I am currently considering SUNY New Paltz, but I heard that it’s a hippie school. I’m pretty artsy, I love to draw, play the piano, and I’m a big film person but I don’t want to be in school where they are trapped in the 1960’s. I’m hoping to have a little more diversity to meet all kinds of people. Anyone that has went there, or goes there, or has knowledge about the diversity of the students can you tell me a little about what it’s like?
The best thing you can do is visit and see for yourself if it is a good fit. My S’s friend went there and was very happy (he is not a hippie type).
If you’re artsy, you have a good chance of liking New Paltz. Our SUNY schools are excellent colleges and New Paltz is one of the most popular. Like most SUNYs, most students are state residents – about 93% of the students are from different parts of NYS (which a large and diverse state) – but 5% are from OOS, and 2% are international students.
What part of the state are you from, @Natalie1237? A lot of their students come from LI and NYC (about 25% from each), so I suspect it’s a fairly diverse school.
I’m from NYC. I’m definitely the artsy type but I don’t want to be totally hippie. I’m going to visit soon, but as long as there’s some diversity and it’s not totally hippie I’ll enjoy it.
It’s artsy, not hippie (perhaps in the vegetarian/quirky/peace type, but not necessarily as in “throw back to the sixties”).
In any case, you definitely need to go and visit, perhaps do an overnight.
My daughter attended NP for 4 years. It is very artsy, very cool, all types of kids. I think you will love it. Great town.
I have two friends who are alumni of New Paltz, and I’ve visited the college myself (with them when they returned for alumni events). I get the sense that it is artsy but not very hippie-ish. Definitely liberal and the students seem to live it and the surrounding town - but it’s not a throwback to the 1960s. My friend’s younger sister also goes to New Paltz and she’s a music major, and I get the sense that there’s a big group of artsy students who go there.
Just want to put my 2 cents in. My daughter attends NP as a STEM student and LOVES it, I can’t stress that enough! She’s not especially artsy, though she does have an appreciation for the arts and is most definitely not hippie, she had no problems finding her niche. You might find NP to be a little more sophisticated than you expected, keep in mind they are 1 1/2 hrs from NYC (by train, NYS thruway, 2 hrs. if you drive 70 the whole way) so they have that as a cultural reference point. The overall feeling of the school is friendly and accepting, they say come as you are, and they mean it. They don’t try to change who you are, they just provide a very good education to help you be the best you can. You should visit if you can, NP slightly resembles Brooklyn “neighborhoods” like Park Slope or Carroll Gardens even Brooklyn Heights or Queens, Forest Hills-ish with a little DUMBO or East Village thrown in, just to give you an idea of what the village is like, remember I said slightly 
. My D’s friends are a pretty diverse group, whether that translates to the broader community, I can’t say, but I would suspect it does. It sounds like you would fit in quite well, but only you can make that determination. Good luck to you.
Hate to intrude, you guys all had helpful posts, i am considering transferring to new paltz and am wondering about diversity, specifically if there are any latino oriented organizations and if New Paltz is commuter friendly