<p>What's the party scene like at Loyola ?</p>
<p>Everything I’ve read and heard says its a total bar school. I don’t go there I applied to it so I don’t know for sure.</p>
<p>I had the same question a year ago, when it looked like my daughter was going to pick Loyola. I heard both sides of the spectrum. What I can tell you is …you have to know your child, because the “party” scene is everywhere. Granted there are no sororities or fraternities and of course the school will say it is not tolerated…but the kids will find it. My daughter has melded with a fantastic group of friends who have their priorities in order and do not make partying their mission. Of all the schools my D looked at, I’d say Loyola had the best environmet. At some point you have to trust that you instilled all the right decision making capabilities in our children. Again…I think it depends mostly on the friends your son or daughter chooses to hang with. I strongly, strongly recommend the Fall Orientation program(s) they offer before school begins. It’s a fantastic way to meet kids in a particular interest group which they might share. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>hrdwrkmomoffour,</p>
<p>You wrote: Of all the schools my D looked at, I’d say Loyola had the best environmet.</p>
<p>What others schools did your daughter apply to? My daughter is also a nonpartier and was accepted EA at Loyola.</p>
<p>Hi Anne ~</p>
<p>Sure, my D was choosing between Providence College, Fairfield, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke.</p>
<p>Is your daughter thinking of Loyola? </p>
<p>I have to tell you, there is not a week that goes by since September ( and I’m not exaggerating), that my D does not tell me how much she loves Loyola, it’s the perfect place for her, etc.</p>
<p>It truly is the right fit. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.
M</p>
<p>Thank you so much! That will Definatly help my decision. The school does seem amazing. I’m pretty sure exactly what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>hrdwrkmom, I’m a junior in HS and also very interested in Loyola. I am also looking at providence, fordham, and stonehill. </p>
<p>Can you tell me what you thought of providence and why your D chose loyola? Also, did your D submit her SAT’s?</p>
<p>if you could share any of her HS stats I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>tellch00–</p>
<p>My D was accepted at Loyola early & she submitted her SAT & ACT scores. She did better on her ACT. She has received a Presidential scholarship.</p>
<p>She also was looking at Fordham & Stonehill—she decided at the last minute not to apply to Stonehill, because we read a brochure carefully & realized there is not a lot of scholarship $$$ there. Also it is in a more rural/suburban area, and the city atmosphere of most of the other schools she applied to appeals more to her. </p>
<p>She applied to Fordham & also has been accepted there. Also to PC but still waiting to hear. </p>
<p>We have visited all of them except Stonehill & we were very impressed at the friendliness at Loyola & PC. We didn’t visit Fordham when many students were there so that was hard to evaluate. We did visit them on Feb 22 for an accepted student day —which was actually the first gathering of (some of) the class of 2015 if you think about it — and the students we met were very friendly, enthusiastic people with very varied interests. Many had not made up their minds about going there yet, either — but I bet they will wind up at one of the schools we both have named! There were a lot of people there who had applied to the same ones my D had. </p>
<p>We are going to attend the accepted student day on Apr 9 at Loyola. Will come back & report what we see if you wd like.</p>
<p>^ thanks for the info. I’m scheduled for an info. session and tour on April 30. Please post your impressions when you get back.</p>
<p>S applied to Stonehill and Loyola. Got nothing from Loyola (I was counting on a decent amount) but Stonehill came through. I would go see them all and then make up your mind. (Stonehill campus is beautiful.) We had banked on Loyola coming through based on previous students, last years awards in his school, etc and I ended up with nothing. School said they didn’t give out as much this year to due economy. So you never know.</p>
<p>I bet a lot of schools had to make the decision you mention, Parentofone!</p>
<p>Early this year, my D’s GC asked her whether $$ would be an issue in being able to go to schools (there are a lot of people in our area who could send triplets to Ivies without batting an eye financially)-- her concern was the colleges’ having taken a hit in their endowments leading to their accepting more students who can pay the full ride. And accepting them over students that, a few years ago, they would have wanted very much, and still do want, but they can’t offer them the funds right now. </p>
<p>hardwrkmomoffour—</p>
<p>My D has been accepted at L and several others and decision time is coming soon. I am very concerned about what I’ve read on a couple of threads abt L being a “bar school,” very “preppy,” and also about the eating arrangements at Loyola.</p>
<p>When we visited the first time, my D was doing what I call the Uggs count–but she decided to apply anyway as the other good things seemed to outweigh all the preppy clothes. But I am worrying–Moms are good at that—over whether this and other schools have maybe been accepting higher numbers of pay-all-the-way kids this year, and will a girl from a comfortable enough but not 175 - 200k + income family be feeling left out? IE this is a family of scientists, not executives, doctors or lawyers. </p>
<p>Girls can let you know if they think you are not from their league. Does this go on at Loyola? Are they going to look at my D’s Chucks & jeans & go Eww? </p>
<p>Two of the teachers at the h.s. have warned me about something else—they had relatives who went to L for a year and transferred out. They said the kids–both boys—were unhappy with all the people who had not been accepted at Gtown or ND (Ind) and viewed L as a step down (but went there anyway I note). </p>
<p>In any school there are going to be some disappointed freshmen, and kids love to grumble about the registrar, the climate, & so on. But I would rather my child went to a school that had a lot of freshmen who were really happy they got accepted there. </p>
<p>Are any of you follks whose kids are already there, seeing this?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>JRZMom - My son is very happy at Loyola. Honestly, the fact that it is a bar school keeps (most of) the drinking (and all that goes with it) off campus. I do believe that Loyola has a “need-blind” admission policy, they don’t know what the financial situation of the family is when they accept a student.
