<p>but i have to wonder. how many are jsut preps of that 60%, and how many are snobs?</p>
<p>ill start an uprising against the preps. revenge of the nerds.</p>
<p>Snobbery is subtle - they aren't so much boa****l (e.g. "I drive a beamer") as they are disparaging ("Why don't you have a video ipod like me?"). The first week of class, just about every freshman can be seen sporting the latest styles - I mean, TOTALLY prepped out. Girls wearing $200 Juicy outfits, guys in pink striped polos and sunglasses on their forehead. But as the year goes on, the homogenization is drastic. Everybody owns a northface, all the girls have uggs, most have ipods... I am so disgusted by it that I can't name specifics, but you will find that, by the end of the year, most students own the same exact brand-name items. I'm talking same color, same style, and same model. </p>
<p>The snobbery is manifested through exclusivity - they simply won't associate with you. </p>
<p>But hey - if you think orange is bad (and it is), it sure is better than the old school colors - pastel pink and lime green! (They were changed around the start of the 20th century)</p>
<p>Ah, pink and green--the epitome of "prep." :)
(at least I look nicer in those than in orange..)</p>
<p>Okay, so my question now is this: What DO you like about SU? And is it worth it for me to apply if I'm looking for a place that's intellectually stimulating and moderately liberal but still is pretty laid-back and fun?</p>
<p>anarchy - lol sounds like high school. what year are you entering in the fall? i'm in the music school so there's probably less of the heavy prep / "not cool at all people" i'll be with. my positives are my program and they're changing it next year which will enable me to dual with newhouse which is great and has exactly what i'm looking for. plus the clubs of course. my negatives - just like yours except i think i can handle it (since maybe i'm used to it). trust me, you won't find me wearing orange.</p>
<p>What I like about SU:</p>
<p>-my job, of course :-)
-I haven't had a TA or professor yet that I didn't like or that I felt was incompetant - although I feel that academic programs and the rigor of courses is not what it should be
-the party scene is good
-the university administration is very supportive of students (except OGLEL); they gave me a fair deal of assistance in funding my attendance of a week-long program in Washington DC (including the plane tickets), and have always been professional in handling my requests
-wide variety of student organizations - even if they aren't as active as they could be, you will generally find at least a few people who are in a club, or willing to start one, and so you can do just about anything you want if you are motivated enough
-the downtown area is on the rebound, and there are tons of little shops and restaurants and cafes; Clinton Square has a bunch of concerts during the summer and early fall, ranging from Classical to Jazz to rock. The cultural elements of the city are great - there are a few [acting] theatres, an opera company, a symphony orchestra, and lots of historical organizations. Yes, there ARE ghetto areas of the city, but I really don't think they're all that bad (perhaps for a suburban prep they are), and you kinda have to go out of your way to end up in those parts. There is plenty to do around-town, if you are actually interested in things other than "Survivor" and "Lost" and which superstar actor is screwing who, and having who's baby. Get out and see things - again, it requires effort (and planning to coordinate the bus times and transfers), but can be well worth it for a day around the town. If you have a bike, bring it! Makes life so much easier!
-if you are into outdoor sports - I am involved in cycling and skiing, and hope to do some hiking this year - then syracuse is just minutes away from some pretty back-woods areas. There is a lot of variety in skill level and terrain. SUOC, the outing club, is EXTREMELY active and pretty hard-core (they have the best parties too!) - most are hippies, but they are laid back and generally intelligent people</p>
<p>I'll be a soph. this fall; some may criticize my criticisms and say that I haven't been around long enough, but I also did summer-start (as a requirement for finaid), and have found that i know FAR more about the city of Syracuse and campus resources than almost any other students I have met. This is COLLEGE, not high school - you need to know where to look for help, or where to find things to do. They won't hold your hand and drag you along. So when people get bored, its <em>usually</em> their own fault [the weather does make you want to stay inside sometimes though, too].</p>
<p>oh - if you check out syracuse.com you can follow up on news - and just now it says that Al Gore is speaking in the fall. I should mention that we get some very good speakers - I met Al Sharpton this spring, Ann Coulter (okay, not so good, but "well-known" none-the-less), and the guy who Hotel Rwanda was written about, are just a few. Within the city of syracuse itself (nothing to do with SU), I've been able to meet Hillary Clinton. So, again, if you look around and really make the effort, you can get to hear (and meet in-person) some very interesting people</p>
<p>there's plenty of stuff to do within the city itself. It just takes a little bit of a guide to sort through to all of the good stuff. </p>
