<p>northeast mom, if you haven't been, go to the SUNY New Paltz main facebook page; you can get to it by clicking admissions...they have a lot of great info there from real students however your kid should be the one logging on to ask anything, not cool for mom to :-)</p>
<p>muffy thanks. If anyone else knows the answers to post #20, please answer.</p>
<p>". . .if you want to work in NYC after college, Bing will be much more impressive on your resume.</p>
<p>That's just not true; Bing may have a bit more cache tha NP, but just a bit. Increasingly, strong students from NYC are choosing NP; it's not just a back-up for those who weren't admitted to Bing.</p>
<p>I also am interested in the answers to post #20.</p>
<p>D is a soph at NP and loves it. She knows a handful of kids from WNY. Many from NYC, IL as well. She is NOT a partier and is in the honors program. she is planning on staying on campus next year, but there are lots of houses that rent to students. The campus is nice, green space and a pond running through, mean geese though! She has had some awesome professors. She chose NP over Geneso for the town, proximity to NYC and just really did click with Geneseo. Great art and English programs at NP, don't kow too much about the science. Look at my former posts for more info. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks vahevala. I appreciate you-and everyone here- helping me out.</p>
<p>with regards to #20 - I live in New Paltz; my home is across the street from the campus. I just happened to stumble on this forum while looking for colleges with my daughter. There is a lot of off-campus housing within walking distance of the school. Many of my neighbors are students and many of them own cars even though they live close enough to walk, so parking is no problem for the most part. It probably depends on how much driveway/parking space your house or apartment complex has available. I don't know about the availability of dorm space but I do know that they have built several new dorm buildings and are renovating the old ones.</p>
<p>The difference between the New Paltz of my generation and the current New Paltz is like night and day. It's a lot less of a party school than it used to be, but like all colleges, there are plenty of opportunities for misbehaving if that's what you're interested in. </p>
<p>The thing that's interesting about New Paltz is that even though it's a college town there are several other major influences that give it its character. First and foremost are all the outdoor activity opportunities available. On any given day there can be literally hundreds of people climbing the "Gunks" which are just a few miles outside of town and easily visible from Main Street. Rock climbers come from all over the country come here to climb. My kids and I play a game whenever we go up there to see how many different out-of-state and Canadian license plates we can find. It's rare when we can't find more than ten different states or Canadian provinces in the parking lot, and the parking lot isn't very big. On the same ridge as "the gunks" there are thousands of acres of woodlands for hiking, camping, mountain biking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, etc. Many people from Manhattan own second homes up here because of its proximity to the city and all the stuff you can do up here. So if you're into outdoor activities, this is a great place.</p>
<p>Another major influence in New Paltz is tourism. On a nice weekend you'll see a lot more tourists on Main Street than students. The tourists support a lot of nice restaurants and other businesses that enhance the quality of life for all of us. Many of the tourists are outdoor enthusiasts but there are a lot who come up here just because it's so beautiful and in the warmer months there are a lot of festivals, fairs and shows of all kinds ranging from horse shows to art shows, and everything in between.
I probably sound like I'm from the chamber of commerce, but I'm not. I'm in the same boat you're in, just trying to figure out which school is a good match for my daughter. So I hope I've shed a little light on New Paltz and good luck on your search.</p>
<p>Thanks its crazy that you stumbled onto this forum because I was just thinking about what there is to do in New Paltz. I am very into the outdoors particularly skiing. It seems like New Paltz is a great town. The whole drug thing concerns me a little bit. While I have no problem with the decisions of others (they can do what they want), I'm just wondering if it is out of control or if I am able to find someone who shares similar viewpoints as I do. My neighbor tried telling me that the reason there is drug abuse on campuses is because there is usually nothing to do off campus. I think that is extremely wrong.</p>
<p>Alright so I just got back from a friend's house who told me that his sister went to NP about 7 years ago. He told me that while she thought the campus was nice and the general area was nice, she ultimately transferred after her first year. Her main complaint was that all the NYC kids went home on the weekend which made the campus very desolate. She also said that while the student body was very accepting, it was hard to relate to others due to the "different" types of people there. When I asked what "different" meant my friend's Dad said very cautiously that the students were just "different". He didn't want to elaborate but said that a lot of kids are "artsy and you know the type of stuff that entails". I didn't want to pursue the issue any further because he was obviously uncomfortable. He did stress that A LOT has changed over the 7 years one being the shift towards a more liberal arts and sciences school rather that just an artsy type school. Can anyone perhaps elaborate more on this?? Specifically the NYC kids going home on the weekends. Thanks.</p>
