<p>I'm a senior journalism major at Ithaca. If anyone has questions about the college, I'd be happy to answer them! I am knowledgeable about the Park Scholar program, many of the clubs, all the campus publications, the Park School in general, and campus life :) I have taken advantage of every opportunity possible at IC, so I know a lot! Even if you're not interested in communications, many of my friends are outside Park so I can attest to the other schools as well.</p>
<p>Thanks for offering to answer questions. My D is looking seriously at Ithaca but it is the only school that does not have a greek life (which she is interested in). So how does the social scene work? Is it dorm/apt parties? If so, I assume they are not “open” but that you must know someone to get invited. I assume the school isn’t going to support campus wide parties with alcohol and underage students. D is not a huge partyer but definitely not looking to stay in the room on Saturday night! Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi I was wondering about the Park Scholars program, because I am applying for it, and I would like to know what the process is for it, and your general opinon of the program</p>
<p>We didn’t hear much about student life while visiting. My D really loved the town but it seemed that you either needed a car or had to use the public shuttle buses, which did not seem to run on a convenient schedule. I am surprised the school does not run a shuttle bus around the campus and down to the town. Would love to hear what students generally do.</p>
<p>Also, we saw a lot of “preppy” kids during our visit. Uggs, Northface, designer bags and jeans. We were looking for a little more diversity and down to earth environment. On the other hand, we were there a short time to get the full picture. What is the real deal?</p>
<p>The school is really lovely and the programs were impressive. Staff was very friendly and easy going. Hope to get some realistic feedback on student life.</p>
<p>Hey guys, first off, SO sorry for the slow reply–Midterms and studying got the best of me! Here are responses to your questions:</p>
<p>Birchhill,
The lack of Greek Life is DEFINITELY not a problem. First off, Cornell University has more than enough for the both of us. While you can’t really go to their parties (technically), students find a way in. However, you really don’t need it. I’ll be honest, it’s hard to party in the dorms but we have two apartment complexes on campus that are always busy on the weekends. There are also two streets off campus that are mostly students and have parties every weekend. Sure, most of the parties are better if you know someone, but freshman usually party crash with little issue and you just go with a group of friends. I can 100% guarantee you that it won’t be an issue. My freshman year, I found several places to go every night with little problem.</p>
<p>BlahBlah13,
The Park Scholar Program is absolutely amazing. There are definitely no downsides to it! In terms of the process, just apply by downloading the application online at [Park</a> Scholar Program - Ithaca College](<a href=“http://www.ithaca.edu/parkscholars]Park”>The Park Scholar Program | Ithaca College). My recommendation is that you spend a TON of time on your application and make sure those essays and recommendations are perfect. Every single application is read, so no worries about having to know someone to get ahead. Overall, I say you should apply because you never know and you have nothing to lose. Somebody has to get it!</p>
I have lived here for 3.5 years with no car and depend 85% on the bus system. It’s really not as bad as people make it sound. I’ll be honest, I’ve complained a few times but the benefits overrule the negatives 10 fold. I guarantee you that your daughter will make friends with people that have cars and they’ll be more than willing to help her out. It’s really not a problem at all. There isn’t a campus shuttle because, honestly, it’d be a waste of money. You can walk from one end to the other in 10-15 minutes. Also, the bus goes from campus to downtown every 30 minutes The only thing that we do need is a shuttle from the campus apartments (about a 20 minute walk) down to campus, and they’re working on having that approved.</p>
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<li><p>I think you’ll have the preppy kids on any campus, to be honest. Higher education tends to bring that out in people, but don’t worry. I only know about 3 extremely preppy kids personally, and they just like dressing nice. Most of the students are really down to earth. I’d say we had more tree huggers than preppy kids haha.</p></li>
<li><p>Student life is pretty incredible. The area provides a ton of options for entertainment and the students all have their little niches to get involved. We offer some extraordinary organizations and they are incredibly easy to get involved with. There are also a lot of events and speakers that students can go to. The First Year Program, which will eventually be required for freshman, works to help students integrate into college life through socials and events</p></li>
