My daughter just got accepted at this school. She applied on a flier and does not know much about it, other than she knows from me that it is a solid East Coast Liberal Arts School. (We live in Flyover Country.) She is interested in STEM, and has focused on degree programs involving Applied Math. She has been admitted at a number of schools either for Applied Math or Engineering. Her top choices at this point were CU Boulder Engineering (her home state) or Purdue Applied Math.
Her admission letter did not indicate acceptance to a particular program. Is that because you don’t need to declare a major right away at Union? Can she self-select into Engineering upon her enrollment or soon thereafter?
She is a numbers girl and likes Math. She is so-so on engineering, mostly because she does not know much about it.
We are looking for a place that can provide her a good solid STEM education with the flexibility to go into engineering if that is what she wants.
Union seems to bring to the table a small college setting that her other offerings do not provide. Not sure how it compares as a STEM school. And, of course, it is way more expensive than the other choices she has.
I work with a lot of Union College engineers and they are every bit at competent as the ones from the engineering institutes and universities. As a small program at a small school, expect fewer course/major options. The closed campus is picturesque. Schenectady is not, and with GE trying to get out of the death spiral it is in, the impact to the region is being felt.
Union is a great school in the many ways that @jmk518 has summarized. I would add also that it’s on the Amtrak line to NYC (and the larger region), a great place for internships. Union is always on my list for a solid STEM school in an LAC setting. Congratulations to your daughter!
Union is also in a pretty part of the country. if she has access to a car, or a fellow student with a car, she can easily get to Vermont or further upstate NY for skiing. The Berkshires are nearby with cute towns and leaf-peeping in the fall. Apple picking surrounds here. Nearby nice towns are New Paltz and Rhinebeck NY. Bard College, a little south, has great classical music and arts.
Based on academic criteria, including consideration of its engineering programs, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Union. If your daughter’s gotten this far, she’s probably aware of Union’s renewed commitment to the sciences apparent in its new science and engineering building. And, as stated above, Union is set in a very nice part of the country.
Downsides of Union might include a reliance on Greek life for its social aspects and a neighborhood visibly in need of some attention.
Regarding her future academic direction, yes, she could choose her initial courses and, later, her major generally without restrictions.
My D is an engineering student at Union. She has many friends that are in non-engineering STEM fields. She is not into Greek life and is still carrying on a busy social life outside of her studies. It is a small college like you mentioned, but it does offer many academic and social activities for its size. The city bus system also offers free bus rides to Union students with student ID.
My D is also an engineering student…BME. I was an engineering at a traditional engineering program. My D school is more more integrated…engineer kids are “separate” from the rest of the student body. My first impressions are the pre-requisite first phase (calc, phys, chem, etc) is FAR better than big engineering program She actually know and gets assistance from her actual professors. Professors just gave lectures at CMU…TA’s taught you the subject. My daughter love’s teaching format and an environment of more well-rounded STEM kids. So far the school seems like an INCREDIBLY GREAT match for my D.
As far as schenectedy…it’s not fancy by it’s solid city that’s very much in re-build/growth mode. Construction all over the place. It’s cetainly not like living in Manhattan, but my D and her crew has restaurants they like to hit when they go off campus.
My son was accepted but chose elsewhere. We did visit and it is a very nice campus, not so nice off campus. Engineering has little lab type resources that a large school would have, but much more personal attention from profs. If one was sure of engineering, not sure this would be my first choice, but I am not sure how any 18 year old can be sure. OTOH if one wants the small liberal arts college experience, this is one of the gems in terms of engineering in such a setting.
It’s a great choice, particularly for a student who might want to explore beyond engineering. Very devoted teaching and advising. Friendly kids and strong alumni network. I think it definitely has more of a northeast vibe to it. I would certainly give this one real consideration.
I am located 30 minutes from Union and RPI and will have a son attending each school. The youngest just paid his deposit at Union and is looking forward to the experience. One is a tech school and the other is a liberal arts school with an excellent engineering program. I would just note to the poster above that Union is in the process of opening a $100 million science and engineering building. It is very impressive. I do not know what resources will eventually be available, but as Union does not have any graduate students, all research is done by undergrads. That being said, it will be interesting for me to see what type of education my youngest son will receive as compared to my oldest who will be graduating next year.
