<p>I personally couldn’t figure out who teaches what so I just decided to go with the ones that I found most interesting. Sorry, I know that isn’t really much help…</p>
<p>Would someone know how much the tuition is? Room/board etc? I just see totals.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hi sorry I kind of forgot about this site in the end of the year crunch…I’ll keep a closer eye on it from now on if there are any more questions. Class of '13 people feel free to ask away…I was at least a little bit nervous the summer before Union!</p>
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<p>Union doesn’t generally make a clear breakout of the payments…they prefer to lump it into a comprehensive fee which for 2009/2010 is $50,439.</p>
<p>Read all about it here: [url=<a href=“http://www.union.edu/Resources/Campus/finance/StudentAccounts/index.php#top]StudentAccounts[/url”>http://www.union.edu/Resources/Campus/finance/StudentAccounts/index.php#top]StudentAccounts[/url</a>]</p>
<p>manwich, thanks for being on here to help us all out with questions and the like. </p>
<p>What kind of computer do you recommend to an incoming first year? Right now I have a year old white basic mac and really don’t feel the need to buy a new computer at this point…do you think this one will do?</p>
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<p>No need to get a new computer I don’t think. They’ll probably try to sell you one but all you really need is a computer that can run Word and go on facebook haha. It seems like everyone has mac laptops (I do). The money you save by not getting a new computer can go to books, which are certainly pricey.</p>
<p>thanks so much!</p>
<p>haha gotta love facebook :)</p>
<p>oh okay so one more question. lol. You mentioned you were majoring in political science-how do you like that department, and find the profs.? I plan on majoring in history and political science.</p>
<p>are you required to live on campus for the first year? can being not white be an advantage?</p>
<p>how hard is the joint medical program, with albany medical college, to get into?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Union is centered around the work hard-play hard attitude. What is the administration like? Are they strict or lax? What’s the alcohol policy?</p>
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<p>I love the department, there’s a good breadth of professors and I’ve taken some great classes. There are plenty of professors with viewpoints that differ from my own, which is something I like and that makes going to class that much more enjoyable.</p>
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<p>You’re required to live on campus the first year, and encouraged to after that, though plenty of juniors and seniors wind up living off campus. The school has almost an entire block of very nice old houses facing campus that were renovated and made into apartments. You can get them in the housing lottery and they’re technically ‘on campus’. Living on campus freshman year is pretty formative in making friends and getting to know people who you’ll spend the next four years with.</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure what you mean in the second part of your question, sorry!</p>
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<p>As I understand it the medical program is quite difficult to get into and considerably demanding, however I don’t know much more about it than that.</p>
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<p>‘Work hard play hard’ is pretty accurate. Classes can be pretty demanding and the weekend is clearly a time to release for much of the campus. The administration takes a pretty intelligent approach in my opinion. They seem to recognize that parties will happen and they don’t take a really aggressive approach to controlling student behavior, instead preferring to set quite reasonable rules and only punish people who blatantly ignore them. Bottom line: you can get away with plenty as long as you have some respect for the generally loose rules.</p>
<p>My feeling is that the administration understands that parties and underage drinking will take place, and would prefer to have it safely on campus and monitored rather than pushing it off campus or into secret.</p>
<p>Discipline is done on a points basis, where underage drinking/open container is 1-2 points, marijuana possession 2-4, all the way up to selling drugs or sexual assault at 10. Generally if you’re caught drinking and you aren’t 21 they will take your drink and write you up. Disciplinary action increases with the number of points you get, but getting 1 or 2 points won’t get you much beyond a warning. A lot of it is also up to the RA or campus safety officer involved…getting off with a warning is pretty common.</p>
<p>In talking with friends at other schools it seems that Union has more lax regulation/enforcement than many other schools. We still can have kegs, for the time being. :)</p>
<p>Read all about it: <a href=“http://www.union.edu/StudentLife/Handbook/2008_09_StudentHandbook.pdf[/url]”>http://www.union.edu/StudentLife/Handbook/2008_09_StudentHandbook.pdf</a></p>
<p>Page 24 and 32, in particular. The rules laid out there sound considerably more intense than they really are…it’s all about how they’re enforced.</p>
