I’ve been accepted to Seton Hall to their BS/Joint MD program with a decent-sized scholarship. I visited SHU and the surrounding area doesn’t seem super safe/comfortable for an out-of-state student. If I go out of state, I’d rather be in a quiet college town at least an hour away from a city. I’m also concerned about people saying that SHU is a commuter school. Does anyone have any info about what student life is like for out-of-state students? For reference, I’m from the West Coast.
We live 15 minutes from seton hall, so I don’t know of anyone who dorms there, but it’s considered a commuter school by locals, unlike other NJ colleges.
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Were you accepted to other BS/MD programs?
We are also west coast and we visited the campus prior to applying.
It’s a beautiful campus. Everything about the school was great with the exception of the dorms. My daughter is a different major and their stats for grad school are great. It’s about 15 minutes outside of Manhattan which was attractive for us (brother lives there). The campus seemed secure and they had a good support system.
Since you have been admitted to a very selective program (and got great merit) I wouldn’t look the other way.
My daughter loved everything about SH (except dorms).
I live in the area and know some students (local and OOS) who live on campus. They seem happy. If you like nature, the nearby South Mountain Reservation is a 2100-acre nature preserve with many wooded trails. The Reservoir in West Orange has a nice paved path for walking around a lake.
I’ve seen the Seton Hall shuttle bus at the Short Hills mall (which is very nice) and the South Orange train station, where the trains could take you to Hoboken (a fun place for young adults) or New York city.
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Congratulations! The Seton Hall program is quite new, but the Seton Hall name is widely known throughout the NYC area. You’re right that its mostly a commuter school, but they do have some dorms.
Being close to a major city is favorable for a number of reasons. But mainly because of access to tertiary medical centers. As a medical student you’ll want to be near big hospitals, because they get referred the most complex cases. The academic medical centers also are great places to learn, because they are used to having students and residents around.
I can understand your desire for a quiet college town. But keep in mind that South Orange is a suburban enclave. It is a fairly small quiet town. But its located only a few minutes away from Newark and NYC. You’ll have plenty of peace and quiet. If you haven’t visited, I would take a serious look.
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A lot of the “commuter school” label is somewhat outdated. You go back 10 years and maybe 25% of students lived on campus, that number is now over 50% and my guess is more than 75% of freshman. Also depends on what you think are commuters, there’s a difference between local students living at home and driving in and upperclassmen that move off campus into their own apartment.
Congrats on your acceptance, looks like a really great opportunity
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Yes, and the number who live in off campus apartments in the immediate area - not really commuters - are not reflected in that number who live on campus in dorms. Those who live in off campus apartments might just as well be on campus.
My son-in-law’s younger sister went to SHU out of high school not too long ago and found it to be more of a suitcase school, i.e. lots of kids going home on the weekends. She didn’t like that aspect and wanted something different. So, she transferred out after freshman year. I can’t comment on whether things would have changed if she had stayed longer. She would not describe it as a commuter school.