<p>As suggested by Lenitus, I thought I would continue this discussion (that was started elsewhere) on our new forum!</p>
<p>Omzac ~ My husband is a Fordham alum also and fell in love with the Jesuit influence there. When he learned that Scranton was a Jesuit school, it immediately impressed him. So by the time we are done, 3 of the 4 members of our family will have gone to Jesuit universities and we are not Catholic. We are from northern NJ, and there are plenty of LI kids there. Most are from the NY, NJ, PA areas, but there are some from quite a distance as well as some international students. </p>
<p>We really enjoy going out to Scranton and we like the city. Although it is not that far from us, it seems like a little slower pace, the people and employees in stores and restaurants are very friendly and take the time to chat.</p>
<p>Nice to hear your husband went to Fordham. I graduated in 1980 from the Rose Hill campus. In fact, I plan to attend my 30th (I can’t believe I just said 30th) reunion in June! I loved it there. Of course, we are considering Fordham for our son, but Scranton seems like another nice school. I am glad to hear that you like the area. Some people have said that Scranton is not very nice. Do you feel that Scranton is relatively safe? Thanks in advance for all your help.</p>
<p>I do feel that Scranton is relatively safe. One of my kids lived on campus all 4 years, the other decided to live off campus after the first 2 years, although it is very close to campus. Neither have had any problems at all. As I said, we like the city. They have done a lot of redevelopment lately. There are a lot of coffee shops, restaurants and pizza places within easy walking distance, as well as a mall, movie theaters, etc. There is a ski area which is a 10 minute drive away (although my S and his roommate have walked there).</p>
<p>My husband was on Rose Hill too and got his master’s from there. The current president of Fordham was the previous president at Scranton and is a wonderful person.</p>
<p>Thanks kitty56 for all the information. I am so glad to have someone who is so willing to answer any questions that might come up. We are going to plan a little drive up there soon to see it for ourselves.</p>
<p>Kity I have ties to Scranton as well but I can view it much more objectively in terms of where it needs to improve. There are safety concerns at Scranton as there are in many areas that are suffering with the economy.</p>
<p>The international student are very few if you consider one or two per graduating year. Parents and students should visit Scranton and understand the type of school this is and the type of student that attends. As I said the kid who does not gravitate to partying will not be happy at Scranton. The school needs to bring more activity to the campus to offer alternatives to the kids.
As far as skiing is concerned the mountain is a short distance away but there is no bus service on the weekend to get there. The kids can only go mid week (with a bus from school). If they started to offer alternatives such as the one I just mentioned than the kids may not be drinking all weekend from Wed/Thurs to Sunday night.</p>
<p>I am very interested in your insight in to the school as you mention you “have ties” to Scranton. Do you have a student that currently attends? If not, could you share what your ties to the school may be? </p>
<p>When we visited (3 times), we did not get the sense that it was as much of a “partying” school as you allude to at all. In fact, we talked to some students, and they mentioned all the non-partying activities that the school has to offer. (movies, school cultural offerings, town cultural offerings, intramural sports, club sports, etc.)</p>
<p>As far as the students, they seemed bright and engaged. I didn’t notice that there was a distinct “type” of student. Granted, we didn’t note a lot of ethnic diversity, but many of the schools we visited seemed to have
similar demographics.</p>
<p>The students we talked to stated that the campus was very safe. The economy has depressed many cities. Scranton has actually fared better than some, because of all the investments devoted to attracting some new businesses in the last decade, before the recession hit. It seems not much different than most places in the northeast.</p>
<p>Absolutely not true. My D never went to a house party - that wasn’t her thing. She had plenty of friends that felt the same way. My other kid has been to a few, but it’s certainly not his primary activity. Not all kids are drinking all weekend (or Wed/Thurs to Sunday night) . Are there some? Sure, just like at any other college. </p>
<p>Scranton offers lots of activities. There are over 70 clubs, many different intramurals, and tons of community service opportunities. They offer different day trips throughout the year with one today to Woodbury Commons. They have also gone to NYC and Philly. They bring in comedians and run coffeehouses. They run movies - sometimes in the theater and sometimes outside when the weather is nice. Outside the campus there is a mall, pizza places, coffeeshops. We were just in Scranton last night to go to dinner with S before D and I headed to a concert in Wilkes Barre (which was fantastic!). S took us to a new cheese steak place near campus that was terrific! And again, the girl who took our order was so sweet.</p>
<p>So there are plenty of things for kids to do. They just need to take the initiative to go to the activities.</p>
<p>Kitty your kids are the exception to the party scene at Scranton. The house parties are going strong from Wed/Thurs throught Sat night. I have been on the campus many times in the past few months and all you need to do is watch the kids heading up the street between 10:00 and 11:00. It is like this on most campuses but the big difference is that there is simply not enough to do so the kids do not have options. Yes there are clubs but they are not having anything going on Friday and Saturday nights.</p>
