<p>My daughter has been accepted to Marist and am hoping to hear from those who have decided to attend or are attending Marist. Why did you chose Marist? What is the best thing about the college?</p>
<p>Did you visit the school? Its very rural. Very different from Hawaii no matter which part of the islands you are from. Its not a nice urban area. Poughkeepsie is a city I think, but its not what you would think of in your mind as a city. Not much action / things to do. But that is why we like it.</p>
<p>Yes, we did visit the school and my daughter actually liked what she saw. She’s looking for a different experience from Hawaii. Would like to hear from students about what they like best about Marist but it doesn’t seem like there are too many Marist students on this forum…</p>
<p>Very rural?? A city of almost 43,000 is rural? That’s got to be a matter of perception. Our town has about 5,000 people in it.</p>
<p>I would also like to hear why students chose Marist. We visited and liked the campus well enough but, strange as it may sound, we didn’t get a good feel on the vibe of the College.</p>
<p>You don’t go to marist for the surrounding city…Poughkeepsie. Not a good city at all. Im assuming many just stay in the area right around Marist or head down Rt. 9 to the mall or something. I dont go to Marist, but I live close by. Someone who attends Marist will do a better job at explaining the fun things to do at Marist.</p>
<p>It can’t be that rural…it’s only 75 miles from the greatest city in the world.</p>
<p>I do not have a child that goes to Marist, but my niece does and I have been there many times. I live in a rural environment in northern New England so trust me, Poughkeepsie is not rural. Rural implies cows, no street lights, little traffic and small population, etc. It is not the big city, but I think the person who used rural mis-used the word as a description for the surrounding area. The area is not bad nor is it great. If you are looking for the big city, New York is close by and the train to the city is right on the edge of campus. The school is right on the river and it is very pretty, small, but pretty. There is a mall down the road but as someone else mentioned it is right off of route 9 which is total of 4 lanes and what you get along the road are strip shops, gas stations, fast food and car dealerships. It is not a quaint town but it isn’t horrible either. Here is my take on the school. I think what you read about it being a bar school is correct. The kids wait to become of age or not to hang out in the bars as that is what the area offers. With that being said, the school is what you make of it. If you choose to not participate as a spectator in sports then you are probably one that says the school has no spirit. The school appears to have loads of activities for those that don’t want to go to the bars, but if you don’t join in then you probably think there is nothing to do. Of the 4 or 5 people I know that go there they all seem to love it and they are all very different people. If you ask 100 people about the any school you are going to get 100 different answers. I think you have to go with your gut and how you felt when you visited. If you are not the type of person to get involved and make it the best 4 years of your life then it won’t matter where you end up.</p>
<p>By rural, I did not mean that as an insult. I went on to say that’s why we like it. Less stimulation and more attention on studying. However, within two miles of the school, in Hyde Park I think, a pig ran in front of our car on the way home. To me, that is rural, to others, it may not be. All of the open land / space is beautiful. I come from overbuilt suburbia so that is very nice. Its a matter of perception. But I hate concrete and neon, so rural is nice.</p>
<p>No worries GoPats, I didn’t take it as an insult I was merely pointing out my perception of rural having lived in both a city and now rural New England. It is a matter of perception. I think a few folks took your rural statement as being literally rural when in fact it isn’t what one thinks of as a pure rural environment. </p>
<p>Hope you didn’t hit the pig ;)</p>
