<p>I went to look at Stonehill not knowing much about the school on friday and fell in love with the school and campus! i am looking at going in a business type major (business admin/finance/accounting) and was wondering how that program was at the school. while i am now considering stonehill as a top school that i might go to, i was a bit frustrated with some of the bad reviews online especially on student reviews, i also saw that it was ranked 105 in us news and world report (this is not a terrible ranking- but i was expecting it to be much higher) and while i think i might be a good candidate for admission, my sister think i might be "too good" for the school which kinda annoyed me. she goes to holy cross and loves it there and i can see why but i feel like im leaning towards stonehill more. however, she thinks that choosing stonehill over a prestigious school like holy cross is a stupid move if i were to get into holy cross. it is a bit annoying because although i love the school it seems to be now that stonehill might not be a good fit for me and i was surpirsed to hear that many people were putting fordham before stonehill while i was considering fordham a safety school. what are your thoughts on this? do you think stonehill might not be as good as it sounds on the tour and that the beautiful campus does not match with the quality of its education or its reputation?</p>
<p>Stonehill has grown a lot in the last 10 years or so. I know a mother who said when her daughter went manyyears ago, it was a safety school with a lot of rich students and no diversity.
I know students there now and if you are in business or education,they seem strong and they have a lot of internships and study abroad opportunities.
I know the honors program is more rigorous than the non-honors, but you wont find it the same as Holy Cross or probably Fordham either. It’s a fairly young college and outside of this area, not as well known.
It is also very small, one of my daughter’s loved the country feel, but getting off campus wasn’t as easy as it would be at Fordham or HC. Holy Cross has shuttles during the week and on weekends to Providence and Boston. A friend at Stonehill said they didn’t have the same opportunities.
Stonehill has an accounting program but isn’t accredited yet…they were starting the process about a year ago. It isn’t needed but nice to have. HC has a hard accounting/econ program but doesn’t have a business school like Fordham where you are guarenteed enough credits to take the CPA at graduation. </p>
<p>How people see rigor and judge a school varies. What one considers hard is not another students. Holy Cross gives a lot of work overall, especially in accounting and Bio as I’m sure your sister can attest too.</p>
<p>Stonehill was no 1 in a regional catagory of US News but they invited them to be in the Liberal Arts which is why the drop. I’m sure it will rise over the years.</p>
<p>I would visit again and maybe stay for the day if you can. First impressions, how a school looks, can grow old after a year or two. Look into grad prospects, how you would feel being on campus so much, things that will matter to you as the years go on.</p>
<p>my daughter visited stonehill and did not like it at all. It is a very good school but she just didn’t think it was a fit. </p>
<p>For a business major i would say fordham is a better bet due to the sheer number of intern opportunities available in the city</p>
<p>Have you looked at Loyola?</p>
<p>I’m transferring to Stonehill next fall and while I can’t comment on the business program (I’m a political science major), I can tell you I was in a similar position to you not so long ago.
I fell in love with Stonehill, much like you described, a few years back in high school. For a multitude of reasons I did not attend but I am now transferring into the college from a local community college.
I was accepted to more prestigious schools like Georgetown, Boston College, and coincidentally Holy Cross. I was also told that I was ‘too good’ for Stonehill and I was so focused on rankings that I almost committed to Boston College.</p>
<p>College is about much more than rankings, and don’t sweat the negative reviews on some sites; even the best colleges in the country have disgruntled former students. (Remember, for every one negative review there are probably hundreds of positive ones but those students don’t feel the need to post because they were satisfied with their experience.)
I would not rule out Stonehill because of its ranking (note that it is a really young college and that its ranking has improved steadily), if you think it is the best fit then I would go with your gut.
