<p>I have been accepted to Saint Anselm for the class of 2013, with a 12,000/year scholarship and am trying to decide between Saint Anselm and eight other schools. Any thoughts on academic reputation and the grade deflation policy i have heard that they use?</p>
<p>I am the parent of a current St. Anselm student, whose sibling is in the middle of the college selection process right now. My D does choose St. A’s over acceptances at Holy Cross, Providence, Uconn, and others. St. Anselm really wanted her and she responded to the respect they showed her. She is in the Honors program and loves her school. I suspect that you also are invited into the honors program - go for it.</p>
<p>Academically, St. A’s may not stack up statistically with BC, Bates, Middlebury, etc - but there are smart kids in any school. And great teachers.</p>
<p>Regarding grading policies - when you receive an A at St. A’s - you really know you did something. They don’t hand them out like potato chips - think about it - do you want a school with a great academic reputation that’s easy to get an A - or would you rather know you had to work hard for your achievements?</p>
<p>Do you know anything about the business/accounting major? I didn’t see anything on the site about being accredited. I did write the school and hope to hear from them soon. I know Providence is 3/4 through with accreditation and H.Cross and UConn already have it.</p>
<p>Princeton Review’s Academic Rating for Saint Anselm is 84 which is quite respectable.</p>
<p>For comparison: Providence(80), HC(98), UConn(74), BC(88), Bates(94), Middlebury(98)</p>
<p>Would St Anselm be a welcoming envirnonment for a URM? I know the percentages are very low which might be for a number of factors, but environment has a lot to do with satisfaction, much more than just a number. Some higher percentages have many complaints about racism, but sometimes lower percentages don’t. My daughter is Catholic and is used to a church where a lot of different backgrounds make up the parish, filipino, black, asian, etc. She likes what she hears about St. Anselm, but worry’s about the environment.</p>
<p>NH is predominantly a white state and ST A’s draws primarily local kids.</p>
<p>I exepected that…well, I’ll see if she wants to pursue it. She doesn’t mind the low percentage,it’s the attitude of the students. Some schools in PA are known to have more minorities, but have a lot of issues with race. I wasn’t as familiar with New Hampshire, but I wouldn’t want her to feel isolated and not bond with any students.</p>
<p>How serious is that issue of racism?</p>
<p>Hello all, I graduated in 2006, and although I made a lot of friends, learned a lot, and matured personally, there are some things you need to know about Saint Anselm.</p>
<p>First, there is NO diversity. The school is basically divided up into a TON of rich snobby people, 2 black people, and a grade deflation policy that will ruin the futures of 60-70% of all students that attend. I have thought about what I am saying for quite some time, and I tell you this with all of my heart: please do yourself a favor and avoid this school. It has a beautiful campus, but you can earn MUCH better grades with a similar education at any of the hundreds of other schools that don’t practice grade deflation. I cannot go to graduate school (I wanted to be a psychologist) because I have a 2.5 GPA.</p>
<p>@andrewg2012 - what do you mean by “grade deflation”?</p>
<p>Some kids call it St. C’s, but from what I’ve heard its not that hard if you put the effort in. With all due respect to andrewg2012, he sounds like a whiner.</p>
<p>@Kat2013, grade deflation is essentially when a professor is told to only give out so many A’s and B’s and balance it out.</p>
<p>While andrewg is frankly out of line with his complaints about “rich snobby people”, he has a point about the greade inflation. It is a huge drawback which certainly makes me less likely to go there.</p>
<p>Thanks jmw222, we will take that into consideration. Any other positive or negative info would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I’m currently a student there and so far I really haven’t personally had any issues there relating to grades. It isn’t an easy school, I’ll tell you that, but if you put in the effort it won’t be any more difficult than anywhere else you are deciding between. While I agree with previous statements that statistics say it isn’t as great as other schools I really have learned a ton and what I have is invaluable. </p>
<p>What are you looking to go into as a major? I do have to say that some departments have better faculty than others (but I might just be biased about them based on my profs and my friend’s profs), but most of the professors here are great.</p>
<p>You really do have to work to get an A, they just want that “normal distribution”, but if you put in effort and show the professors that you care about the class, getting great grades isn’t very hard. They also don’t want to be like a lot of other schools that “give out As” to keep retention rates high, they want to make the learning environment best for those who actually care about academics and want to do well in the future.</p>
<p>About what andrewg2012 said, yes there is very little diversity, but if you’re concerned about the academic reputations and grade deflation that is completely moot. I wouldn’t avoid this school at all, the classes are great, the professors are really helpful, and it enables you to challenge yourself rather than sliding through an education. </p>
<p>A word about the diversity (or lack there of…), while there is very little here, it is nothing to worry about. I’ve never heard anything about racism from anyone here. In all honesty, that would not be something to be concerned about. If someone is concerned about that, they have a bunch of clubs relating to one’s ethnic background if they want to feel comfortable and can spend time in the multicultural center and participate in the awareness events they host. </p>
