<p>Last year, it came with my d's acceptance.</p>
<p>What about the rest of Union? As in, the environment, Schenectady, student body?</p>
<p>Snoopyiscool, what do you want to know? Can you be a little more specific?</p>
<p>I am also interested in the area around Union. Any current students/parents who could speak about safety aspects on and off campus. Also, things to do in walking distance? Like shopping, movies, restaurants, coffee shops etc. How do you find the academics? More challenging than you anticipated, less? How about the political climate? Is Union considered to be more liberal or conservative?
Thanks for any input. Hoping to visit in April. D is interested in psychology program.</p>
<p>While Schenectady's downtown is undergoing a resurgence and there are more and more places of interest for college students, there is a crime issue in the city. My son feels very safe on campus, although I have cautioned him to be aware of his surroundings. There have been occasional incidents on campus in prior years, but none have been reported this academic year. It is an open campus, so anyone can walk on. There is a visible campus security presence and poles with blue lights that can be activated by anyone walking across campus if there is a problem.</p>
<p>Within walking distance is a brand new sixplex movie theater (stadium seating), a number of restaurants of interest to college students (Ambition Cafe, for example and Villa Italia, a really nice sit-down Italian bakery. Also a Friendly's right off campus, which college kids like) and new places opening (Bombers, a tex-mex place that was succesful in Albany, is about to open downtown). I don't think there is much shopping within walking distance.</p>
<p>My son thinks the academics are tough and challenging. The professors are very approachable. Lots or work, lots of reading and lots of writing, depending on the class. The students are uniformly bright -- he was surprised by the intellectual capabilities of the students. My son is not political, so I eally do not know about the political climate. I do not believe it is really one way or the other.</p>
<p>Three Sons, thanks for your good info. We visited Union with my s and he was immediately turned off by Schenectady but the college campus is beautiful. I was disappointed that he made that quick of a decision but I know other kids have done this when visiting all types of colleges. I heard a family who drove 3 hours to visit a college and their d wouldn't get out of the car because her immediate gut reaction was she didn't like the look of the school! Except in a way, we have to listen to their gut feelings, huh?</p>
<p>janlake, we had this situation with our younger son regarding one school. When did not go there specifically to visit, so I don't feel as badly. It is a wonderful and popular school. My son did not like the fact that he did not see anything interesting that he could walk to, so he told us that he would never go there. In the meantime, he is interested in another school that is located in an old community with little to offer. He told us that he would go that school, so go figure!</p>
<p>Gut feelings can be very telling. If your son had that strong a reaction, it is probably the wrong place for him. When my son first saw Schenectady, he thought it was nowhere near as bad as he had heard. If a kid is okay with Schenectady, the campus sells itself. By the way, depending on where you are from, having an Amtrak station within a 10 minute walk of campus is a nice thing.</p>
<p>Yes, Schenectady is nothing beautiful, but it is better than it used to be in terms of things to do. My son would rather be in Schenectady than on a rural campus in the middle of nowhere (as for me, the middle of nowhere sounds pretty good!). Did you drive through downtown? Some obviously new places and lots of refurbishment going on. However, there is no denying the boarded up houses. It is a city that was built for 100,000 people but now has only 60,000 people. The mayor just announced a plan to knock down 50 houses around the city and not replace them, instead making small parks and yards out of them. However, I think there are a lot more than 50, even if the mayor's plan comes to fruition.</p>
<p>It is too bad your son had such a negative reaction. It is a great school, the campus (where students really spend most of their time) is something out of a movie set and, hey, where else are you going to get a real Division I hockey team in an on-campus arena at a school with 2,100 student?</p>
<p>Three sons, I do believe in gut feelings, but honestly, my son barely had a taste for the school he rejected (we barely approached it when he made his announcement). He had his mind made up as we drove up to the school! I won't argue with him about it, but I don't think that he gave that school a fair chance by spending even a few minutes to explore it.</p>
<p>Three sons -
