just a while ago. Since I am an international student, I can answer ExplicitInnuendo's question (of course, the best source must be admission office but having some insightful answer wouldn't cause any harm, right?).</p>
<p>I know that Union does have some limit for international students, say, they encourage students to contribute at least 5k/ year. However, this is NOT a cut off line. And they do offer full financial aid. About 4-5 each year, as far as I know.
We don't have a very large international student body in compare with other LACs by far, but admission office is working hard on it to increase this number and diversity on campus, so if that's only your worry, you definitely should apply! If you are a match, financial aid can be very generous!</p>
<p>How competitive is the Albany Medical Rpogram?</p>
<p>Manwich-I am curious what your reasons were as to choosing Union over Hamilton.</p>
<p>Can you tell me how sports teams are viewed at Union, particularly the football team. Do students attend games in decent numbers and are individual student/athletes visible in other areas of the school.</p>
<p>Hey sorry to anyone who I let down without a response...my computer got stolen in France and I just got a new one. I'll answer all the remaining questions on here and feel free to ask more!</p>
<p>
<p>It was a tough choice, I really liked them both, Hamilton has a bit of a bigger prestige name and a higher place on rankings, however I felt that it was a bit isolated and smaller than Union. At ~1,800 students it's about 400 less than Union, which is not a ton, but a good percentage difference. At Union everyone already knows each others' business, I didn't feel like I'd want something smaller. Union struck me as a little less disconnected...it's essentially right on the intersection of two highways that take you to Boston or New York in 3 hours, and even if Schenectady isn't the best town, there's certainly more to do in the capital district than Clinton, NY. At decision time I was pretty torn apart between the two, leaning a bit towards Union after a campus visit on a warm spring day, but the clincher/deal sweetener was that Union offered a sizable chunk of no-obligation/no gpa requirement/no strings attached academic scholarship. That was hard to ignore in a tossup, particularly without financial aid.</p>
<p>Ultimately I'd say that the hot sunny spring afternoon visit at Union, however, clinched it as far as my 'perfect fit' 6th sense went. I really recommend it if you're seriously considering Union. The atmosphere on campus is awesome and everything is beautiful right before decisions are due.</p>
<p> [quote=Weston] Can you tell me how sports teams are viewed at Union, particularly the football team. Do students attend games in decent numbers and are individual student/athletes visible in other areas of the school.
</p>
<p>Hockey and Football are pretty much what students get interested in. Football games on nice days will have a pretty good crowd, most of the time overflowing the stands to the grass around the field and the roof of the frat house that's right on the 50 yard line. The football team is generally pretty visible around the school simply because the school is small and the football team has a lot of players. This is generally true of most aspects of student-athlete presence in the school, since the school is small and fields a lot of teams athletes are all over campus. I probably have friends on most of the school's teams.</p>
<p>Lacrosse, Basketball and Baseball kind of take a backseat to Hockey and Football, but really hockey is the big one because it's D-I, the games are always packed and the student section is full and loud.</p>
<p>As far as student athletes involvement in other areas of the school...it can go either way. There are the guys who are clearly at Union to play their sport and not much else, and there are the guys who take advantage of the school more. For example, the environmentally friendly/organic living theme house was started by a hockey player. There have been athletes in my classes who have really surprised me with their intelligent comments and athletes who confirmed every stereotype...it really depends on the individual I think.</p>
<p>this thread has been really helpful!</p>
<p>I feel like Union is really different from all the other schools I am interested in (G'town, BC, Emory, Wake, Nova, W&M, Elon). A good college town is important to me but from what I have heard Union has alot to do on campus and its not like students are actually bored there. I dont want to say that I am afraid that I will be bored at a school that isn't near a city but I love to have something to do rather than partying all the time. </p>
<p>Both my parents went to union. I am not sure if its right for me. Everything you have said so far interests me but is not having a cool college town a downer?</p>
<p>When do people usually declare a major? and if youre undecided what is most helpful in making your decision?</p>
<p>any advice would be great!</p>
<p>sorry for jumping in again :P but this is such an interesting question, so hard to resist ! </p>
<p>Since I am probably one of the most undecided student there (I changed my major at least 6 times, and about 10 times with my major...most registrar officer know my name by heart now), so I think I know how you are feeling.</p>
<p>You just try out lots of courses, and in fact, this is what most Union students do. Someone here told me that this is the only school she knows of where students just goes and try out classes which have nothing to do with their (intended)major(not just because of the required general educaiton). For example, a history course can have econs, engineering, arts etc students. By trying out many classes (mostly in the first year), you can know the school better, have a strong background knowledge and decide what's best for you. I came in as a prospective Computer science major but still open to try out and guess what, now I am an East Asian studies major! The other source is professor. Even if already know what you would major in, you should still try to create a good connection/relationship with professor. They are great source of information, they saw a lot and they can give you good advice :) Union also have a couples of major options like a ID (inter-departmental) or OT (organizing theme/self-design). Anyhow, you should be able to have an idea sooner or later. So don't worry too much :) Just open to new ideas and you should be fine. Generally here student would declare their major as early as the end of freshman year or sometimes in sophomore year. </p>
