<p>Could someone provide me with insight into the main forms of social life at Geneseo (if there are main ones). I have applied for fall '08, and am really considering attending if admitted. I just wanted to know what type of things students did in their free time and also what opportunties the city of Rochester offers.
I know the majority of the student body is from New York, but I was wondering if there is much diversity (racial, socioeconomic) on campus, and if people of different backgrounds and race interacted frequently. Also, sorry it's not really related to my questions above, but what is the weather like throughout the year. Is the majority of both semesters taken over by extreme winters, or is winter there average for new York (lake effect, heavy snow?) Thank you.</p>
<p>Hey looparound- I am a sophomore at Geneseo and I will be the first to admit that I am a bit of a homebody when it comes to going out on the weekends. But that is definitely not to say there isn't stuff to do. Every Friday and Saturday night there is some kind of event going on on campus, usually in the union. Sometimes they're kind of lame, but sometimes they're pretty cool. Like this weekend, they had a giant guitar hero tournament in the union ballroom, and it was projected on to a big screen and everything, so that was a lot of fun. And the grand prize was Rock Band- so it got pretty competitive. Also there's always some video games, and table games like pool and ping pong for free in the union every night. If you're more of a partier, there are open frat parties just about every weekend, or if you're in a club or a team they'll have parties every so often too. People also go to the bars a lot, which is fun if you like dancing and stuff like that. There's also a free bus in to Rochester on the weekends, though as a Long Islander, I've never really been too impressed with that city (I think I'm spoiled by NYC). But there are malls, movie theaters, and coffee shops which can be fun on a weekend. But besides stuff to do on the weekends, there are a bunch of clubs and teams around on campus, and it's pretty easy to get involved in anything. They are definitely a good way to meet people (I met my current roommate from a club I am in) and can be a lot of fun.
As for diversity, there honestly is not a ton of it. Mostly everyone is white and middle-class, though I think they are trying to diversify the population here. Though I'm sure anyone who isn't white and middle-class wouldn't have a problem fitting in- most students are very friendly and open-minded. I have noticed that people from different backgrounds do tend to segregate themselves sometimes, but then again my roommate last year was Hispanic, and most of her friends were Hispanic as well- but we are still great friends.
As for the weather, it's not too extreme. Coming from Long Island, it's colder than what I'm used to, but it's relatively average for Western NY. It starts to get cold and snowy around November, and ends toward the end of March. And for some reason Geneseo actually gets less lake-effect than the places around it- I think it has something to do with the valley.
Hope I could help- let me know if you have any more questions!</p>
<p>Thanks, smljk02. That was really helpful, especially the part about the free WE Rochester bus - nice to know.</p>
<p>Yes thank you. that was very helpful, Now that I think about it, I have some more questions:
-I've read somewhere that the average class size is quite large (I was surprised by the number). Could you comment on the size of your classes and the instruction and interaction(if any) in each. Do you have a mix of large classes and smaller ones?
-Also, do you happen to know if there is an art/photography club on campus that has a darkroom to use OR just is there a photography darkroom available for students? Thanks Again!</p>
<p>Glad I could help!</p>
<p>As for class sizes, it often depends on what department or level you're taking. In your freshman year, you'd probably be taking mostly 100-level classes, which tend to be larger- these are usually the classes you have to take for a general education requirement. Like, my Bio 100 class freshman year had at least 100 people in it, and it was all lecture. If you're a science major, I think you can expect all your classes to be on the larger side- especially bio, because that's a popular major here. They do try to make sure you are able to have personal contact with your professors- freshman year you have to take a writing class and those are usually kept to about 30 people, and professors do a good job of getting to know you in those classes. There are some professors who are just better about that kind of thing than others, though, so sometimes it just depends. But anyway, this semester one of my classes (education) has about 10 people in it. It really just depends on what class it is- my English classes, for example, all have had around 25-30 people in them. Generally as you get into higher level classes, the number of people in the class decreases. So your freshman year you'll probably be in a few of the bigger, lecture-style classes, but it will get better from there on out. As for the photography stuff, I'm really not sure about a club- it's possible there is one already, but it's not hard to start a new club either. And I don't know if there is a darkroom on campus, but I bet there probably is one, because I think there are photography classes.</p>
<p>all of the suny schools are going to be getting a ton more money soon (something governor spitzer set aside or whatever), and the geneseo president wrote a letter to the d&c paper saying they'd use a lot of it to hire more profs and decrease the student-teacher ratio.
(right now its 19-to-1, they're hoping to get it down to 15-to-1, i think).</p>
<p>sarahhs, I wouldn't count on Spitzer's plan going through. First off, there was already a lot of political resentment from the Assembly (for example, naming UBuffalo and Stony Brook as "flagships" while Binghamton had arguably been the unofficial flagship and is looking to start a law school and otherwise expand its graduate programs). Secondly, Spitzer is no longer in the position to push his plan through both regional opposition and, I'm sorry to say, the Republicans, many of whom see the use of the lottery money somehow eventually tied to, dare I say the evil word? "TAXES!!!" Nelson Rockefeller is gone, and a lot (not all) of the Republicans have this attitude that what you have is good enough, if you want better, pay for it; if you can't afford it, that's your problem...</p>
<p>I'd like to tone down the partisan political tone of my last post. It's really beside my point, and as a matter of fact I don't know the exact positions of the various legislators on Gov. Spitzer's plan. I do stand by the observation that he was the biggest force behind the plan (with varying degrees of support from the various SUNY schools), and that his effectiveness in moving a controversial plan forward has been brutally damaged.
I've been posting to too many NY Times blogs, the tones of which are much more confrontational that this blog needs to be or should be. I have to calm down andr emember that some of my best friends are Republicans! Sorry...</p>
<p>that's quite alright. :) i didn't know it hadn't been passed yet!</p>
<p>smljk02 and others --- is there a sizable geek contingent at Geneseo? Any D & D players out there?</p>
<p>mtnest2b- I think there is a pretty good showing of "geeks" at Geneseo. While I've never really been part of that crowd, I cane remember last year walking through a D & D game taking place in a hallway on the way to the vending machine once or twice!</p>
<p>Thanks! You are GREAT to be giving your time to helping students & parents get a feel for Geneseo.
Is there a list of clubs that my prospective freshman can access, and/or an active blog or listserv in order to contact possibly like-minded students and figure out if Geneseo is the right place? At some schools there's an active Livejournal site, for example. Checked out Lamron online, but there wasn't much there.</p>
<p>Emails get sent around to the entire student body almost daily with information on club meetings or events that are open to the whole campus, so it's pretty easy to find out about clubs that you're interested in joining or when they meet. It also is not too difficult to start a club if you want: you can easily add to the digest that gets sent to students to advertise a meeting to get an idea of student interest in starting a new club. There are also flyers up around campus all the time about meetings or events. There really is quite a wide range of clubs available to join, and there are many open-minded students who are willing to try to new things and join some offbeat new club.</p>