<p>I have been a student at geneseo since fall 04, and ive been here for every summer since also. I am a physics major with a neutral opinion of geneseo (don't love it, dont hate it). I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.</p>
<p>general pros/cons?</p>
<p>Well, it's hard to give general pros and cons about every aspect of the college, but here are a few.
Pros:
-In most majors students receive a lot of personal attention. Faculty and administration are very approachable
-Virtually every professor has the highest degree possible for their field
-Safe campus and community
-House parties rarely get busted, and are easy to find
-RA's in dorms don't harass students (unless youre being a complete dick)
-Most students take their education seriously
-Intellectual discussion is not hard to come by
-Students are generally very easy to get along with</p>
<p>Cons:
-Administration cares about numbers and making the college look statistically better, sometimes this means focusing on things other than students' education
-Geneseo's greatness is sometimes exaggerated
-Geneseo has a State Trooper barracks, the county jail (Sheriff's department headquarters), a local police agency and university police. 4 overlapping agencies leads to annoyances sometimes (however they are surprisingly lenient with parties).
-Residence life staff treats you like you are 12
-Students forced to stay on campus for 2 years (although it is possible to get around this)
-Even off campus residents have to get their mail at the college union, despite how they justify this, its much less convenient for even on campus students than getting mail in residence halls
-Food. Wow, not only is it far too expensive, its terrible. You get sick of the few good foods after eating them every day for months.</p>
<p>... ill stop there</p>
<p>thanks 10char</p>
<p>Seeing as how youre a physics major, Im quite interested in your opinions. I'm planning on attending Geneseo for the fall of '07 as a physics major and Im not sure if it's a smart move? I was planning on sticking to a state school for undergrad and apparently Geneseo is the "best" of the state schools. I was wondering how the program is there? What the new science center is like? What do you plan on doing after Geneseo with physics? If you were to choose over again, would you pick Gen. or another school? And would it be wise of me to invest my time and money in Geneseo? Im going to be a senior, and I have the stats of an average Geneseo freshman. Thanks...</p>
<p>Geneseos physics program is a very good one. Geneseo was among 20 of Americas physics programs to be evaluated by the National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics, and was cited as an example of a thriving program. Faculty members are extremely dedicated to physics students and there is no shortage of interaction. Research opportunities are made available each summer and throughout the year; I would recommend getting involved early. The nice thing about Geneseos physics research is its not trivial nor are you doing a graduate students b i t c h work. As a physics major at Geneseo, you will never take classes taught by TAs (within the PHYS major), in fact, you will never be taught by anyone with less than a doctoral degree. I cant think of many negatives about the physics program. I intend to be an engineer, so I am in a 3-2 program and intend to transfer to another school to complete a bachelors in engineering. If I had to pick another school, I am not sure what I would choose. I like the idea of having a degree in physics as well as engineering, although I am not sure if this would make me more marketable in the work force. In case you care, the facultys specialties are Nuclear Physics (3), Astronomy (1), General Relativity (1), Mechanical Engineering (1), and Solid State (1). There is a new faculty member coming soon, but I am unsure of his specialty. As far as the new building Right now construction is still in progress on all of the science buildings at least until when I graduate. If you are coming in 07 it should be done before you graduate. The ISF is nice though, but physics will ultimately remain in the old science building, but the old building is going to be renovated so it will be nice.</p>
<p>Whats the makeup of the asian community there? Like mostly Chinese, or Indian, etc.</p>
<p>How well would a far left counterculture idealist who is somewhat antisocial fit there? And is there much of a social life outside of parties?</p>
<p>Generally, people here seem to be liberal. So you're likely to bump into someone with those interests, even if you're antisocial (so long as you mean "not very social" rather than "sociopath" :)). Specifically, I remember some guy stopping by with my roommate who said he was going to work in New Orleans with some kind of Anarchist group... so I guess that's pretty left/idealist.</p>
<p>whats the deal with freshman housing? whats the best place to live? the worst?</p>
<p>There's 2 all freshmen dorms--Onondaga (southside) and Jones (north). Go with Jones, it's the dorm closest to class.</p>
<p>The worst dorms are located in southside because it's about a 10 minute walk to class. The worst by far is Wayne because it's the farthest and it's tiny. </p>
<p>Steuben is a good dorm as it's next to Jones, but mostly filled with upperclassmen. Livingston's not bad either, as it's also near classes and it's next to the best dining hall, MJs.</p>
<p>I don't know the exact figures but there's a fair amount of Asian students. The student body isn't that homogenous. There's GCCC (Geneseo Chinese Cultural Club), KASA (Korean American Student Association), JCC (Japanese Culture Club) and Shakti (the south asian club) and they each have annual productions and lotsa events.</p>
<p>There's also a lot of international Asian students--most of 'em live in Wyoming or Wayne.</p>
<p>My daughter if a freshman this year and is interested in studying abroad in the Summer of '08 or '09. Can you share anything related to the experience, whether first hand or heresay.</p>
<p>She is interested in Rome, Athens, Oxford or China.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>I studied abroad in Oxford one summer and it was one of the best experiences of my college career! I would highly recommend that your daughter take advantage of any of these programs. A lot of my friends did summer study abroad programs and loved them. I've never heard complaints about any of the Humanities summer study abroad programs. There is always a lot of free time for travel and exploration built into the program, so it's a great way to get to see another country and take care of a required class.</p>
<p>Do you know what the chemistry department is like? It seems like bio and biochem majors have a lot more course options, but I don't really know if that matters.</p>
<p>Cheers to geneseostudent! I'm considering transferring to Geneseo for the fall of '08 and pursuing physics (and/or Chemistry).</p>
<p>Are there any research partnerships with any of the schools in Rochester? Or perhaps Buffalo? Say, using their facilities?</p>
<p>And I second Rumplestiltskin. Can anyone provide some info on the Chem dept?</p>
<p>I read something on the Geneseo website from about 11-12 years ago that described an annual Physics vs Chem football game. Is that kind of camaraderie still present? :)</p>
<p>Also, geneseostudent, I would think that #1 and #2 of your cons are fairly common. Colleges/universities are more like businesses, imo.</p>
<p>Geneseograd06 - was that the Chem @ Oxford program? Must've been pretty freakin' neat!</p>