<p>Actually the more I stay here, the more I am happy with Schenectady. It is true that there is nothing much there yet to do, but they are trying hard and hopefully there should be something new soon. I wouldn't call it a really "down side" since you would become more active in campus activity and also in building the community around. I got acquainted with quite a few of nice families in this small town so I always have places to visit and new people to talk with. I learn great lesson of adaptation and adjustment here even though I was born and grow up in a big city. Believe it or not, there are kids that admitted they miss Schenectady after the long winter break... </p>
<p>Otherwise, if you like some city atmosphere, Saratoga Spring and Albany are fairly closed. Once in a while, Union also have free trip to Boston/NYC/Montreal and that helped to change the air. </p>
<p>So a fit or not...you decide :) Maybe you should come by, sleepover night, audit some classes and see if this is what you want. Cheers!</p>
<p>thanks a million :)</p>
<p>i visited when my parents had their reunion in the spring but I'll have to come and stay a night and audit some classes. - thanks again for the help!</p>
<p>hey manwich, or bixcha, or anyone who currently goes to Union. Do you guys know any transfer students there? I just want to know how competitive it is, and the financial aid...if they give generous (though generous is very relative....) aid to transfer students</p>
<p>They give about 5-7 spots for transfer students every year. It would be tougher for transfer student but there is financial aid available. Transfer is always very competitive since they review your application after they admit the freshman but if you like Union, do apply!Good luck.</p>
<p>I wanted to know how is diversity on campus? Do the minorities tend to stick together or do they hang out with the white students as well.?</p>
<p>I'm currently a Freshman at Union (typing live from the Schaffer library) and I am really enjoying it here.</p>
<p>I was reading over these posts quickly just now and I have a problem with the preppy image. I've been on campus for a few months now and sure, there are preppy kids, but it doesn't dominate the campus. There are people who care about what they wear, but there are many who don't.</p>
<p>Albany Med School/LIM (Leadership in Medicine) is very difficult to get into.</p>
<p>Great faculty to student ratio at Union, no TAs= awesome= profs really get to know you/care about you/very accessible</p>
<p>Students at Union study, but also know how to have a good time...I wouldn't say frats dominate the campus, but they play a big part. With the Minerva system (I can explain that if anyone is interested), there are plenty of things to do at Union. There is something going on all the time--plenty of clubs/religious groups/social activities/intramural sports, etc. You cannot rush/pledge/whatever frats/sororities until fall of soph year.</p>
<p>To be honest, as an international student on campus, I don't think the campus is as diverse as it could have been. However, the admission office is working very hard on bringing diversity on campus. This says, not just in term of geographic or race but also opinions, interest and so on. </p>
<p>For me personally (I suppose I am consider a minority? Asian/international?), even though I "stick" with my international students friends but I still have so called "white friend" or American friends...whatever. It really depends on the students, how open you are. Say, if there is students who is not international student/ not minority would like to be my friend, of course I wouldn't say no! but I think minority students tend to stick together because they understand others' situation better. You would certainly see Asian/European hanging out with Caucasians and reverse. The only thing I can complain is that after the first term of freshman year, it is a lot harder to make friends since everyone already has their "group"(and I think this is seen in lots of other campuses as well) but I don't say it is impossible to make new friends, it really depends on how much you branch out.</p>
<p>So I guess I stopped getting emails when people replied to this thread, though it seems like it has been kept alive, which is cool.</p>
<p>
<p>While there is definitely some interplay, I'd say that the different minorities on campus, on the whole, keep to their own groups. There isn't a whole lot of diversity on campus in general, so I feel like the minority students stick together mostly because the campus is clearly very white. I wouldn't say there's really tension, just that the different groups stick to themselves.</p>
<p> [quote=benje309] I was reading over these posts quickly just now and I have a problem with the preppy image. I've been on campus for a few months now and sure, there are preppy kids, but it doesn't dominate the campus. There are people who care about what they wear, but there are many who don't.
</p>
<p>There is also more to the preppy/new england atmosphere on campus than whether or not people care about what they're wearing...there's, for example, the fact that an large, -visible- portion of the school comes from suburban Boston, Westchester, Fairfield County etc. The school costs $50,000/year, even with financial aid you're going to have students from a wealthy segment of society and that's reflected in the clothes, cars, attitude and lifestyles of the students here...if at the very least much more visibly than, say, at a major state university.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Students at Union study, but also know how to have a good time...I wouldn't say frats dominate the campus, but they play a big part.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>While frats might not dominate the campus overall, I would definitely say that the dominate the weekend social life. They're the key meeting point/party place Friday, Saturday and typically Wednesday, and pretty much the only real events taking place on campus between 11pm and 3am on weekends. I'll also clarify that that I love these fraternity parties and that Union might not be the same for me without them. The social 'scene' at the U definitely focuses around these parties on the weekend, whether it's sorority mixers or big open parties people go out to see other people and to be seen out.</p>
<p>Hi M & B, I want to know something about the graduates, will they go to graduate/professional school or directly go to work?</p>
<p>When did you guys get your admission results? Is it true that Union release the result quite early in March (about March 12-13 I suppose)?</p>