We are a middle class family and although most of the friends my son has made since he’s been there seem to be a little more well-off than we are, they don’t talk about it at all. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>A lot of people go to bars. Some people casually drink their rooms, but most people pregame then go out.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Loyola, and I remember having some concerns about this label of “bar school” a year ago. My perception at the time was that being a bar school meant that everyone left campus all the time to go to a bar to get trashed! LOL Happy to say that is NOT the case at Loyola. </p>
<p>What I’m hearing from my daughter is that yes, some do go “partying” several nights a week (Thurs/Fri/Sat) but many only go out once a week, and sometimes not even that. Quite a few kids are on sports teams, which have races/meets/events on the weekends, and they are NOT out getting trashed all the time. Also, not everyone going out on the weekend is going out to drink - some go to a movie or dinner, or wandering the city with friends…</p>
<p>I live in a college town and I believe that most college kids drink. Here. At Loyola. Every campus. Kids who have been raised with no exposure to alcohol while in high school very often go a bit crazy when they get out on their own, and it’s very common in our town to hear of freshmen (especially) ending up at the hospital in very bad shape. As a result of what we’ve seen in our town, we decided long ago that we would try to teach our kid to be a responsible drinker, and would include her in occasional cocktails or wine with dinner. After the prom last year, a few close friends spent the night here and we allowed moderate drinking (having asked the other kids’ parents to be sure they were okay with that) under our supervision. When our D went to school, we felt confident that she knew how to drink, knew how it made her feel, knew when to slam on the brakes for a while. And, as a result, she doesn’t feel she needs to drink to have a good time, but when she does drink, she knows how to pace herself so she can continue to have a good time (and not spend hours on the bathroom floor!)</p>
<p>Regarding the comment above that a lot of kids are at Loyola who would rather be somewhere else…I know that it may not have been the first choice for some, but many will tell you that, after a year or less, they are SO glad they didn’t get into where they thought they wanted to go, and are very happy there. (Some, of course, are not, and do transfer, as at other schools.)</p>
<p>I also have not seen (or heard about) cliques or anything about my daughter feeling bad that she doesn’t have the latest designer <em>whatevers</em> - she is not a clothes horse, but she does take some pride in her appearance, and it doesn’t seem to matter (to her or anyone else there) that she’s not wearing $150 jeans or Ugg boots. </p>
<p>Loyola is an amazing place, and the perfect fit for my daughter, and we’ve been very pleased with both the quality of classes and her overall experience there.</p>
<p>MomofOnlyOne–</p>
<p>Thank you <em>so</em> much for the input!</p>
<p>We know that at any school, esp in freshman year, there are going to be kids who are having second thoughts about where they have landed. Probably some of it is from homesickness, too. I wanted to check out with other parents, esp of kids who are happy there, what these teachers had said about their relatives. </p>
<p>I don’t doubt that those young men were unhappy enough about it, but transferring elsewhere takes a lot of planning & energy, & I suspect that there were other things going on in addition to the business about people who wished they had gotten into X. </p>
<p>I tell my kids the same as you do about drinking – it goes on everywhere. If they want a school of teetotallers they will have to go to BYU and even there, there are things going on behind the admin’s backs. I have been wondering about the “bar school” label too. But if what it means is the drinking goes on away from the campus and the rest of the students don’t have to trip over barfing idiots, that’s fine with me. </p>
<p>We, and parents we know, have been letting our D have some wine/beer at dinner occasionally, too–like you we want them to know what it is before they go away & make mistakes. But it is a criminal offense to serve to underage non-relatives in your own home in this state ($1k fine &/or up to 6 mo in prison), exempting religious events like a seder, and you can get into major trouble for hosting post prom sleepovers and giving the kids alcohol. And the cops watch where the kids drive after the prom. And we have signed a pledge at the school that we will not serve to minors. So that path is out for us. </p>
<p>Thanks again for the input! It is very helpful!</p>
<p>I am currently a sophomore (male) at Loyola. I will try to answer your questions based on my experiences here so far. First and foremost, I love Loyola and can’t picture myself anywhere else. I personally do drink and I tend to go out on Th, Fri, Sat, as I have no class on Friday. A lot of people on this board seem to be concerned with cliques, clothing, and the bar school label so I will try to address these questions. </p>
