<p>What is New Paltz like in terms of culture? How about the dorms and campus too?</p>
<p>My son is transferring there next semester, so I can't give you a first hand account of what it's like until then, but we have visited numerous times and know a couple of people there. Everyone we talk to loves it. It has an artsy reputation as well as a more liberal and accepting student body. The town has sort of a hippie vibe and I think that cairries over to the school as well. The campus is pretty, there is a small lake in the middle of it and the surrounding area is very picturesque. There are different types of dorms...corridor style and suite style. Lenape and Esopus are the newer dorms but further from the action. </p>
<p>Are you considering going here? What are you looking for in a school?</p>
<p>My D is soph at NP and loves it. The school is a nice size, I think relatively pretty. The view of the Sanghunk(sp?) Mts. is awesome. She has her bike there and is able to get into town easily. Town has everything, all kinds of food(the best IMHO is MAin St. Bistro), coffee shops, bike trails, shops, bakeries, Salvation Army (great for dorm furniture!). </p>
<p>She has some fantastic advisors. She is in a dilema right now trying to decide on a double major and has had much individual time from her 2 advisors, as well as prof. in her classes. All of her classes are small...I think the largest last yr. maybe 25 kids. Dorms are nice, she is happy this year in a suite, Many choices on sizes of suites, rooms etc. Quite a bit of off campus housing in walking distance. </p>
<p>The only neg. we have heard is food, but better this year cause she doesn't have to eat at Hasbrouk all the time. She is veggie, seems the guys who aren't as picky like the food fine. </p>
<p>The school offers free bus to NYC a few times each semester for a Saturday. She has taken advantage of that and loves it. Free admit to museums with ID. Some weekends she finds lots of friends from LI go home, it can be quiet. She is not a partier, so has not been into that scene. It seems there is a whole faction of the kids who have fake ID hit the bars, or have frat parties every weekend. I think same as any college in that regard. </p>
<p>We love that she can get a on a train in Poughkeepsie and come home to Western NY for a great price and very relaxed trip. There is a shuttle to Pughkeepsie for $2.50 that goes to the train st. and the mall. Poughkeepsie is 30 min away and has a huge mall and all that stuff. </p>
<p>Classes have been challenging, but good. Has had only one that we in her words "a waste of time". Some fantastic teachers, they seem to really take time with her. </p>
<p>We love NP! BTW she is double major studio art and Eng. Lit in the honors prog5ram. Let me know if you have other ? Hope that helps!</p>
<p>I have been thinking about transferring there. I'm a NYS citizen who's currently attending the University of Texas. I'm not sure if this is the right school for me, I think I want a smaller, liberal arts school. Money is a huge issue though. I got into Rice, Berkeley, Cornell, Tufts, etc my senior year of high school, but I couldn't pay for any of them. Thus I'm looking for a school where I can get the experience I want at a price I can afford. It's either staying at UT, Geneseo, or New Paltz I think.</p>
<p>What I don't like about UT is the size, it's absolutely huge. The campus isn't very attractive, and it is without a doubt doesn't carry the LA feel. I want someplace that is closer to nature too. The utmost important aspect of a school though, is its intellectual culture, that's what I'm really looking for.</p>
<p>Hmm...interesting. D was also accepted last year into CMU, Hamilton, Bard, Tufts and decided on NP due to $. Figured she could get undergrad debt free. I would say that Geneseo has a rep as being the "honors" liberal arts for SUNY, but NP is definitely getting super selective as well. As I said, D is in the honors program which offers some great seminar classes and lectures. NOt an all inclusive program where all of your classes are "honors". She had a seminar class last year with Syndey Schamburg a purlitzer prize winning journalist, and this sem. her Eng.prof is like the expert on Hemmingway in the US. Don't know too much about the other majors. Some of the kids are just partiers, but there does seem to be a strong group of "intellectuals" as well. </p>
<p>The tuition has allowed her to be able to afford January study in Florence and hopefully a sem. abroad in Spain next year. That was her goal...go to SUNY now and be able to travel. </p>
<p>You may want to talk to Dr. Jeff MIller the head of the honors program. Very cool guy and uberintelligent :)</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with New Paltz vs. Geneseo?</p>
<p>You may want to check out the Geneseo forum...there are some good threads on what it's like there. Geneseo is in a much more rural and isolated location, New Paltz is only about an hour from NYC.
