My daughter just chose to enroll in the Saint As class of 2022. This board looks pretty sparse so I wanted to share a few early observations in the hope that it might help someone else. I’ll be able to share more information with time.
The campus is homey and comfortable, pretty and a little hilly. The couple times we visited it definitely seemed a little quiet, you might even call it sleepy. That could be a plus or a minus depending on the student. The food is apparently very good - the meal plan is a debit-style plan, i.e. you pay for what you eat rather than just get a fixed number of ‘swipes’ per week or whatever. Good for lighter eaters.
The students seem to be really good, normal, honest and hardworking kids. I choose these words carefully. It’s been my experience that some colleges that accept a fairly high % of applicants draw a crowd that doesn’t much care for the academic side of college, might be very drawn to partying, etc. From my early and admittedly limited exposure most of the kids seem to really care about school and are just good kids in general. The kind of people I’m happy to have my D attend school with. My pet theory is that schools with prominent Nursing programs tend to draw a lot of kind and caring people.
Academics seem to be fairly challenging for a school in this tier. I’ve heard people refer to the school as “Saint Cs” because it’s apparently difficult to keep a very high GPA. Sounds like maybe 15-20% of freshman enter in the Honors program but quite a few filter out over 4 years.
St As has a satellite campus in Orvietto Italy. D is very interested in a semester over there.
Athletics are present but not super-competitive - i.e. might be an option for the kind of kid that wants to keep up with a sport they were good-not-great at in high school. Hockey might be different - I think maybe that team is pretty good.
So there are a few initial thoughts. Hope someone finds them helpful! Go Hawks!
Oh one more fact. There is a small/regional airport 5-10 minutes from campus. Probably makes it a pretty easy connecting flight to much of the country.
Hi! My son has accepted at Saint A’s to study nursing! Awesome school. He got into many big “name” schools but chose Saint A’s for their access to Boston Hospital clinical sites (Boston consistently ranked number one for its health care/hospitals in the US!!) as well as the homey, accepting feel of the campus. Great that 90 plus percent live on campus all 4 years.
Also important to note that every 4 years Saint A’s is ground zero for presidential politics! Washington Post recently referred to Saint Anselm College as “the Benedictine college with a box seat on America’s most riveting political theater” - As well, The Atlantic editor Marc Ambinder described the role Saint Anselm plays in national politics by saying, “no one runs for president without speaking at St. A’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics.” What a fun place to engage in American politics no matter if you are a right or left leaning student!
They go out of their way to encourage interaction with new students entering their fold - not only do we engage in an orientation in June and August but also are invited to go away for a weekend to several places, among those my son chose is an August weekend at Lake Wnnipesaukee in NH to meet with faculty and current students to discuss the college experience,
And of course my son is looking forward to adding his beer mug to their on campus pub when he turns 21…https://www.anselm.edu/dining/coffee-shop-and-pub/saint-anselm-pub
My daughter graduated last spring from here! She had a wonderful experience socially and academically.The schools has a particular student who is sensitive/caring of others. The academics were challenging, but with hard work great grades and learning are achievable. The staff is outstanding and engages with the students…truly a SPECIAL place!