<p>They are NOT the exception. There are plenty of kids who go to parties. There are plenty of kids who DO NOT. You may see kids heading up there, but there are about 4100 undergrads at Scranton - and you may actually be seeing students walking home who live up there. If there are 1000 kids at the parties, that would be a lot. The hill section is not that big.</p>
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<p>So you are saying that it IS the same thing on most campuses, but other campuses offer kids options and they still go to parties? I’m not sure what your problem is with Scranton. Students make choices, too. </p>
<p>And you are absolutely right - Parents and students should visit Scranton and understand the type of school it is and the type of student that attends.</p>
<p>Quote: “I have been on the campus many times in the past few months and all you need to do is watch the kids heading up the street between 10:00 and 11:00.” huh?</p>
<p>I am still very curious as to what the “ties” to Scranton are ?? </p>
<p>Are you a parent? Do you live in Scranton? Do you work there? I can’t imagine why someone would be on campus at those hours…?</p>
<p>Momma- why the hostility toward Scranton? It just doesn’t seem healthy.:rolleyes: We met some kids from Scranton who really don’t party.</p>
<p>Ah, great find, 1sokkermom. Especially: "The University of Scrantons Late Night Programming Initiative is becoming a big hit on campus. </p>
<p>Late Night at Scranton is an initiative started this year to offer alternative, alcohol-free opportunities for students during late night evening and weekend hours."</p>
<p>I was not aware of this formal Initiative, but S did tell us he and some friends formed a team, participated in and won one of the quiz bowls. They had a blast.</p>
<p>The problem that I see is that the school just does not offer enough of interesting alternatives to their students. If you think it is enough than fine. I personally think the school is very nice but it could be far better if parents and students started demanding more. It is not my kid who is attending so I have no personal reason to do so. If I did have a son or daughter at Scranton I would be very disapointed with the lack of money being put into the students activities and experiences. That is just my opinion.</p>
<p>It is up to the students and the parents who pay the tuition to question why there are not more alternatives to the Scranton parties. You have heard the wide spread expression used on campus “There ain’t no party like a Scranton party.” Wouldn’t it be nice to see that reputation change?</p>
<p>Tell your kids to request more instead of being so complacent.</p>
<p>Still scratching head as to why you opine so about Scranton. </p>
<p>I am sorry your friend had such a bad experience. I had never heard about a “Scranton Party” until the television show, “The Office”. I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with the University.</p>
<p>My D is looking forward to the many things Scranton has to offer. It really is exciting to see all the cultural offerings it does provide. Lots of lectures from prominent educators, musicians, politicians, etc. Many philanthropic opportunities, community involvement opportunities, etc. For her, there are 3 hospitals within walking distance of campus that will provide volunteer/clinical opportunities, etc.</p>
<p>So far, we are already getting our money’s worth just thinking about it…:D</p>
<p>I just noticed a very personal story you posted (post #4) on a thread called; “Freshman year: surviving but not thriving; take a gap year?”</p>
<p>It seems that you had some personal challenges, and did have a child who had some social and academic difficulties at college during freshman year and transferred. Mentioned in that thread were parties and failure of school to accommodate… </p>
<p>No mention of what school it was in that thread, but you did provide a lot of “personal” information.</p>
<p>If your child’s experience was at Scranton this would explain your position a little better. if not, I’d be interested in what school she transferred from. it seems that experience, as you described it, had much more to do with situations outside of the control of any college. I am glad for you that the end is a success story.</p>
<p>No she was not at Scranton but we did consider Scranton when she was looking. The school she was attending was a very similar type of school that offered little more than parties for their students. My experience with Scranton is work related and personal in the respect that I recommended the school to my dearest friend for her son. He has had a good experience but is transferring because it did not meet his needs. He was desiring a school that offered a different atmosphere.</p>
<p>“The school she was attending was a very similar type of school that offered little more than parties for their students.”</p>
<p>Good grief…again. Maybe some kids and parents are just not ready to understand that the students have choices. If a parent can’t see what a school like Scranton has to offer beyond parties, it doesn’t surprise me that the kids can’t. I feel badly that you are using the experiences of your D, and your friend’s kid to 'broad brush an entire campus".</p>
<p>I hope these kids ultimately find the perfect college experience that “meets their needs”, whatever that means. Unfortunately, someday these kids will have to take responsibility for their own actions, and not be able to blame future failures on their environment, or their own lack of initiative.</p>
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