@lutherls thank you for your insight. My daughter chose Union over RPI to study engineering. I think she will do better at a smaller school making connections with her professors. I too am curious and excited about the education she will receive.
Union is great! Schenectady not so much although there are a few redeeming bars and eating establishments not to mention Proctors theater. The campus is enclosed and so very pretty! The hockey team won the championship a few years ago which was really neat because it is such a small school. Hockey games are a lot of fun to go to and the football field is right next to the ice rink - all accessible.
I have a friend whose daughter is a sophomore there now. She was super quiet in high school and didn’t really get involved. She is thriving at Union having found great friends and has joined activities. The school is trimester.
Current engineering student here. I don’t love Union for a variety of reasons (I’ve posted about them before, although my experience as a sophomore has been miles ahead of what I went through freshman year). That being said, it’s very easy to pursue whatever major you want here, and the engineering portion of my time here has been nothing but positive. The engineering faculty are all dedicated to teaching, and any research they do involves students. Being able to take all engineering classes with 35 people or (often) less is incredibly valuable, and more than makes up for the lack of fancy new technology (although we do have a decent amount of that as well).
All that being said, the social scene can be difficult, and I would encourage you to visit and have your daughter stay overnight if she can. I didn’t visit before coming here (I also applied last minute at the suggestion of my guidance counselor) and I came to regret that decision. CU Boulder and Purdue are great schools, potentially with more opportunities, so she should think hard about what her priorities are in a college before deciding.
If she decides she likes Union, I would suggest she learn more about freshman housing options as well before filling out the housing application. That decision can make or break freshman year, and depends entirely on her personality.
@akhipstertrash thanks for your insight. Why do you say the social scene can be difficult? Also, you say housing decision can make or break freshman year depending on personality. Could you please elaborate? What type of personality is best for each? Thanks!
My son graduated a couple of years ago. He studied physics and of twelve majors his year, eight went directly into highly reputable PhD programs. He shunned Greek culture and had many friends and a full social life. Regarding housing, his freshman year he lived in the quiet studious dorm which was not exclusively science nerds and he remained close with most of his dorm-mates throughout his four years and beyond.
@Tinag1223 Union is a very preppy, wealthy environment, and greek life tends to amplify this and sort people into cliques. Union is also a little dishonest about how greek the school is - they often say 40%, but freshman can’t rush, so it is more like 50% of the school. It’s the center of social life on the weekends, which can be positive or negative depending on whether you want to be involved. I’m from the west coast and not at all interested in that scene, so my options are a lot more limited socially than they would be at larger schools where greek life is less of a driving force.
As far as freshman dorms, things change over time but the suite style dorms (Davidson & Fox, of which Fox will now be a freshman dorm) are very party-heavy and get destroyed every weekend. It’s not an environment that’s conducive to studying, which I didn’t realize coming in. I really wanted to be in a suite, but it was not worth dealing with the dirty and loud environment of the building as a whole (even though my suitemates were generally not so loud and didn’t abuse the room). West College is a lot more communal and, though there are still parties, they tend to be more relaxed and don’t create the same level of noise and mess. Students in West tend to make a lot of friends on their floors, and I would have lived there if I could redo freshman year. Richmond is somewhere between the two, but I haven’t spent much time there so I can’t really comment about what it’s like. The minervas are generally quieter living spaces with shared kitchens and a lot of events in the common areas. They used to be only upperclassmen but Union has had trouble filling some of them, so they’ll be letting some freshman live in them next year. No details as of yet about how that assignment will work. They’ll likely be the best choice for studious and motivated students who aren’t looking for traditional freshman dorm life.
One former freshman dorm, Webster, was substance free (theoretically, though not in practice). It will not be a freshman dorm next year, even though it is still on Union’s housing website. The minervas are probably the closest equivalent for the coming year.
Let me know if you have any other questions. If/when you visit I’d suggest visiting all the current freshman dorms if possible. You obviously don’t have much time, but if it’s at all possible I’d recommend it.