<p>My son just started at NP. He is a transfer student living off campus. From what he knows, most kids stick around on the weekends. He plans to and so do his roommates and friends. There is a great deal of diversity on campus. The "different" label may mean that you can see alternative type kids around. It's not uncommon to see piercings. tattoos, different hair colors, creative dressing, guys with long hair. It is not a homogeneous environment, but that is its charm. There are also a lot of smart kids who are very serious about their academics.</p>
<p>So NP opposed to other SUNYS is a lot more individualistic?</p>
<p>I'm guessing that your friend's Dad thought there were a lot of gay students on campus? I have the feeling that NP students in general are very supportive of individual rights so an openly gay person would feel comfortable attending NP. But most straight people would be comfortable in the NP kind of environment too.</p>
<p>Yeah, I bet that was what he was thinking. It doesn't bother me as long as their are straight people there as well.</p>
<p>7 years is a long time ago. NP has risen quite a bit in that time in terms of reputation and probably (i'm guessing here) the academic quality of students it's attracted. But it definitely does still have a reputation for being more "artsy" and alternative lifestyle friendly.</p>
<p>Only a visit is going to resolve your questions with NP. Don't just do the packaged tour and info session. Try to meet with people who may be able to talk to you about things you will be interested in -- eg. pre-med advisor, dept you think you might major in, students from clubs that sound like ones you'd be interested in. Hang out in the dining hall. Ask if they'll let you sit in on classes -- even if admissions doesn't offer this option, ask the dept you are interested in if you might be able to sit in on an intro class. Ask if they can arrange an overnight stay with a student. In short, try to get as much out of your visit to let you really get a feel for what the student body is like since that seems to be a key issue for you.</p>
<p>That seems like a good idea. Thanks iamhere. I am actually in the process of contacting an old acquaintance of mine who goes to NP to set up an overnight. I will look more into sitting in on classes as well. Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>As far as living on campus, lots of upper classmen do. D will be on campus, she likes her suite and being close to classes. As far as kids going home on weekends, my feeling is that if there are long weekends many from the NYC do tend to go home, but for the most part D friends are around 90% of the time. There is stuff to do all the time, lots of art shows, plays, coffee houses in town with music, parties at the frat house and what she calls "the mansion", cheap movie theater. NP has just started a free public bus pick up on campus for students to get into town and also into Poughkeepsie to the mall and train station. Seems like she has so much school work to do much of the time, going home is not an option, but she chooses to carry 20 credits.</p>
<p>I saw the new Metro North bus/train schedule; it looks like it would be really easy to get into NYC on public transportation for the day if you time it right</p>
<p>quick question - what would be the advantages of attending SUNY NP as opposed to attending a larger state school, such as Binghamton or Rutgers?</p>
<p>I live in northern NJ and am really caught between these schools.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>creative, that is an excellent question. It is also one that we are currently weighing ourselves. We live in NJ too, so Rutgers is instate for us (as well as the other NJ publics). Rutgers has a national reputation, and it is a research focused university. It is wonderful for some. There are budget cuts in both NJ and NY. Rutgers has always had some very large classes, which might not be for everyone. Other students crave the large population, and wide array of course selection. You should not have a problem finding an internship/job, because plenty of businesses recruit from Rutgers. Some students do not want such a large school, don't want to sit in a lecture with 300+ students, have a hard time navigating the resources that require to succeed, and do not want to wait on line for a bus to get to class (esp. in the winter months). The downside to SUNY NP, as I see it, and I have not even visited yet, is that a fair number of students move off campus after freshman year. Housing is not all that inexpensive, and then you might need a car to get to class (more expenses, and inconvenience). Honestly, I cannot even speak about housing at Rutgers bc my son had not considered it. That might change in light of SUNY's tuition hikes for OOS. I can tell you that my friend's D spent one year at Binghampton but then transferred to Rutgers bc it cost less for her to go instate to Rutgers. This resulted in some lost credits. I do think that for her it was a good transition to spend a year at Bing. Her hs was so tiny. She liked Binghampton, and she likes Rutgers. She did well at both schools. I thought both schools would be close to equal in cost (she transferred 3 years ago), but apparently there was a large enough difference in cost to make it pay for her to transfer out. Now that SUNYs announced an OOS price increase, it makes instate schools look more appealing to me. It is a tough decision.</p>
<p>Actually I don't think that many New Paltz do students move off campus after freshman year. It seems to me that they stick around as returning students get first choice at on campus housing. My son is living off campus as a transfer student because they have not given on campus housing to transfers over the last couple of years just because on campus housing is so popular and guaranteed to freshman as well. He is actually enjoying living off campus since the town is so close to the campus and his house is maybe a 10 minute walk to campus and a 5 minute walk to town. The school, town and most housing are all close to one another. It is a real close knit college community and college town. He started this semester and is only there since last week, but so far he is having a really good experience.</p>