<p>Again, if you put in the effort the professors expect from you, you should have no issue with grade deflation - if you earn the grade you will receive that grade on your transcript. While the college wants to have a normal distribution, most of the professors do not care and will give you the grade you deserve. The courses might not be the easiest, but if you earn an A you will actually get an A.</p>
<p>Thanks for the candid look Sko127. Glad to hear you like it. What is your major? Why do you feel it is a good school, yet the stats don’t match up?</p>
<p>My son is looking to do Political Science. He really enjoyed visiting the school & hopes to hear soon as he applied EA. I enjoyed meeting the president. Have they said who is replacing him?</p>
<p>My son has no problem working for his grades, however, it would be very frustrating to put all that time & effort in only to not get the grade b/c only so many are allowed.</p>
<p>What is the social life like?</p>
<p>I am a Psychology major but a good number of my friends are Political Science majors. The school has put a lot of money into that program so the facilities and the professors in that department are some of the best at the school. Have you been to the NHIOP? I’m assuming you have, but if you have not I recommend visiting it, one of my friends is a tour guide and will provide you with some really helpful information.</p>
<p>Stats are always fairly biased based upon who is looking at what, which is why looking solely at those is typically not the best idea. For instance, one ranking system could place a school in the 80’s where another in the 120’s. </p>
<p>I really feel like this school has helped me mature as a student and a person and I would not give this up for anything. It is academically challenging, they want you to actually know the information rather than memorize it, and I feel that this is definitely going to help me when I apply to graduate programs. They also encourage community engagement and provide plenty of opportunities to do so. I personally enjoy community service so that was a plus.</p>
<p>I can’t say too much about what his time would be like since they are actually debating a core curriculum change so some of his academics might be different than my experience, but from what I had I can say that what I have learned from those core classes (such as the humanities program) has definitely aided me in my other classes.</p>
<p>As of yet I do not believe they have found a replacement yet, but they have a committee of professors, other staff members, and students who will be helping decide on the new president to make sure that all aspects are in agreement on who should be the new president. </p>
<p>As for the grades, I feel like that is more a myth than reality. In my classes so far I’ve received the grades that I have earned in all of my classes. I haven’t encountered anyone who received something other than what they earned. Also, as long as he keeps every graded assignment, he can talk to a dean about a grade change if there are any discrepancies. The classes are challenging but if he does his best work and makes sure that he makes relationships with his professors he will not only receive the grades he earns but will also have valuable future references. They want students to show their potential, they aren’t going to lower a grade if they feel like a student doesn’t deserve the grade they earned or because of the “bell curve” ideal. In fact, almost 750 students this past semester made Dean’s list, which at St. A’s is a 3.0.</p>
<p>As with any college, the social life is what you make of it. The dorms are well suited, especially the freshman dorms, to encourage peer interaction. The RAs also have programs with the same intent. There are more clubs than I can name so any student can find where they fit and they have a club fair early on in the first semester and most of them have no membership fee and the students can come and go as they please. There are also clubs for each major that he could be a part of.
I have made amazing friendships here both from my freshman year and the different clubs I have been a part of. The school really encourages student interaction through the clubs and Residential Life.
If you are concerned about partying, the vast majority of the students do not party and if they do it is in the upperclassmen apartments, and most of the students actually do not allow the freshman to go to them. </p>
<p>If you have any other questions or if you want me to clarify anything feel free to ask!</p>
<p>I’m a junior at a private school. My grades are b’s and c’s but i had a D in math. St. Anselm’s is the college I know I want to go already. What are my chances getting in?</p>
<p>If you manage to get some better grades the rest of this year and senior year, you should have no problem. I didn’t have spectacular grades in high school either and I got in. While GPA is important, your scores on the SAT or ACT will also help (even though St. Anselm is test optional they may overlook a GPA you aren’t proud of). Also, unless you have had an interview already they can be a help because the admissions people will get to see your character, and that is one thing that they like to have good quality people at the school, not just people with really good grades. </p>
<p>St. A’s isn’t terribly selective, they accept about 70% (or a little more) of the applicants, so you shouldn’t have a problem. If you know that is where you really want to go, you could do early decision/ early acceptance because they are more likely to accept someone who shows they really want to be at the school.</p>