Hello All, We are entertaining the idea of sending my DD to Marist College. We do not know much about it, only that is was established 90 years ago, non catholic and lots of talk regarding alumni connection/ students love it. However, I would like to hear about REAL alumni connection or job placement experiences. Why your STUDENT loves/loved it? Is your student an athlete or scholar? Did they live on campus for all four years? How is the FOOD? I was there this weekend…the food was just OK! TIA
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We loved Marist when we looked at it with our son a few years back and we are going this weekend with our daughter to tour the campus again. I have several close friends whose children graduated from Marist. Neither was an athlete and both lived on campus all 4 years. Both lived in townhouses overlooking the Hudson River. Both had numerous internships over the years and both had job offers coming out of college. One works for Disney in Anaheim, his dream job in digital media. The other works for ESPN in Connecticut. College food is college food everywhere, lol That will never change. The school is 90 minutes from NYC via Metro train (1mile away). Students can ride the local bus route for free showing ID. It runs every hour on the hour. The Poughkeepse Galleria Mall is 2 miles away and has 100+ stores, restaurants, theaters, supermarkets ect…The college has activities and trips every weekend. All sports teams play on campus which adds to the school spirit. As mentioned, heading back this weekend to tour again and may have some additional info.
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We also are visiting with D20. Visited with S19 who liked it alot but ultimately chose a different college. Have a friend whose S14 graduated with finance degree and loved it. Several internships during college. Now works at a very well known financial firm and makes a great salary. Got the job right out of college, no waiting. I believe he lived off campus senior year. I dont have too many other specifics but got a good vibe from visiting and my friend/parents of their S14 were very happy with the school and highly recommended it.
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Marist definetly moves up on the list. Great location only 90 minutes from midtown NYC by train. The campus itself is beautiful, well kept and manicured. Many newer buildings and new Athletic Center under construction. Very safe, non-intimidating campus feel. Students and staff were all friendly. The campus had a lot of activity going on for early Sunday.
1200-1350 SAT and the school is also TEST Optional. Freshman dorms were your typical doubles. Floors/Wing separated by sex. Laundry is free. Freshman must have the unlimited swipe plan. Sophs, Juniors and Seniors all live in apt style or townhouses with kitchens. Housing is NOT guaranteed all 4 years and works on a priority points system. In past 8 years, no one who wanted housing was denied. There are also several condo/townhome complexes just off campus that many students rent. Several Starbucks on campus.Cafeteria was large and clean. Another few smaller places on campus to grab a sandwich, salad ect…
They pushed the Study Abroad program hard. Nearly 60% of students go abroad during their 4 years. 80 countries to choose from. School spirit around campus was evident. 80 plus clubs available to join. Greek life is 5% of population.
Everyone of the 15 guides either had a double major or major/minor. Credits are able to double count. Library was nice, well used. Free printing on campus. Free WIFI on entire campus.
Social life seems to be OK, many area bars and parties on campus.
Ratio of females 60% to males 40%. The school has many trips to NYC for $25 you get round trip transportation and ticket to Broadway Play. $60 ski trip to Hunter Mountain includes transportation, ski rental and lift pass. $5 movie tickets to local theaters just to name a few.
Cost of tuition, fees, housing $55,000 per year. Merit Aid ranged from 5-$20,000. Many on campus jobs available.
Again, Marist will probably make the short list
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Thanks for the update @bmacNJ! Also read your visit report - very helpful! It will be fun to visit again soon with D20.
Admissions said that no one who wanted housing was turned away, despite the points system? It sounds like a complicated, iffy process and not too keen on being off campus in that area? Is there transportation available to do things locally (shopping, etc…) as there won’t be a vehicle in the picture for at least the first year?
Any more Marist feedback?!?! We are visiting in Feb.
@BmacNJ Yes, it was accurate, thank you!! We enjoyed the tour, fortunately before Covid hit. We were all impressed by the campus, buildings seemed really nice and modern, the grounds lovely even in winter. The water views spectacular. The dorms also nice compared to what we have seen in other schools. Our biggest hesitation was the area surrounding Marist, kind of depressing, that you have to cross over a very busy road and not much there and kind of dismal. I am hopeful though that there is a whole new complex they are building that this can make the area more appealing. This was the first time we had ever been to Poughkeepsie and can’t say we were very impressed from what we saw but maybe there are nicer areas. If anyone else is familiar with the area would love to hear your opinion!
The other thing that made me hesitate is that fashion merchandising is very popular and the female students we saw were dressed very nicely, which makes sense! However my daughter is more the roll out of bed and put sweatpants and hoodie on type of student and I’m not sure she would click that well?
Anyway, Marist did make her list and sr daughter has applied Early Action!
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Just visited Marist last week (July 2021). Even on a dreary, wet day there was a positive vibe-- kids seemed pretty engaged w/the tour. We saw a freshman dorm: four separate rooms housing 2 kids each, linked by a common sitting area w/sofa and space for a TV. There are also other freshman dorms w/the standard 2 kids per room. Cafeteria looks like Hogwarts.
The town of Poughkeepsie is not charming, but it’s not horrible, either-- plus you have that Hudson River view and those $25 dollar Broadway trips into the city offered 3 or 4 times per semester. Also $25 ski bus up to Hunter Mt. Metro-North train is 5 minutes off campus, arriving @Grand Central. They light an enormous pine tree in the middle of campus for Christmas… They spent a lot of time presenting study abroad w/particular focus on Marist’s Florence campus… also Dublin, but many different destinations are available. Lots of focus on career placement and alliances with future employers.
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This was my impression too when we visited now a couple of years ago. Lovely campus, but surrounding area not great. I was wondering-- they were supposed to be building a whole complex across the street from the campus with stores and residences. Has that happened?
I’m surprised that Marist is still promoting the travel abroad programs with the realities of Covid.
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There wasn’t any mention of the proposed Hudson Heritage project… I imagine b/c of covid there have been construction delays. While study abroad must have been non-existent last year, they seem to have a super optimistic outlook for 2022 and beyond.
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My daughter attended Marist and we could not have been more happy with a college. The Points system is a good thing. It gets the students more involved in the campus. It helps them to make friends and interact in campus activities. It is not iffy in that you will always get housing but it get and keeps you more involved. Ps. transportation was never a problem.
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Interesting, thanks for the update! Good luck with the college search!
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