<p>I really appreciate your feedback, thank you.</p>
<p>Also, Is it in a really bad area? I read some reviews that said everyone knows of someone who has been attacked or mugged? Is this true? Have you personally heard of any safety issues? </p>
<p>~ DO you think the school is on an upswing? I read somewhere that it was given a pretty hefty endowment several yrs ago?</p>
<p>Also, that is great that your daughter was able to get the merit aid as well as the free Room and Board. That certainly saved some $$$</p>
<p>The area adjacent to SHU is not the greatest, I will admit(Newark).</p>
<p>But the immediate area surrounding the school(South Orange) is very nice. A small, quaint affluent community.</p>
<p>The school itself is enclosed by a fence…you can’t enter without showing an ID. The campus is safe. My daughter has had no problems.</p>
<p>Yes, there have been some off-campus incidents but that is to be expected. Yale University in New Haven has had several murders on or near their campus over the past five years, so that kind of stuff can happen anywhere.</p>
<p>The school is on the upswing. It is now rated in the first tier of national universities by USNWR and is in the top 371 colleges of the Princeton Review.</p>
<p>The School of Diplomacy is considered the elite of SHU but the business, nursing and law schools are also highly rated.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words and good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input! Good Luck to you and yours too!</p>
<p>Just saw this for the first time.</p>
<p>[Introduction</a> to the Whitehead School of Diplomacy - SHU Tube Video - Seton Hall University, New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.shu.edu/shutube/video.cfm?customel_datapageid_68659=331129]Introduction”>http://www.shu.edu/shutube/video.cfm?customel_datapageid_68659=331129)</p>
<p>Since I was so eager to find anything on this forum last year, I feel like I should give a review of my visit to SHU, and the School of Diplomacy. Though I took the tour on a cold rainy day in February, the campus was still very nice. It was a Saturday and the campus was deserted since I guess many/most people either commute or go home on the weekend. This didn’t bother me very much though, I liked the peace and quiet. The facilities/amenities were great… New-looking gym equipment, flat screen tv’s in the gym, they even have saunas! The cafeteria selection was great too, every kind of food you can imagine, including “make your own” stations. (I was particularly impressed with the dozen different flavors of hard ice cream, soft serve station, and milk shake station). The dorms seemed pretty standard however. So the amentities were great, the student services seemed pretty good as well- free tutoring, and writing help. Now on to the Diplomacy School. The students I met who attended all seemed to be out of state (far away, such as Wisconsin and Alaska), and a few were international.The Dean I met with was very nice, and told me that she encouraged students to take a foreign language with its own alphabet (such as Russian, Chinese, or Arabic) and that I would become fluent in whatever language I chose after 4 years. Not sure if this is true or not, but it was nice that the language component was designed into the major track for all 4 years. She also said that many undergraduates graduate with jobs waiting for them- including jobs with the FBI or as a foreign service officer. This made the school seem even more appealing, since with the economy the way it is, it’s hard for even college graduates to find a job these days, and if I ended up not having the money for grad school, I’d have other good options. I sat through an Intro. to International Relations class (which I’ve already taken through dual-enrollment) and it was pretty interesting. The students all seemed to want to be there, and the professor was great. Oh, and the honors program seemed really interesting. Apparently there aren’t specific “honors classes”, they’re all mushed together into an “honors colloquium” which meets for 2.5 hours, twice a week that covers subjects from English to Philosophy to Art History to Theology. It was also a breeze to get into NYC… You could easily walk, or catch the free university bus to the train station down the street and from there it was about a 30 min train ride depending on what time of day. Round trip ticket was kind of expensive though… So that’s it! It exceeded my expectations, and since I got full tuition it is definitely high on my list.</p>
<p>Very nice job on your review of the school. I agree with most of what you say, just wanted to make a few points.</p>
<p>1)Yes, the campus may seem quiet on a Saturday afternoon, but as you know college kids tend to sleep late on the weekend 
and others might be in the city for the day. There is a lot of activity on the weekend but you can find quiet spaces as well for study.</p>
<p>2)You will be proficient in a foreign language before you graduate…that is part of the curriculum. My daughter came in dreading that fact…but ended up a French minor and spent a month in France, which she loved.</p>
<p>3)A lot of the Diplo kids are from out of state or overseas…such is the school’s reputation that it attracts top students from everywhere.</p>
<p>Good luck and I hope you decide to attend SHU.</p>
<p>I’m a current graduate student at the Whitehead School, I will do my best to answer any questions you have objectively. </p>
<p>I’m going to start off my talking about the neighborhood. It is undoubtedly a large issue. Inside of the school and campus it is incredibly safe, however the rest of the area makes me feel very unsafe. I do not walk home after 8:30 and I live about .5 away from campus. The school does its’ best, but unfortunately it can’t be everywhere and off campus muggings are about a once a month or so occurrence. However the downtown area of South Orange is incredible safe, it is just the walk to down town that is uneasy.</p>
<p>Thanks for the points boss!</p>
<p>and johncwhitehead- do you know how late the bus runs from the train station to the school on weekends?</p>
<p>So would you say the Shu’s diplomacy program is stronger than that of Suny Geneseo? I am trying to make a decision between these two schools, based on their I.R. program.</p>
<p>Frankly I don’t know anything about SUNY Geneseo’s program. However, as I’m sure you know, Geneseo, NY is basically in the middle of “nowhere,” whereas Seton Hall is a short train ride to NYC. Thus internship and other opportunities for a diplomacy major are far greater at SHU.</p>
<p>@meg322:SHUFLY Hours have been extended. SHUFLY now runs until 2 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday service will be extended until 2:30 a.m. (from the school web site). </p>
<p>@johnc with all due respect I think you are painting an unfair picture of the area around Seton Hall. My daughter has not experienced any problems in her four years at SHU nor have her friends. With the shuttle service there is no need to walk if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>Thanks Boss51, that helps a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks again Boss- that’s really nice. I was kind of bummed when I first read the schedule b/c it seemed like I’d have to leave the city pretty early on weekends just to make it back in time to catch the last bus! But 2:30 a.m. is definitely plenty late…</p>
<p>So question: I got accepted into Seton Hall, but I missed the mark for the Whitehead school. What should I focus on in order to get the Whitehead school during my freshmen year?</p>
<p>Well of course you should try to get the highest grades possible, stay out of any disciplinary trouble, take some courses related to IR(maybe political science or history), along with a foreign language, which is a must for IR and Diplomacy. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks Boss, I’ve had 4 years of French though, hoe I can use that to my advantage.</p>
<p>That’s good. They’ll give you a placement exam at some point. But I bet you’ll still need some more brushup, especially in conversational french. That is the language of diplomacy as you probably know. My daughter ended up with a Minor in French as well, which surprised me. She also had four years in h.s. but it’s not quite the same.</p>
<p>Hey Boss. Just to follow up ~
My D did get in to the Whitehead School. We went to visit and were impressed with the faculty, the curriculum and the entire program overall. Everyone was extremely knowledgeable, profressional and welcoming. We went there with high expectations and they exceeded them all. Unfortunatley though it came down to finances and she had received more competitive offers from American and UVM honors. Nonetheless, we are glad we went and had the opportunity to meet everyone that we did at the Whitehead School. They were top notch.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update and good luck! :)</p>
<p>My daughter Kate is officially graduating tomorrow with honors from Seton Hall University. I can’t believe the four years went by so fast. I will continue to pop in here to answer any questions you might have. It’s a great school and she has had a wonderful time there.</p>