Another website that may give you some insight as to how students feel about the two schools is **************.com. Look at student comments.</p>
<p>sent you a PM</p>
<p>Vahevala, it sounds like your D is really enjoying NP. You mentioned that there are plenty of off campus places to rent that are within walking distance. Could you tell me what the average rent might cost (approximately)? Thanks.</p>
<p>Sorry to just pop in, as you asked Vahevala, but I can help answer your question since we spent a great deal of time last semester looking for off campus housing within walking distance to SUNY New Paltz. </p>
<p>On the low end, you can find rooms for rent in the $450-480 a month range, but that is less usual. Most are in the $500-650 a month range and one guy was asking $700 a month for a large room in a 4 bedroom house. We found that most of the houses were in pretty run down condition. Maybe they would look better once the students move out and they are cleaned up but I have to tell you honestly, I didn't see one house that I would want to live in. Then, again, I am not a college student....one house that I thought was atrocious and walked through in a hurry my son said "I like that one the best." Go figure! :)</p>
<p>lilymoon, thank you. Do those rents include any utilities, or is all of that extra? Do you know the % of students that move off campus? Is it the majority of juniors and seniors? Do parents usually need to cosign these leases?</p>
<p>It seems each scenerio is different but most of them include one thing or another...some utlilities, heat, cable and internet hookup and some not. I don't know the % that move off campus, but speaking to the occasional student, it sounds like mostly upperclassmen move off campus. Transfer students also have to find off campus housing due to the huge incoming freshman class this past fall taking up all housing and then some. As for parents cosigning, I am not sure since we as parents were planning on signing the lease so the topic of a student signing on their own never came up. I imagine if a student had the security deposit, first months rent and could show a means of income, I can't see why they wouldn't be able to rent on their own.</p>
<p>northeastmom...I would agree with Lilymoon on the off campus. Haven't priced it out, but have seen some of the places and they are OK for college kids I guess. You do need to be careful about security as many of these houses are kind of "open door" from what I've heard. D does have a few friends who live off campus with a few friends and it's ok. She is happy in her suite this year and as far as I'm concerned I think I'd rather have her on campus if we can encourage that for atleast one more year! Most of the rentals are houses that just rent rooms out, not really apartments per say.</p>
<p>It seems like Geneseo is a more academic institution, would this be an accurate assessment? Thanks LilyMoon btw, for that link.</p>
<p>Thanks about the apartment information. Here is my take on it. I like the fact that there are off campus opportunities within walking distance. I do think that off campus housing creates a new host of possible problems. I know that many students prefer to get off campus by junior year at many campuses, if not sooner! It looks like even though OOS tuition is pretty good, the off campus housing in NY is more costly than in other regions of the country, somewhat off setting the "tuition bargain" (if you can call it that).</p>
<p>Yes, I agree that Geneseo would be the more academic institution.</p>
<p>northeastmom- what does off campus housing typically cost at most other schools? I thought New Paltz was fairly reasonable compared to the housing my son is in now, which runs quite a bit more. He is in Miami.</p>
<p>It is all relative I guess. I would think any city is pricey, so that would include Miami. I can tell you near JMU, which is in what is called a small city (more like a large town to me), you can rent apartments with 4 to an apartment, and each person can have their own bathroom and bedroom (strange to have 4 or 4.5 baths per apartment, but many are designed this way for students) for $420-450/mos. (including utitlities). They are close to campus and the campus bus system stops at many of these complexes. LOL, some of the complexes even have swimming pools and work out rooms, so you don't need to go to campus and use their rec facilities, you can choose!</p>
<p>That sounds like a nice situation around JMU. Yes, I suppose it depends on the surrounding area of the school and the real estate values. I was kind of surprised that New Paltz didn't have better off campus housing options. There are a few apartment complexes within walking distance, but they are hard to get. I think one might have a pool, but how often is that going to come in handy in New Paltz? LOL</p>
<p>I have read that New Paltz is either buying or leasing more land and plans to build more off campus housing....but that won't help our kids now.</p>
<p>Well, I have a hs junior, so perhaps those plans might help him, if they get moving on this project!</p>
<p>When you say the apartments within walking distance are hard to get, does that mean that if you don't land one of those, you need a car to get onto campus?</p>