<p>My son is interested in Susquehanna University. We're from CT and we actually don't know anyone who's attended SU. Wondering if any students/parents/alumni would be offer their insight / perspective on Susquehanna's academics, student life, etc. Information available on the web indicates that SU seems to pride itself on providing high levels of personal attention to their students so they get an "individualized" educational experience..wondering also if anyone can validate that notion..</p>
<p>RRoss, my son is entering his junior year there. The academics are more rigorous than the admissions selectivity would suggest. For kids to have a good experience, given the very rural location, they should join many student activities.</p>
<p>Classes are small (capped at 35), which is good, except that you may be shut out the first time you try for a class many upperclassmen seek.</p>
<p>As with any school, not every teacher is a thrilling and you will some kids who think too much of themselves, or drink too much, but generally the atmosphere is friendly and informal.</p>
<p>Support and guidance are readily available, but students need to seek it out.</p>
<p>Facilities are outstanding.</p>
<p>The student body lacks diversity, as it does at most small, rural schools.</p>
<p>I will be happy to answer further questions and wish you the best of luck in your search.</p>
<p>Thanks, Yabayabe2. Appreciate your sharing perspective; re: your son’s experience.
Your comments offer the sense that Susquehanna is a solid, but rather unremarkable school- neither really good or really bad, with nothing that makes it truly compelling or special… I’ve noted that smaller schools away from major population centers posess an amazingly strong sense of community and spirit…and from your comments it appears that’s not the case with Susquehanna. Overall, would you say that your son has a favorable impression of Susquehanna?</p>
<p>Hi RRoss,</p>
<p>Forgive me in advance for a long-winded reply.</p>
<p>I should stress that neither my son nor I are rah rah by personality, so I may be selling the school short by not effusing as much as many CC posters. During the college search process, he and I both grew weary of every school, from small LACs to large state flagships, saying it was “like a family” or “unique”–it reminded me of the humorist Garrison Keillor describing Lake Wobegon as a place where every person was above average.</p>
<p>I also tend to discount comparisons of schools by people who do not have in depth experiences at all the schools they are comparing. In addition, even going back to my college days, I find that most people tend to praise their school much more to friends and neighbors than to classmates. </p>
<p>As I saw a third party report ranking Susquehanna first in its category in rate of incoming freshmen graduating in 4 years, clearly the school does some things very well. An eclectic mix of programs are regarded as particularly strong–business, communications, creative writing, education, music and graphic arts.</p>
<p>During the search process, the campus vibe seemed unusually friendly and informal compared to the other schools, but all visits are obviously just snapshots. I think that at all schools, freshmen are much more open and outgoing than upperclassmen–groups form around fraternities and sororities; sports teams; social cliques; and activities.</p>
<p>My son enjoys the teachers in his major and has a coed group of close friends, who are very nice, down to earth kids. He shies away from large, loud events and has not tried as hard as I wish he would to try out new activities or excel academically. I would not say his experience is representative of his classmates, because I do not know. My belief is that, at any school, the primary drivers of happiness are whether you adjust smoothly to life away from home; like your roommate; find someone to date; quickly find a group to hang out with; are very interested in your major; and enjoy a campus activity. As much as we parents try very hard to research every school under consideration, chance still plays a very large role.</p>
<p>“find someone to date”</p>
<p>Sooooo? We don’t hear from you for months and you drop this one on a public forum!? Haha…hope all is well!!</p>
<p>To the OP: yabeyabe is a great person to “talk” to to get the real scoop…take his words as gospel re: SU</p>
<p>Thanks yabeyabe2 for your detailed reply. I found it to be open, honest, and pretty fun to read. As a parent who’s already been through the whole college-search experience once before with my older boy, I can certainly relate to your comments about schools (and students, and alumni) gushing about this or that particular aspect of their schools, and sifting through a lot of what seems to be some overly-effusive praise on various threads, like cc.
I appreciate your telling it like it is - about yourself, your student-son, and about SU. Your information was helpful and I now think it’s worth it for us to make a trip from CT to SU so my son can experience it for himself. What you call chance is what I call a gut-feeling, when it comes to a kids’ perception of any particular school…it happened with my oldest boy, and the only way for that to happen (or not) is to make a visit and see what happens. Thanks again & best of you luck to your son.</p>
<p>Thanks RRoss. </p>
<p>I think of taking kids on college visists as being similar to taking a dog on a walk–they pick up vibes we cannot and react strongly to them, leaving us just hoping they are right.
If you are visiting PA, you have a wealth of LACs to consider. Juniata I think has a somewhat more artsy vibe than SU (smaller and no business school) and Muhlenberg has a more NY area vibe (reflecting the student demographics and large theater/pre-med/business majors). </p>
<p>I can also pass on what I saw at or heard about Moravian; Ursinus; Lycoming; Gettysburg; Franklin & Marshal; Dickinson; Drew and Albright.</p>
<p>It is amazing how quickly and absolutely kids develop a sense and perspective on a particular scholl when they visit- after having been on more than a few college visits now, I’ve learned to control my own reflexive responses, keep my mouth shut, and just sit back and watch it happen, which is actually pretty fun. It might be where the phrase: “light-bulb moment” came from.