<p>Note: there is a casino about 45 minutes away. It's great!!!</p>
<p>lol. gambling! yey!</p>
<p>Anarchy, I'm wondering what made you decide on Syracuse when you were looking at colleges. Your negatives are about the students, your positives about the school.</p>
<p>I never got to see the campus, despite living only 3 hours away. My parents literally wouldn't have driven me 30 minutes to see a college.</p>
<p>I never EVER thought I would end up at SU. Never liked it, never knew anything about it, nada. Wanted to be out of NYS so badly.</p>
<p>But....I liked to sleep through my HS classes. English, math and biology - BORRRRRRRRING. I worked 25 hours a week after school, and ran a business (literally) 60 hours a week more. I wasn't about to waste my time in classes that I wasn't interested in, and that I knew I would never need. On the other hand, I loved languages, history, adn technology, so I got straight As in all those. Ended up with a 3.2 GPA</p>
<p>Well, come admissions time, I got accepted to 2 of my 9 colleges - SU, and Loyola Chicago. I REALLY didnt feel like going to a catholic university, much less one in chicago (I ain't even sure why I applied, to be honest). </p>
<p>So in the end, it was the one and only choice - like it or not, that's where I was going.</p>
<p>^ ultra negative..lol</p>
<p>Why <em>SHOULD</em> I be satisfied, when I can always do better? If I was content and happy with everything in my life, I wouldn't have much reason to change anything. Nothing fires me up more than politics, and I think that we can all agree that most politicians are sleazy liars who do a bad job making ANYBODY happy. And so I plan to turn that anger and disgust into action. By the same token, since I hate Syracuse as much as I do, that is all the more reason to find a better college. Negativity and pessimism is all in the eye of the beholder. I would rather take a negative outlook and plan for the worst possibilities, then simply hope everything goes rosey and find myself unprepared when disaster strikes, or when luck doesn't go my way</p>
<p>Anarchy45, if you REALLY dislike Syracuse that much, and from your posts, it seems to be the case, dont' go there! You will be miserable. Although I can't understand why you feel that way about Syracuse, I can atleast appreciate that people have different goals and needs.</p>
<p>Go to another school. If you need to, start off at a cheap place like a junior college and transfer to a place that you really want to be studying. Frankly, I can't imagine going to a school that I would hate. It would affect my performance too.</p>
<p>Taxguy, Anarchy is a student at Syracuse, he is entering his sophomore year. I agree with you, so he should make sure his grades are as high as they can be and transfer after his sophomore year. That's a good goal, to get out. He needs to plan now so he doesn't make the same mistake again. And do some research, find a school at which you'll thrive. Anarchy, do you have anyone advising you? There are plenty of excellent resources here at college confidential, knowledgeable, informed people. All you have to do is ask.</p>
<p>I advise myself :-) I have never had a problem following up leads and getting the information I needed. Whenever I did actually use "advising" services, be they in high school or in college, 98% of the information they gave me was either useless, or I had already found. What I did seek advice on was "chances" - even though most of the responses are people who know absolutely nothing about college admissions, and are entirely inaccurate, I like the criticism they give, to keep me in 'reality'. I have high hopes and they don't always match my record or abilities. At the moment I have a 3.5 GPA, and I will have that up to a 3.7 by the end of my soph. year I hope. I would like to transfer to either American Uni, GWU, Georgetown or Cornell. I know georgetown is looking rather slim, but for Cornell, a girl from my HS got in there with a 3.0 and an 1100 SAT, so I don't think things look all too bad in that department. Unfortunately, once i get the rejection letters (and the odd acceptance), financial aid will be the determining factor, just as it was the first time around.</p>
<p>That's interesting...I would have suggested GWU for you, I bet you'd love it. but the tuition is huge. I understand you've been given bad advice, and forget about those chances threads.....there are just too many variables, leave it to the admission reps. I truly believe that a viable candidate at 9:00 a.m. may not be viable at 10:00 at the same table. And vice versa. That Cornell student you mentioned is a perfect example. There is a reason she got in with that 3.0 and 1100. And another student won't with the same stats. So good luck to you. I'll be interested in knowing how this all works out for you.</p>
<p>"There is a reason she got in with that 3.0 and 1100"</p>
<p>yes, i wonder what it is though. Usually stats like that belong to athletes and/or huge donors. Keep in mind the average SAT score at Cornell is around 1400, her case is certainly a rarity.</p>
<p>But if the bar is set that low, I figure my chances can be a bit better than I would otherwise assume them to be :-)</p>
<p>a 3.7 will look pretty good to Cornell. If you're looking to transfer there, keep the grades up, write incredible essays, and look for good teacher recs. I transfered from Syracuse to Cornell last year.</p>