<p>From my experience, I would not consider Loyola to be a cliquey environment however students tend to make friends with the others students in the residents hall during the first few months at school. These small groups of friends generally end up rooming together as sophomores the following year. While this may seem cliquey at first glance I personally wouldn’t label my group of friends at a clique. The norm here is that this close-knit group of friends are the ones who you will spend a majority of your time with. If you are going to go off campus you will most likely be sharing a cab with these people. Outside of these friends I would say there is a second level of friendship. At this level you typically meet in class, at clubs, at bars, or at other events. These secondary groups eventually all become friends or at least friendly enough to the point where your groups will hang out together, go out off campus together, and perhaps even try to live in the same building/on the same floor the following year. This does not seem to be a unique phenomena to Loyola as most college students have a close circle of friends and a secondary circle of friends.</p>
<p>Clothing for guys is very varied. There tends to be the “preppy” dressed guys wearing polos and oxfords with pastel colored shorts and jeans. I personally wear whatever I’m feeling like that particular day. I dress up once in a while but my standard outfit is t-shirt and khaki shorts when its warm and sweatshirt and jeans when its colder.</p>
<p>Girls have a reputation on these college sites as extremely rich and preppy. This is true, to a degree. Uggs are definitely popular. Some girls wear designer jeans some don’t, to be honest the guys could never tell the difference. In the spring girls frequently wear sun-dresses. Girls who don’t dress like this are not shunned by any means. The carbon copy comment I read about the girls all looking like each other is not accurate. No ones here is going to not be friends with you because you’re not wearing the newest fashion. There are plenty of girls who dress in a short of hipster way. As far as dressing up for class girls tend to dress up more than guys. Where guys are perfectly comfortable wearing pajama pants/sweatpants and a sweat shirt. Girls typically will at least be in jeans and a sweatshirt, of course everyone has days where there not feeling well or are running late.</p>
<p>The bar school label very accurately describes Loyola night life. On any given night there will be students out at the bars. Since there are no Sororities or Fraternities house parties are few and far between. Many seniors will have an off campus house and as your years at Loyola go on you will attend more parties at off campus houses. My freshman year I probably only attended 5 off campus parties. Fake ID’s are necessary for those who are looking to go out to the bars to either drink or socialize there. Not everyone who goes out to the bars drink and for those who do drink not everyone gets drunk, however, there are plenty of people who do go out to the bars to get really drunk. Before heading out to the bars students will pregame in their dorm rooms or the dorm rooms of friends. This is to eliminate spending a lot of money on drinks at the bar. The campus is strict on drinking in the dorms in that if you are loud and obvious you will get caught, be fined, and have to attend alcohol edu classes. Mostly though as long as you are not rowdy there students have no problem avoiding this. Drugs on the other hand are much more of a no-no, if you are caught smoking pot, you will most likely be suspended or expelled. </p>
<p>Besides drinking there are plenty of other activities to do on and off campus. As a previous poster mentioned there is a club called Options that sponsors events that are alcohol free. Some of this years events included a trip to an amusement park, white water rafting, a dance, laser tag, snow tubing, among many others. There are also many concert venues that have shows on the weekends. The Towson movie theater is 10 minutes away from campus, the mall is 15 minutes away. A lot of students who don’t drink go down town to the inner harbor to go to restaurants, museums, and other things. </p>
<p>There are a lot of students who come from wealthy backgrounds but other than their cars you would never know it. No one really flaunts their wealth and if they do its very infrequent and typically unintentional. It would be really hard to pick out the above average wealthy students from the students who have significant need based financial aide. A lot of students also get jobs on campus so doing a work study program is nothing to be ashamed of because no one will know/care.</p>
<p>Sporting events are a fun place to hang out and socialize. The most popular sport is Men’s Lacrosse and the Saturday home games at the new stadium draw a large student crowd. Soccer games are also popular in the fall but not as popular as lacrosse. Unfortunately, the basketball team has not had too much success in recent years and as a result the games typically have poor attendance (which is a shame because they are a great time). Also in the early fall and at the end of the spring going to the Orioles games at Camden Yards is a great time. Student tickets are typically $5 and the attendance at the games are usually not very good allowing you to move to better seats. I personally paid $3 dollars for student tickets to a Yankees game and moved up to the first row on the first base side. This would be unheard of at Yankee Stadium, where those tickets could be in the hundreds of dollars range.</p>
<p>My favorite things about Loyola would be the beautiful campus, the amazing resident halls, small and intimate class rooms, the FAC which is the gym (Michael Phelps practices here), and going out to the bars.</p>
<p>My least favorite things about Loyola would be the fact that if you want to go off campus you have to pay for a cab (they offer a collegetown shuttle to the other universities, mall, and inner harbor, but it can be unreliable at times), the food gets repetitive after a few months, and books are very expensive (I’ve probably paid $3500-$4000 for my four semesters here.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions please ask and I will try to get back on here and give an honest answer.</p>