<p>I meant when applying to Union, Can being brown increase your chances of getting in?</p>
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<p>I’m not affiliated with the admissions department, so I can’t really comment. I’d say it’s not a factor more or less than at other similar schools to Union. Many schools are trying to increase diversity these days.</p>
<p>thanks for your help manwich</p>
<p>Manwich, what is your opinion on frats? Do most students join? It is a difficult/time consuming process to go through? </p>
<p>Also what majors have the reputation as being the harder and easier? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
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<p>The frats have a pretty big presence on campus, though ultimately only about 30% of the student body pledges. They wind up being a pretty big focal point for parties and nightlife. I think most of that is due to the fact that they have some reduced restrictions, no direct supervision other than the occasional campus safety visit and they have large open spaces for lots of people/dancing. There aren’t really any comparable venues.</p>
<p>The school has introduced the minerva houses as a competitor to the fraternities. They’ve had some trouble getting off of the ground as social spots, however this past spring there were a few great events that demonstrated the school’s willingness to work with the students to make them a space for both academics and socializing. Early on there was a lot of hostility towards the minerva system from students who felt that the school was trying to squeeze out greek life. Since they only began in 2004 we’re just now seeing the first few classes of students who never knew the campus before the fraternities, so attitudes do appear to be changing.</p>
<p>To be honest I do enjoy the fraternity parties and many of my good friends are brothers, though I don’t think that they are as absolutely necessary as many people make them out to be. The ‘party line’ is that greek life provides lots of philanthropic and social benefits to the campus and the area, and many people will earnestly defend their houses as much more than just a place to party with friends, statements I find to be bogus. I rushed and pledged a fraternity briefly before realizing that I didn’t particularly like many of the brothers and that there would be a lot of effort (and money) involved in joining something that I had plenty of misgivings about. Pledging ultimately consumes lots of time and can be difficult, though a lot depends on the individual frat. I didn’t see the value in ‘losing’ one of my twelve precious terms at Union to pledging. It’s a personal choice, something I though I’d like to do but quickly discovered wasn’t for me. I don’t miss out on a whole lot, as access to parties—both open and private—isn’t too difficult if you know lots of people.</p>
<p>As for the majors: Bio/pre-med and engineering certainly stick out as being more difficult, while perhaps psychology and history may be easier. There’s a lot of individual choice here as well, as different things wind up being more or less difficult for different people. I have a friend who is premed who is always working with and writing about complicated interactions with cells and proteins and stuff—things I’d consider ‘hard’. He took a political science class with me once and found the philosophical analysis and discussions we had to be intolerable. </p>
<p>That said, engineering students definitely do have a reputation for having LOTS of work to do all the time, whereas much of my time is spent reading, with only an essay to write at the end of the term. I’m accused of having it easy when I don’t have to spend all afternoon in the lab twice a week, but the situation flips when I’m lugging 18 books around campus and writing intricately detailed research papers at the end of the term.</p>
<p>It’s all relative!</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Hey Manwich,</p>
<p>How politically active is the student body? Correct me if I’m wrong but I would assume most of the students are liberal…but is there a fair share of conservative students and profs?</p>
<p>also are there good job placement services and good internship opportunities?</p>
<p>anyone know when we find out roomates??</p>
<p>^ I know a bunch of people from our class found out today. I’m in florida and haven’t heard but you should get it by the end of the week depending where you’re from :)</p>
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<p>Union students can be a little politically apathetic for my taste, however there has been considerably more political involvement in the past few years and I’ve been quite impressed with how well informed many students are.</p>
<p>Generally students are liberal, though it’s definitely not the most liberal school I’ve been to. There are plenty of conservatives to make class discussion interesting. The professors have quite varied political perspectives which is something I like a lot. I’m pretty liberal but I’ve had professors more liberal than me and more conservative than me. I really enjoy disagreeing with professors sometimes…it certainly makes class more interesting.</p>
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<p>The career center makes lots of opportunities known and is available for r</p>