Would love to hear the cons of U of Scranton. Thank you!
That’s a difficult question with no other information. What might be a con for you might be a plus for someone else. Example - Scranton has about 4000 undergrads. That could be a con for someone who wants a 20,000 student university or for someone who wants a 1000 student university. If you want a rural setting, Scranton may not appeal to you. But if you like a more urban environment, it would be a plus. If you could provide some more information about what you looking for - size, environment, academics, extra curriculars, etc., that would be helpful
If you asked my daughter, who is currently a freshman at The University of Scranton, she would say there is not a single con…she absolutely loves the school!!!
Hello! I am an admissions counselor at the University of Scranton. I hope you get some more responses from our current students and alums, but I would also love to answer any questions you might have. I invite you to visit our website to learn more about the University of Scranton at www.scranton.edu. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Admissions Office at 1-888-SCRANTON or admissions@scranton.edu. Thank you!
Living in Scranton for four years.
Definitely not a downside for my kids. Quite the opposite. I had two of them spend 4 years each at Scranton. Both of them loved their time there. One got a full time job, bought a house, and has been able to live quite well in Scranton for the last 5 years. During their time as a student my older one received an internship with the federal court system that was just a block away. The younger had a part time job in their field with a downtown company. So they had great opportunities and experiences that built their resumes.
We visit frequently and take advantage of the great restaurants, historic sites, Broadway touring shows, special events like Italian festival over Labor Day weekend, and the Holiday Market the first weekend in December. There is also a ski area just a 10 minute drive away. We also like the fact that the pace of life is just a bit slower than where we live and the people are friendly and take the time to talk.
So there are a lot of upsides to Scranton (both the University and the city). One just has to visit to see if it is right for them.
Agree with @kitty56. My sister applied this cycle at the recommendation of a friend. She was pretty indifferent UNTIL she visited last week. She loved, the area, the school the facilities, the food, the program, the people EVERYTHING! She felt very connected, and that has been missing for her from most schools. University of Scranton has become her first choice!
I agree with the upsides listed. I liked going to college in a smaller, quieter (and safer) city. I liked that I was able to focus more on life on campus than I would have if, say, I went to school in DC and was distracted by all the other events going on in the city. And going to college in a big city has its perks as well, but Scranton was better for me. Plus as others have said, the city of Scranton is very friendly and the university has a strong community.
Overall, I had a great experience at Scranton. But in retrospect, there are a few things I wish were a bit different about the school (graduated 2 years ago, for perspective).
The cost! I had a good scholarship, but it seems like tuition keeps going up and students continue to graduate with debt. As a Jesuit/Catholic school, I think they have an even greater responsibility to recognize the effect of debt on this generation. Scranton is pretty generous with aid, but it isn’t always enough. I would love to see Scranton do something like LaSalle did where they make a conscious effort to lower the cost instead of having it rise a little every year. Of course, this issue isn’t unique to Scranton, and its price is comparable (if not lower) than similar colleges like Loyola Maryland.
The city of Scranton is increasingly diverse, but the university still isn’t as diverse as I would have liked. Beyond the racial makeup, I kinda wish Scranton also had more diversity of thought and background. Most of the students are from PA, NJ, NY, and then a bit from New England and farther south. You occasionally meet an exchange student or someone from California or something, but for the most part, most students have been raised in similar environments and socioeconomic backgrounds. Being from the same region is nice in that your friends and significant others are nearby after graduation, but you also miss out on some stuff. Since graduating, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people from different regions of the country and the perspectives they bring. I wish I had more of that during college.
Scranton also doesn’t have enough clubs, in my opinion. Or enough active clubs that really have activities and advertise them to the whole community. Maybe some of it is the requirements for clubs to get recognized and get funding? But it seems like a lot of other small schools I know have more “quirky” and interesting clubs. Or there are some clubs that exist at Scranton but just don’t really do anything. Like there was one I joined my freshman year that did 1 trip to NYC during the year and maybe ate pizza occasionally? There was another I had wanted to join, but when I went to the club fair, there was a bare table with the name of the club attached on it, but no one present. It was clear that this club was so nonexistent that no one even bothered to show up for it. I realize that clubs are often what you make of them, so you should get more involved if there’s more you want to see. But I also knew people who tried to make an interesting club our freshman year and got the application rejected because whoever’s in charge of clubs thought that there wouldn’t be enough interest.
Might just depend on what you’re interested in, though. There are plenty of people who are content with what’s offered. Maybe my interests were just too different compared to those of other students. Some clubs are very active on campus, so if you’re interested in those, you’ll be set. Probably good to talk to current students if someone is interested in particular opportunities. Again, this was my experience while I was a student, and depending on who is managing clubs and such, it could very well be different now.
Another point- Scranton does try to have some events on the weekends for students, but it just doesn’t seem like enough. They would do maybe 1 event a weekend. I wish clubs had more events on the weekends/advertised them, but that just doesn’t seem to happen. Friday-Sunday nights were often the loneliest times of my college experience. I knew I couldn’t be the only one who didn’t want to party in the Hill Section, I just couldn’t find the other people who had to be stuck in their dorms, too! Even though I was pretty involved on campus, it took me a while to make friends, and even longer to find someone to hang out with on the weekend. Our senior year, my friend and I usually hung out and watched movies or TV shows with a big bowl of popcorn. That was lovely. My younger brother had a similar experience in his first year or two at Scranton. He felt like he just couldn’t find people he really had a lot in common with, and on the weekends he didn’t want to drink like the people in his hall did. He felt that he didn’t have many options, so he ended up spending those nights online in his room. He does have close friends now, but it took a long time. Or a longer time than it seemed for other people.
Finally- I would say that how happy students are with the academics depends on the program they’re in. Scranton’s academics are strong overall, but like with any school, prospective students should research their program and talk to current students. My brother studied computer science and was very unhappy with the professors in the department. From what he’s said, there’s way too many of them who just need to retire so they can get teachers who actually want to teach. You’ll probably find some of this at any school, though, you just have to research enough. Conversely, I was pretty happy with my department and with the SJLA program at Scranton. Both of us were very happy with the general education classes, too.
Hope that’s helpful! Again, not trying to be a downer, and I did overall have a great experience at Scranton. But realistically, no college is perfect, and those are areas that I feel could improve at the school.
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