…Would love to hear your perspectives on Moravian, Juniata, and Urisinus.</p>
<p>We visited Ursinus right after Muhlenberg. Perhaps 2 in 1 day was a mistake, but we both liked Muhlenberg much more. It had a warmer vibe and the tour guide was less stiff. The Ursinus guide said we could not see a dorm which seemed strange. The campus seemed nice and more spacious than Muhlenberg.</p>
<p>Visiting Moravian on a Saturday late morning meant most kids were asleep, so it was harder to get a good sense of them. The dean of Admissions greeted us, a very nice touch. The campus suffered badly from our seeing Susquehanna previously; it was much less spacious; surrounded by busy streets; divided in 2 with a half mile of city in between; and the buildings seemed older. It’s high 4 year graduation rate was impressive. Our son’s guidance counselor enjoyed his time there.</p>
<p>We did not visit Juniata but a CC friend reported her daughter (who i think had an interest in theater) had a great freshman year. It did not offer as many classes in the areas of my son’s interests. The admissions person was very responsive and perky via email. </p>
<p>Oddly, our NJ high school sends many kids to most PA LACs, but almost none to Ursinus, Juniata and Moravian, despite U and J being in the CTCL group and the counselor being from M (although I do not think he could persuasively advocate coming inside during a thunderstorm). All 3 lack diverse students, like most LACs in PA.
Have you considered Drew which has a nice campus in an affluent suburb, a good theater program and easy train access to NYC and CT (although a high price tag)?</p>
<p>Thanks Yabeyabe2. Info. about M is interesting to us - had read but didn’t internalizethe fact that the campus is divided into two sections, separated by some city blocks.
Drew is very nice but as you’d mentioned quite pricey. My son visited wityh my wife and both came back with their own senses that it wasn’t a good “fit” for my son, who tends toward being a bit awkward and one who’s very comfortable marching to his own drum.</p>
<p>What about Gettysburg? It’s essentially just out of our notional “distance radius” but would like your thougyts. To reciprocate, I coud offer you insight into schools here in New England, if you have any interest…</p>
<p>I think it speaks well of him and you that he follows his beliefs, not the crowd.</p>
<p>We did not visit G’burg because I kept reading that, although it was pretty and a good school, it was very preppy and that the social scene was dominated by frats and sororities. For a boy who is somewhat awkward, I would sugget the higher the percentage of upperclassmen in frats, the less likely he may be to fit in–and note that Juniata does not allow them. A CC poster I found very astute had the same reaction after a visit. The kids from our HS who attend G’burg, Dickinson and F&M are all very confident, but that might not be a representative sample.</p>
<p>A professor friend praised Goucher as good for independent-minded, not socially slick students (like Muhlenberg, it also has a very high ratio of girls to boys). In your region, Clark strikes me as a school for independent thinkers. As CTCL schools (as are Goucher and Clark), Juniata and Ursinus should be similar, although that book is now so old that it might be outdated.</p>
<p>Ithaca is a popular option at our school for kids who are not cookie cutter and Binghamton is a good school which is much less selective for out of staters, as its lack of a football team may turn them off.</p>
<p>Interesting comments, re: G-burg. The two students we know who go there are indeed very “confident” types, as you described- very attuned to following sports, spend energy toward staying being squarely in the middle of the scoial flow, etc. Interesting also that you mentioned Clark and Goucher- both schools are on his “very short” list- he’s visited Clark, and had one of those “light bulb” experiences- I went, too, and it did appear that there were a lot of kids like him around; he’s planning to apply to Gaucher (pricey?) and if he gets in, we’ll make the trip.</p>
<p>I believe Goucher is indeed pricey; I think that generally schools near big cities have higher land and labor costs, producing higher student costs. Its proximity to Baltimore and Washington, however, might give him more to do, as well as the ease of returning home by train. Have you posted for info on the Juniata board?</p>
<p>Will be posting something on the Juniata site, but based on the information I’ve read and reading some of the (now older) postshere on cc about J., it doesn’t seem like a great fitt…</p>
<p>I certainly don’t know about Juniata to help, but if you want to PM a very nice and insightful current parent, I can put you in touch. Best of luck.</p>
<p>I found researching small, not prominent schools on CC very difficult. Even setting the search engine for all historical posts, I would find only a handful, often dominated by one cheerleader and/or one hater (I recall a then current Ursinus student who posted so many negative posts that I was tempted to offer to pay for his transfer applications myself).</p>
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<p>Thanks, Yabeyabe2. I’ll take you up on your offer to connect with a current J. parent via PM.
I agree that “mining” the CC thread-base for lesser-known LAC’s is pretty tough; many times there are simply no posts that offer current insight, and other times the threads are comprised of deeply “polarized” comments, as you’ve experienced yourself. Enjoy the 4th.</p>
<p>rross184, I’d be glad to discuss with you my experience by phone. I graduated in 2005 with a BS in Marketing, went on to pursue my MBA in Global Business afterward. I was involved with various extracurriculars (a fraternity, class president, rugby, on-campus employment) and studied abroad. I am still very active with alumni events, and would be glad to answer any questions you have.</p>
<p>If you’d like to set up a time to talk by phone, please let me know and I will message you my phone number. I cannot speak highly enough of SU.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response and your offer, SUGrad2005.
My son and I have set up an appointment to visit and tour SU at the end of this month.
…Recognize from your comments that you may not have direct experience in this area, but can you offer any insight into theater at SU, and what opportunities might be available in the theater program for students who’d like to participate at the extracurricular (versus academic major or minor) level?</p>
<p>Good to hear that you’ll be visiting! I still keep in contact with many professors and staff on campus (President Lemons still knows my name when I run into him at alumni events - which speaks volumes about him).</p>
<p>And in regards to your question, I had a friend at SU that was not a theater major/minor, but was still able to take part in various productions/extracurriculars involving the theater program.</p>
<p>Enjoy the visit!</p>
<p>Found this thread doing a google search, </p>
<p>Our student is not from the NE…</p>
<p>how regional is SU…and is it a suitcase school? K2 cannot get home just “for the weekend”</p>