How religious is it?

<p>My son is somewhere between agnostic and athiest. He has been accepted at Susquehanna but I wonder how much religion plays a part in the culture there. Can anyone comment on this?</p>

<p>^^ PM yabeyabe…his son is a sophomore…</p>

<p>Haven’t seen a post from him in a bit, but maybe he will see this…</p>

<p>I do not believe an athiest or agnostic would feel out of place there. There are some religious kids on campus and the annual Christmas choral singing is popular, but my son–who is not at all religious–has not thought there was a significant religious aspect to life there, unless you sought it out.</p>

<p>I graduated in 2005 and can tell you that all religions feel comfortable there, and it isn’t an religious culture. I am a non-practicing Catholic, and always felt fine. I never joined a church or attended services, but made it to every Christmas service, as it’s one of the times where SU really shined bright.</p>

<p>Thank you!
Now–how would you describe the personality of the school? That may be tough to do, but for example, what do kids do in Selinsgrove for fun? Is it competitive academically? Are sports popular? What is it “known for”?</p>

<p>My son ended up going to a different school, analyticalmom, but I really wanted him to attend SU! We visited several times, and I was so impressed with the staff, students and faculty. Everyone was so friendly. One professor stopped our group and commended DS for taking notes on the tour. I’m going to encourage my two younger kids to apply there!</p>

<p>Although the school is small, there are the most of the same types of kids as at any school, just only hundreds of them, rather than thousands. There are many varsity athletes and intramural sports are also very popular. Other kids are much more artsy or enjoy the nearby woods, river and mountains. Many enjoy video games and movies; others frat or sorority life. I have not spotted many expensively dressed kids or foreign students and the school is not very diverse racially.</p>

<p>The campus is gorgeous, the facilities very up to date and the people friendly and informal.</p>

<p>Selinsgrove does not offer much beyond movies, shopping and outdoor recreation, so campus activities are very numerous.</p>

<p>I think the most popular majors are business; communications; creative writing; and education, although a new science building indicates efforts to attract more kids with those interests. The workload is stiffer than the admissions stats suggest and class sizes capped at 35 makes it hard for kids to hide in the back if unprepared.
If you need more specifics, let me know.</p>

<p>It’s hard to label the personality of the school, as the students naturally fall into different groups. I tended to spread out amongst those groups when I was a student. In high school, I wasn’t involved in much. Once I got to SU, I joined a fraternity, I played rugby, and I also became the class president for two years. I worked a few work study jobs in different departments (Public Safety, Multicultural Affairs, Women’s Basketball). The campus is one of the best places to have fun things to do in Selinsgrove, but I can attest that Selinsgrove and the surrounding area have grown over the past seven years. There are plenty of places in downtown Selinsgrove to grab a coffee, just relax, and more. In Hummels Wharf, the area has grown greatly, with plenty of places to go to shop. The business school was pretty competitive. It is especially smart to have a strong GPA if you are a business major, as sometimes the London Program has less spaces than available, and it may come down to GPA to go. Sports are pretty popular, from varsity sports (field hockey, football, basketball, etc.) to club sports (rugby, ultimate frisbee, etc.). </p>

<p>If there are any other questions I can help with, please let me know. Feel free to email or call me as well (just message me on here and I can provide my contact information). I still stay involved with SU through various alumni events, as well as networking with current students, and can always give my $0.02.</p>

<p>Just another question about religion - what is the Jewish population at SU? Would a Jewish student feel comfortable there? Thanks!</p>

<p>Momofjr,
The Jewish population is small–I do not know the exact number. There is a Hillel and you can look at their Facebook page and ask the Rabbi who heads it for more details. My son, a nonobservant Jew who has never set foot in Hillel, feels comfortable there.</p>

<p>Feel free to PM if I can help further.</p>

<p>Thank you SO much for your reply - I have really been wondering about this and your response is very helpful. My son is also nonobservant, yet would obviously not want to feel discriminated against or different because of his religion. I see that there are certain traditions related to Christianity at SU (a Christmas candlelighting) - is your son fine with this?</p>

<p>My son does not attend Christmas candlighting, but has no problem with it–he regards everyone’s religion as their own business to practice as they want, as long as they leave him alone.</p>

<p>In high school, he had friends of all religions. What matters to him (and us) is that people share his values and interests, not whether they share his religion. He wanted to be around students who did not put on airs, think that heavy partying is the only way to have fun and or focus on clothes, cars or self-promotion.</p>

<p>I may be naive, but my sense is that in the Middle Atlantic/Northeast at least, religion is not a major wedge between people generally and that kids who have the mainstream interests–sports, videogames, etc–blend together very well.</p>

<p>Sounds like your son and my son have the exact same attitude - thanks so much for all of this information - we will be visiting SU soon and can’t wait!</p>

<p>The vibe on campus is very easy going.Very attractive,unassuming friendliness.Very refreshing.My son is on the track/xc team.As everywhere the distance kids are tight and smart.He is so happy there his brother will join him as a frosh in the fall.Any distance runners looking for a beautiful,safe place to run and enjoy a great liberal arts education will enjoy a home here.I can’t specifically address the religious question,but my sense is that kids who eschew alcohol,drugs,sex won’t be pariahs.They’ll have good company.</p>