Yes, Union does seem like a great school. I especially like the engineering program within a liberal arts education (being an LA person myself). Glad your son is happy there. I think that when touring colleges, the kids get worn out when visiting more than one college a day or more than a few on one trip and that too might have (unfortunatley) affected my son. Hey, I have 3 sons too (I am assuming you do by your user name). Just sending my first off to college in the fall.</p>
<p>Three sons: Thanks so much for the honest info, it is very helpful! Being from the Buffalo area we know about the loss of population. I think that as long as there are places close enough to walk, D2 will give it a chance, movie theater and coffee shop is is big plus for her! The location is perfect for our family...love the Amtrak across the state. We got D1 a student advantage card, she can go from New Paltz to Niagara Falls for $40 and do school work while she travels! Union looks very interesting...looking forward to a visit!</p>
<p>There is also Proctor's theater which has performances (dance, music, theater) right downtown. The school also has a trolley (not sure the schedule) to take the students downtown.</p>
<p>How could I have forgotten Proctors??? It is more than just a big theater for Broadway shows and concerts, although the theater is stunning. Proctors</a>, Schenectady, New York</p>
<p>Yes, I have three sons and the one at Union is my oldest. The next one goes off in a couple of years.</p>
<p>If you are taking your son or daughter to visit and you have a little time, take them for lunch at Ambition Cafe on Jay Street (a small pedestrian street) or the creperie on that street if they like and then walk over to Villa Italia on Broadway for dessert. That will show them there is actually something worth doing in Schenectady and they will walk right by Proctors, Apertivo (new chic-type restaurant where you can choose to eat, of course) and the movie theater (which looks very, very nice). Ambition is probably as close as Schenectady comes to a real college town feel. Also, drive them through the Stockade neighborhood, which is pretty close to campus and reminds me a little of Georgetown "Schenectady style." Also drive them through the neighborhood that borders the campus on the east, the G.E. Plot. Big, beautiful houses. I am not saying that anyone should avoid seeing the ugly, just don't neglect showing them the good as well.</p>
<p>If you are coming from the south or east, there are two good ways to approach the campus, I-890 and Rte. 7. I-890 is faster and that route will take you right through the city. Rte. 7 takes a little longer but is a nicer approach (will not freak any kid out). If you think your child is going to be put off by Schenectady, maybe take Rte. 7 going so that they will not pre-judge, and then take I-890 leaving so that they can get a glimpse of the city after they have had a chance to see the campus.</p>
<p>it should also be mentioned that Union's emergency response has become more aggressive since the shooting at Virginia Tech. They sent out emergency emails to all students updating the campus, send out a mass text message, turn Union's home page into a notification system, and there is also an alarm on top of Reamer Campus Center. They test it every month and a few weeks ago actually had to use it because of a drive by shooting in close proximity to the school but I or anybody I knew didn't feel unsafe or uninformed at any moment. </p>
<p>When I first visited Union I basically crossed it off of my list because of Schenectady. Since I've been here, I've really warmed up to Schenectady and actually leave campus quite often. Like ThreeSons said there are a lot of good restaraunts you can find, movie theater, etc. Most shopping is done at Crossgates which there is a campus trolley to on Wed. and Weekends.</p>
<p>re: 3/11 comment by Three Sons - </p>
<p>I just cruised onto the site (my S is looking at other, larger schools but I attended Union in the '70's). You mentioned Union looks like a movie set - I don't know if others mentioned this elsewhere, but Union was the set for "The Way We Were" in the early 1970's.</p>
<p>The way we were was on TV the other night & I knew I recognized the background! I didn't realize the movie was shot there. There is a 16 sided building in California & I assumed it must be that. That wasn’t mentioned on the campus tour. Or that Ted Kazynski's(?) brother's wife teaches there. It was this brother who reported the uni-bomber to the FBI. Or that Jimmy Carter went there; but Jimmy Carter went everywhere.</p>
<p>My son graduated from Union two years ago. It was perfect for him. He played sports, was in a frat, and has friends who I expect will stay friends with him forever. He was a non business major but is a stockbroker now. He stays in touch with his favorite professors. It was a really great place for him. The whole school kind of took him under their wing. Maybe they do that with everyone.</p>
<p>My son did very little in town. Sports & his frat occupied his time & it wasn't a hardship for him to stay around school. He lived two blocks off campus his junior & senior year in what I considered tenements. He thought it was Heaven. But your child is not moving to Schenectady. He/she is going to Union, and that is like another country.</p>