<p>I visited Providence today not expecting much, but was very impressed. The campus was much nicer than I thought it would be and the new buildings look great. I was considering it a safety school but now its really moved up on my list. Anyone else applying here this fall?</p>
<p>i really don't think PC is that great.IMO</p>
<p>It is always a nice thing to find out that a school is so much better than you thought from the "read" on it. I actually ended up at a school that was not even on my list following a last thought we are driving by anyway visit.</p>
<p>I've thought of using providence as a safety...what did you like about it?</p>
<p>There were some things I liked and some I didn't so I'll try to give a balenced perspective. PROS: Anyway the things I liked were that right off the bat the people you meet there (admissions counselor, students, and friars) were all incredibly nice and friendly. Also, the campus was in great shape and many of the buildings were being renovated for the school year. They are also working on a new athletic facility for the fall of 06 that includes a new state of the art fitness center and turf feild for lacrosse and intermural sports. One other aspect that I liked was that there is a great deal of school spirit and tradition on the campus, there is a great deal of support for the athletics, especially the basketball team, but not the overwhelming sense that athletes are treated like gods as they are at some schools I've visited. The academic part of Providence that I liked most was the Development of Western Civilization course that all freshman and sophmore students have to take that incorperates philosophy, literature and history. This course may not be intresting to all but as a potential political science/philosophy major it seemed appealing. Oh and I guess this could be a pro or con depending on the type of person you are but the social scene seems pretty good. There are a lot of partieis and a lot of drinking, but not frats or sororities at the school. CONS: Okay the fitst thing that I didn't like was the location of the campus in Providence. Don't get me wrong, Providence is a great city and the school gives you a bus pass to get around but the campus is in a ghetto area of the city and this also brings up the issue of campus security although it doesn't seem that there are too many incidents on campus. Also, although one of my tour guides wasn't Catholic and said she felt fine at the school it did seem that there was no way to avoid the Catholic presence on campus with the Friars walking around and crosses found throughout the campus. As a Catholic I felt perfectly comfortable, but I'm not so sure I would if I wasn't. Those were really my only too problems with the school that I found on my short visit.</p>
<p>Anyway just a final thought, the school is a good safety right now and it seems to get more and more popular as its basketball program keeps improving. Also, if your a male it seems like admission would be much easier and same with scholarship opportunities, because right now I think the gender ratio is unbalenced.</p>
<p>Thanks......
What about their academic reputation, I am from the midwest and
don't know a lot about schools in the north east?
Also did they mention alternatives to drinking for the social scene?</p>
<p>How could you evaluate school spirit during the summer??</p>
<p>Okay in response to Brown or Bust, I don't think Providence's academic reputation is the greatest, but I think that also has a lot to do with the fact that many people are unaware of the school. And on the tour they did mention BOP, the Board of Programs which organizes a minimum of 3 things to do a week. Some examples were corny things like decorating a fish bowl for freshman to things like having Dispatch preform on campus and offering trips to see Jerry Sienfeld do standup comedy for a reduced rate.</p>
<p>And Hazmat, sorry I should have clairified that this was only my first time visiting the campus, but because my friend who graduated this year was a cheerleader I've been to a number of the basketball games at the off campus stadium in downtown providence and it is pretty clear that theres a lot of school spirit.</p>
<p>I'll probably apply there this fall also. xx13xx: did you get a chance to see any of the dorms? I'm going to visit sometime this summer but haven't gotten around to it yet.</p>
<p>Yeah they did take us into a freshmen dorm. The dorm was a triple I think most are for freshmen and it wasn't the nicest (cinderblock, white paint, pretty standard), but basically what I would expect to see at many colleges for freshmen. Also, on housing most of the dorms seemed to be single sex, there is one coed dorm but I think mostly sophmores live there. There are new apartments for juniors and seniors which are supposed to be really nice and I think many upperclassmen live off campus.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. If you decide to apply I wish you the best of luck.</p>