Hey everyone,
I will be graduating Geneseo in the coming fall and figured if anyone had any questions about the school, I could try my best to help you out.
Some background:
I graduated high school with a ~91 U/W, a 1900 SAT (perfect math score), crappy other two sections, and a 30 on the ACT.
In terms of other colleges, I applied to SUNY Albany, Oneonta, Oswego, Alfred University, St. Bonaventure, Fordham U., and Siena College. Prior to visiting Geneseo, Siena was my top choice (the atmosphere of the school). I received Presidential scholarships from most of the schools (besides Oswego and Geneseo). After visiting, I loved Geneseo, and decided to apply ED to the school. Early December 2013 I found out I had been accepted and would be attending.
I came to Geneseo in the fall of 2014 as a freshman with a Pre-Accounting major
I am not in a fraternity, but am close with most of the greek organizations on campus along with the sports teams.
I will be finishing up my B.S. in Accounting in the fall, with a GPA currently around a 3.6. I am considering returning to Geneseo for my M.S. in Accounting (to fulfill my 150-hour req. for the CPA exam), on a slightly unrelated note.
Let me know if you have any questions!
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone with knowledge of Geneseo may answer questions in this thread.
How is the college with dealing with students who got into the Guaranteed Admission Program? Specifically, in terms of boarding and classes.
I’m assuming you’re talking about students who were waitlisted until the spring semester. Class selection is based on credits, as a freshman with 23 credits, I was 1 semester ahead so I always registered classes one period ahead than ‘normal freshman’. That being said, I won’t sugar coat this, getting your 1st preference schedule at Geneseo probably won’t happen, as there are a lot of students and limited spots. Nothing that can’t be managed, just can’t be expected to get the perfect semester every semester. In terms of housing, I think the singles dorm is open so there shouldn’t be way too much competition for housing slots. I’m sure there will be triples somewhere, but not many, and they usually de-triple anyways by spring. Not sure if my answer is specific enough for you, I live off campus so I probably don’t have the best answer on your question. Let me know if you need to know something else
Thanks. Aside from that, how is the college as a whole? In terms of like socializing, location, safety, and things to do. I’ve read some negative reviews over on a student blog, but that could be a small number of bad experiences. I’d like to hear an honest reflection of your experience at Geneseo if possible.
I absolutely love this school. If I were to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I am curious what blog you’re referring to.
I think there’s more than enough to do, if you’re willing to put in a little work. With the closing of some bars (IB in particular), social life has seen a shift towards Greek life. Not that that’s a bad thing. Making connections and establishing a friend group early will make social life a hell of a lot easier in my opinion. At no point have I felt unsafe when walking around at night, minus some patches of black ice here and there. It is upstate NY, so winter will be cold (and a chance of a lot of snow), so don’t expect much there. The area is beautiful, lots of nice small towns nearby (with some pretty delicious food) in them, and Letchworth park is no opportunity to pass by on, even during the winter season. The people in the area are genuinely nice (of course there’s random outliers), but it feels like home, truly.
Oh yeah, go Ice Knights!!
Let me know if you’d like more info on a certain topic
I actually just visited campus yesterday. When I was there I was brought to the attention that single rooms won’t be available anymore. Is that for the entire campus or for certain halls. Other than that, I really like the campus. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. Definitely a change of scenery for a city kid.
@Odinize they tried to turn Jones Hall into a single room option for people about one or two years ago. I believe the school has been having issues with enough dorm space for all of the students attending, so they’ve decided to convert it back to doubles.
Do you know anything about Dante House?
@hockey19 I lived in Dante house my freshman year. It’s about one third international students, one third honors students, and 1/3 regular students. The dorm itself is pretty nice, but it does only have about 90 students which may be good or bad. A lot of people that lived in my dorm loved it, but my floor was extremely quiet so I didn’t like it as much. The dorm did have house dinners every week when I lived there, which was a pretty nice way to get to know everyone. It is one of the farthest dorms from campus, but most freshman will be living in dorms just as far away.
How hard was it to get into Dante House?
@Odinize I was in the Edgar Fellows program so I had to live there my freshman year. It may be a little difficult to get in if you aren’t an honors student or international student because it is one of the smallest dorms. I would say definitely put it down as a preference if you are interested, but have a backup plan.
Is there a bus home to Long Island? My only hesitation about Geneseo is not having enough to do (except school work).
There a buses from on-campus down to long island, NYC, etc. during break times. If you want one at a random point in the semester you’d probably have to get a bus out of Rochester (or Amtrak).
I’m biased as I go here, but with a school like Geneseo and any other small-school, if you don’t seek things out you will be bored. Plenty of things in Rochester, there’s enough nearby Geneseo. A Geneseo association called Geneseo Late Knight runs things almost every weekend that you could attend if you were bored. I believe last weekend they had an exotic animal event. If you sit on your butt and complain that you’re bored, it’d be your own fault. I never had trouble finding something to do if I wanted to. (Granted having a car has helped).
Hi, I also want to study accounting and am deciding between Geneseo and Fairfield University (got the Magis scholarship). Can you tell me a bit about how hard the accounting major is? The admissions office said accounting was a VERY hard major and they weed people out by requiring a 2.85 gpa? It doesn’t seem high, but are the classes really competitive and graded harshly? Also, how large are the intro classes at Geneseo? Professors very accessible? Were there a lot of classes above 50 students? Were you able to do a study abroad semester, assuming you were interested in one? Was there a lot of tutoring support if anyone had difficulties in any of the classes? I’m a girl, but not interested in joining a sorority - is that ok socially?
I got into Siena and St. Bonaventure’s too, as well as St. Joe’s in Phil and Loyola MD (got waitlisted at Fordham and Binghamton). I want a small/ medium school with small sized classes and a lot of student support, like tutoring (just in case) and a strong alumni base. Would you recommend Geneseo based on this? Any advice and answers you can give would be great! Sorry for so many questions!
@ hava939 Just a comment, I can’t believe Fordham waitlisted you, when you received the highest scholarship at Fairfield!
Yea, I know. I know several people that got in with lower grades than I have. Near as I can figure, they count the ACT more than grades and my ACT was just middling, even though I think I had a strong overall application. Plus I checked on the app that I only wanted the Gabelli business school.
Posted this in another place, but in case there were others who want to give their opinions I will post here too. My D is considering SUNY Geneso and has been accepted into the Edgar Fellows Program. She was accepted at Mount Holyoke and Bard, but the financial aid packages were not great so she is facing the choice that many students have to face. How is the honors program at Geneseo? Are the dorms in Dante House nice? I know they are quieter, but she doesn’t mind that. Are many of the classes at Geneseo small and discussion based or more lecture? She would be an English/Writing major. How is the English department? How is the environment at the school- is it friendly whether you are in a sorority or not? How is the student attitude toward the lgbt community- is it accepting in general and would it be safe? Is the campus safe in general? How is it handling the winters and the hills? Are there a lot of different clubs and club or intramural level sports (lacrosse?) Sorry so many questions. 
What’s the absolute best housing I can get into at Geneseo?