<p>AFter reading the NY times article, I got interested in Union. Is anyone familiar with this school and the "feel" of it--that is, preppy or quirky, conservative or liberal, and how good the studio arts department is?</p>
<p>Oh no!! Is the NY times going to attract more apps to Union? We visited this summer, so without students present it's hard for me to say. My feeling is slightly more on the preppy conservative side, but not overly so. They are trying to dilute the frat influence with the so-called Minerva House system, but I need to do more research to determine how important the frats really are. The campus was beautiful and our overall impression was quite positive.</p>
<p>i visited Union and i was very impressed. Beautiful campus with solid academics. </p>
<p>Unfortunately one of my friends this past year at Cornell was a transfer from Union. Her claimed that the academics were less than even semi-challenging and that the student body was mostly stuck up wealthy kids from the NYC/NJ area. If you don't mind putting up with this, it's a great school.</p>
<p>I have a close friend who is going to Union and what gomestar said may be true. I love her to death but she is very into the image of wealthiness. Also, right now she's salviating because she's on the Field Hockey team which means easier access to the frat parties lol.</p>
<p>I graduated from Union back in the late 70s . I got a wonderful education and spent 4 of the happiest years of my life there. I went on to professional school (law), and many of my friends went on to law school or medical school. Union has a trimester system, so it is difficult to slack off academically. I think it is easier to fall behind quickly. The school was fairly "preppy" in my era, although public school kids formed the majority (and probably still do). Union has a terrific study abroad program (my one great regret in life is that I failed to take advantage of it).</p>
<p>You are going to find kids that buy into the affluence thing at most private schools. This does not mean that all kids at the school fit that mold.</p>
<p>My S (entering college in the fall) applied to Union and was accepted. He decided to do to Dickinson College in PA. instead. I think I killed the idea of him going to Union when we did an on campus tour in the fall of his junior year. I swore I would not be one of those overly enthusiastic alumni parents. However, I walked right past my freshman year dorm room and started yelling, "There's my room." Of course, my S was mortified!</p>
<p>union is one of my favorite schools- its a very laidback and friendly place. very pretty campus, strong in sciences. its preppy, but students arent politically conservative. i think it reminds me most of trinity and bucknell in terms of student body, but its a bit easier to get into union.</p>
<p>I've always liked Union as well - it's been years since I've been on campus but I remember it as quite lovely. I had a number of friends who went there and we are very close today with a couple who met there and got married (all from the late 70s too, bxian!). Everyone I know who went seems to have nothing but good things to say. From what I hear from them, the atmosphere today is pretty similar to what it was. It's got a reputation for social life that revolves heavily around the fraternity scene though that may be changing somewhat. However, it's not a 24/7 party school - there's a real sense of community on campus and professors seem to have great relationships with the students there. Fashion wise, it's pretty preppy. Still, most come from NY, NJ, CT or the Boston area, so in my opinion there's maybe just a little bit more of the liberal and big city influence than in some other places. The school is close to Albany and some good skiing, too.</p>
<p>I vaguely remember seeing Union with my older sister in summer '01. It's very preppy, but she decided against applying there as soon as the guide said they measure their snow by the foot! She just graduated from Wake Forest in NC this past May :).</p>