What are your opinions on Clark University in Worcester, MA?
I was just accepted as a transfer student from Florida. Clark gave me an awesome scholarship of $20,000/year and accepted almost all of my credits. My major would be Management as well as Pre-Law. I love the location, as I’ve been wanting to move to the Boston area for a while.
But I have a few reservations, and I’d love to hear your thoughts…
First of all, how are the academics at Clark? Especially, business and pre-law programs? After getting my BA, I plan to go to law school - hopefully, one of the top ones in the country. Would Clark help me with that? How is Clark’s overall reputation?
Also, does Clark offer any internship opportunities? Maybe some jobs for when you are still in college? Or even after graduation?
Have you had a chance to visit Clark? Just want to point out that it’s in Worcester, not Boston. Sure, you can go to Boston on the weekend, but that won’t be the focus of your experience.
Read up on the LEEP program on the Clark website. There is a very big effort to connect students’ schoowork to the real world and to work/internships. Clark is a well regarded college when it comes to graduate school admissions.
Nice option, and congratulations on the scholarship!
@jollymama I haven’t gotten a chance to visit yet. But I was planning to visit next month.
Yes, as a transfer student, I was thinking about living in the suburbs of Boston and traveling to Worcester for classes. I don’t mind driving 30-40 minutes or so.
Thank you for your response! And for bringing up this point.
@gearmom I’ve been attending my local community college for the last 2 years. I’m now almost done with my AA, so I’m looking to transfer to a 4-year university.
I really didn’t want to stay in-state. Mainly because I don’t really like the locations of my good state universities. Being from south Florida, I enjoy living in a big city.
Clark is quite affordable for me, with this scholarship. I was also just accepted to UNC Chapel Hill (which is also good on price), but I’m still not sure how I feel about attending such a large school.
I’m not sure what Boston suburb you were planning to live in, but that is not a good idea. FWIW, I spent several years living in Watertown and working in Westborough. Check a map, that is shorter than Boston to Worcester. During winter there is lots of snow and traffic gets terrible. Hour long commutes were not uncommon. During really bad weather traffic on the Mass pike just crawls. You do not want to be in that to go to classes. If you go to Clark, you absolutely should live in Worcester or very close by.
I like Clark. It’s known for a socially aware stduent body. It ranks high in student happiness. I do not know of its rep in your major, but I think it’s well-regarded overall. A good friend graduated from Clark and has done well for herself.
Your plan to live on the outskirts of Boston and commute to Clark is probably not practical. One, there’s now a very fast train to Boston, which I believe takes less than an hour. Two,as an undergrad, you really don’t want to be a commuter at a university where most students live on campus. Three, Worcester will be a lot more affordable than Boston. Four, Worcester is quite up and coming, and there are several other excellent colleges there, including WPI and Holy Cross. Apparently there are quite a lot of fun shops and restaurants.
Worcester is not a paradise, but tbh, living in a big city is not as great as kids think it will be. It can be much more expensive. You are not going to instantly find a group of people to hang out with by commuting to a residential college. The outskirts of Boston, where you might find other young college students, IS pretty much exactly what Worcester is. The outskirts of Boston that you have in mind is likely to be suburban families.
@Kate0615 I would find a roommate or roommates in Worcester. Would you be living in the suburbs of Boston for free? not sure why you would just live near your school.
Was poking around the Clark university website and found the listing of graduate schools by major. Thr law schools shown for 2016 were Notre Dame, UC, Santa Barbara and U of N Carolina. See https://www2.clarku.edu/offices/…/Classof2016_Report_000.pdf For class of 2015, it was St John’s University (Mario Cuomo’s alma mater in Queens NY).
Clark has a very solid academic reputation, so if you get good grades, you should be fine for law school.
Echoing what everyone else says. The rents in Worcester are MUCH cheaper than Boston - like less than half as much (average studio in Worcester is $980. Average in Boston is $2,300.) - plus you would save commuting costs. There are close suburbs of Boston that would be interesting for young people, but when you get to the point where the rents would be affordable and closer to Worcester, the towns become pretty boring. Because Worcester is so much cheaper than Boston, but only an hour away when there isn’t traffic, there is a flourishing arts scene there and a growing number of young people, so I, too, recommend living in Worcester and going into Boston on the weekends. There are many buses and trains. Most of the Greyhound buses are non-stop from Worcester to Boston, so just as fast as driving, and fewer headaches.