Stonehill is a tremendous college with great opportunities in terms of study abroad/internships and its unique in its community atmosphere which fosters a great student body (ranked #7 happiest students by Princeton review). The campus is truly gorgeous, the location is great, and I’m not sure if you have seen the housing on campus but it is second to none. </p>
<p>and for what its worth, I was no fan of Holy Cross…was not impressed with the campus, the surrounding city was downright depressing, and the vibe there was much more competitive and cutthroat then the more laid back Stonehill.</p>
<p>I would hate to see someone make a mistake like I almost did and pick a college based solely on rankings. Holy Cross is a great school with a tremendous reputation but if it is not the best fit for you and you think you would be happier at Stonehill or wherever than you need to explore your options.</p>
<p>Good Luck with your search!</p>
<p>The only real downside to Stonehill is that it has virtually no name recognition outside of the Boston area.</p>
<p>alright guys this was all pretty helpful!! i’ll keep this in mind as i do my college search. it turns out my college adviser actually has an appreciation for stonehill so it seems like a possible match but we will see. i am considering fordham and have not looked much into loyola yet but will. the thing i liked better about stonehill instead of fordham is that it is much more of a community on campus as more people live on campus and i like the environment and vibe on campus more than fordham since fordham is a pretty big school. nevertheless, they are all good schools. and transfer520, i totally agree with you about the “vibe or feel” on holy cross campus. while it is a beautiful campus and without doubt a great school, i hate the overly competitive type of environment and it did seem very depressing at times! i like that stonehill’s campus vibe is laid back (not academically of course) but it has a more welcoming and community feel. thanks again!</p>
<p>I know Stonehill is very laid back,but I don’t totally understand the competitive vibe at HC. My daughter said it doesn’t seem that way to her at all, everyone helps each other. Her friend who is pre-med had many study groups and support with his classmates and was glad that it didn’t have that vibe.
There are students serious about their studies though, they give a lot of work, so seeing them in the library or with a book, that is just keeping up. She sees competition with themselves, I want to do better, but luckily not with each other. I understand how that can be interpreted differently by people though and seeing just a snapshot. She felt the freshman were the most intense and the upperclassman who got used to the flow, were more relaxed.
They have a friend at Stonehill that loves it, wasn’t her first or maybe second choice, but it worked out very well.</p>
<p>hi debruns, thank you for your comment
i do have great respect for both stonehill and holy cross as they are both very good schools (my sister goes to holy cross!!!)
anyhow, it actually wasn’t within the students that i saw a competitive nature, it was actually more of just the campus itself. there is no doubt that holy cross has a beautiful campus and i was there not too long ago and see that they are actually doing construction there. keeping this in mind, it just seemed that the campus itself was very overwhelming for me and very intense and i know my sister has loved her experience there but has had to work extremely hard to maintain a very high grade. don’t get me wrong, i do want to work hard where i go to school, but i just remember my sister hating holy cross her first year. of course that did not last and she is now in love with the school going into her senior year. while i do want to go to a school that challenges me, i felt like holy cross may be too much for me and too intense and the stonehill campus just seems to click for me more. anyhow, i still have plenty of time before i choose where i attend college and i am definitely applying to both schools. so i will see where that takes me! again thanks for your comment much appreciated. i hope your daughter is doing well at HC!</p>
<p>You’re welcome, every person has a different view and “fit”. My daughter found the work very challenging and it was a humbling experience to not get A’s as easily but she adjusted.
Her friend at Stonehill is in the honors program and works hard and got very involved. She wishes she had the opportunties to get off campus the way my daughter does, but nothing is perfect.
Good luck, I hope you have good outcomes.</p>
Stonehill has had a van to take students into Boston since I attended in 1975. Te information posted by Debruns is not correct. I spent plenty of time going to Haymarket, Faneuil Hall and attending Red Sox games. My friend at Wheaton College could not get into the city. I also know that Stonehill today - 2014 – sports Zipcars on campus. And around the perimeter of the school there are restaurants as well. I believe the van also takes students to the local mall and movie theater.
You can also pick up the commuter rail in Brockton now to get into Boston. It’s true that Stonehill doesn’t have a lot of name recognition outside the New England area. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good school, just that they aren’t looking to compete on the national level like many other schools. Stonehill’s enrollment has not grown much since I graduated 30+ years ago. They’re focused more on their core mission than on USNWR rankings, and I respect that. Stonehill has a lot to offer to those kids for whom it is the right fit.
Since no one has really addressed the Business part of the question:
Stonehill is AACSB accredited. This is the highest accreditation possible for a business program and is quite favorably viewed for both hiring and MBA admission. Fewer than 10% of undergraduate-only institutions in the world have AACSB Accreditation. Internship opportunities are plentiful in greater Boston and the school has semester-long internship programs in NYC, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Paris and Madrid.
http://www.stonehill.edu/academics/areas-of-study/business-administration/