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<p>I know as soon as you get to campus, you can switch major and minors as long as you have grades and scores that are on par with the program. For example, if you are accepted as a writing major, you may not automatically be able to switch into the Park school (which has higher qualifications). As for health, I honestly don’t know. I’d recommend calling admissions or posting the question on IC Peers. :)</p>
<p>Hi I was wondering if you could tell me why Ithaca over another liberal arts school such as Skidmore? What are the better things about Ithaca and also how is the psychology program or the writing program? Thanks!</p>
<p>Is the Park school more print or broadcast based? Are there different areas of journalism to study (e.g magazine, online, etc) or is it mainly for one type of journalism?</p>
<p>Any chance you could send me the same response? thinking of studying psych but comparing it to the exploratory right now, got an opinion on which is better? Oh and do you know much about the honors program? I was accepted to it and I guess theres an honors living option which sounds good possibly but I’m not really someone who wants to study all the time by any means</p>
<p>Okay, so here is a massive block of text with all the answers to the questions from the last week and a half:</p>
<p>mtransfers–The Park School is not just journalism based–it has everything communications. The journalism program is geared towards both broadcast and print. You will start as a freshman in Intro to journalism and journalism research which are print based because they teach you the foundations. Starting sophomore year you will begin making broadcast packages and digitalizing your work. There are classes for all types of journalism–online, broadcast, newspaper, features, magazine, environment, business etc. For those interested in print, we have at least five magazines you can work on and an award winning weekly newspaper. If broadcast is more your speed, then sign up to work with ICTV. You can start with them during your first week of school if you’d like. There are over 20 different shows you can choose from :)</p>
<p>Jaytal49–If you’re not in love with the idea of a psych major, I’d recommend going exploratory. Ithaca LOVES their exploratory kids. They choose classes first and are given a lot of help in choosing their desired paths. Unfortunately I don’t know much about our psych program. I’m in the honors program as well. I definitely recommend doing it. It’s not like your idea of a high school honors program. All you do to fulfill the program is take one honors class a semester. The classes are all discussion based with a few papers (no tests!) and are based on really interesting topics. Last semester I took a class through them called “Politics of The Wire” where we watched the first season of the show and analyzed every single thing about it. As for the living option… I didn’t do it, but I know kids that did it became very close friends. They aren’t book fiends by any means. Do they study? Sure. Is that all they do? Not at all. If you’re interested in having a living option, it’s definitely not a bad choice.</p>
<p>Momteachernurse–It’s fabulous!!! The building is no more than a decade old, tons of equipment, very dedicated students and a great program. I’ve never heard of a music student complain about their work. They have recitals and concerts every other day it seems and they work closely with our theatre and communications schools :)</p>
<p>thanks a lot for the reply Ithaca Girl, just as a follow up what did you do for a living situation your freshman year and is there a dorm or building that is head and shoulders nicer than everywhere else or is it all pretty comparable?</p>
<p>hey hop mom, sadly I can’t really remember when I first found out about the honors program at Ithaca, probably when I was browsing through Ithaca’s website but I can’t be sure of that. And as I remember my honors program acceptance came a few weeks after my acceptance to the school, sorry I can’t be more specific all this happened for me about a year ago (i deferred admission until this upcoming fall.) If you have any more questions the people in the honors program are some of the friendliest I’ve corresponded with and nearly always reply to emails within a few hours. hope that helps!</p>
<p>The Park journalism program takes a ‘convergence’ approach from day 1 which means that students learn to report stories on print, photo, video & online /digital. This is the actual practice among professional journalists & studies show that job applicants who can take this multi-platform approach & who have all the media tools mastered get an average of $10 thousand higher starting salary</p>
The only thing that we do need is a shuttle from the campus apartments (about a 20 minute walk) down to campus, and they’re working on having that approved.</p>