<p>@Aloha TM My son is a freshman @ Marist. He is very happy there. We had major decisions to make last year this time, as he had several schools he considered his “top” that he was admitted to. I therefore, worried that he might regret his decision. He doesn’t! As someone else mentioned, it is what you make of it. My son is not a partyer, and found other friends who are not as well (its not hard) and he has joined a club or two and is involved in intramural sports. He chose Sheahan dorm, and its a stones throw from McCann Athletic center, and he finds himself there all the time. The dorm has a lounge that includes a ping pong table and large screen TV couches, etc and so he spends alot of time there too. The weather hasnt hampered him as much as I thought it would as we got record snows this year. He still gets out, and manages to eat! Hawaii is a long way away, and that makes it all the more difficult a decision, but I would recommend staying over in the area for a few days before making a decision, spend time on campus, just being a part of it, and eating there, maybe visiting a few classes. You can contact the school for a “shadow” day, and a current student, usually a senior will spend the day with your student, and they really get a feel for the campus. You can spend the day getting a feel for Poughkeepsie, and the surrounding area while your student is on campus. Rte 9w is a very busy road, and the area is best described as suburban I think. If fast food is a love there is plenty to be had! The older part of Poughkeepsie, closer to Vassar College is actually kind of run-down, and possibly what someone else referred to as city, but you never really have to go there. My son found getting the classes he wants easy and the classes available, so that was pleasant too. If your student has AP credits they are given priority selection- of course you do have to pay for the AP credits you roll over ($50 per credit). Lets see, I know this is long, but I would love to help with my new-found Marist experience! So ask anything you want and I will try to help-will even get my sons point of view if that would help you. The choice is hard, and you want to make the right one-but again its not the location as much as the attitude.</p>
<p>Thank you petcat for the information. What does your son think of the professors and classes?</p>
<p>@Aloha TM My son is undeclared, and Marist has a group called FOCUS that you can join your freshman year which is part of your schedule and you earn credits for, it also helps guide you in a direction, helps with scheduling and other issues new to freshman. He has basically had “core” courses thus far, and has felt them to be challenging, and the professors accessible, and knowledgable. Of course he has complained about excess work, which is a good thing. If he wasn’t complaining about work, and papers due, I would worry! :)</p>
<p>Great to hear petcat. That FOCUS group sounds very helpful How is the dorming situation? Is it as great as advertised?</p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by “as great as advertised” but as I mentioned, my son is very happy in his dorm, situated by the athletic center, and with a great lounge. There are 3 freshman dorms, Sheahan, Champagnat & Leo. Leo is right next to Sheahan, and is comparable in community feel, and friends seem to gather between the two quite frequently. Champagnat is much larger (&newer) and close to the student center. Although nothing is too far apart really. Leo & Champagnat have elevators, something for us parents to think about for move in/out. Sheahan does not,and is most easily accessible by climbing a hill from the parking lot. The dorms inside in Sheahan are clean, and a nice size with built in closets, and shelving, with additional free-standing dressers and desks. There is the possiblity of tripling in all three dorms, and a fourth dorm Marion, which houses Frosh and sophs. With tripling the beds are lofted and usually one dresser or desk or both moved out. I feel the rooms are some of the nicest I’ve seen, with most having a water view!</p>
<p>petcat, thanks again for the great information. The “as great as advertised” phrase refers to the Good Morning America news story about Marist’s dorms:
[url=<a href=“http://www.marist.edu/publicaffairs/gma.html]Marist”>http://www.marist.edu/publicaffairs/gma.html]Marist</a> Featured on ABC’s Good Morning America: Marist College<a href=“Sorry,%20not%20good%20with%20placing%20links%20here”>/url</a> Pretty impressive housing. But maybe they are for upperclassmen? Also more expensive?
Is your son in a forced triple? Seems tight and I’m wondering what your S thinks of it.</p>
<p>Oh, just saw that CC automatically fixes the links… cool!</p>
<p>WOW! I think had we seen this before applying, or accepting, we would not have. First I sure hope those aren’t any dorms my son decides on! An extra $2k a year? WOW. No I don’t consider this an advertisement for Marist or any other college, the focus should be on the work, professors, class size, accessibility, cost, etc. The “regular” dorms are really nice, and I’m really not sure which one they are talking about here-but again WOW. Thanks for sharing though! Yes my son was tripled (forced) although there were incentives offered to volunteer for tripling, he refused rolling the dice, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t be tripled. But as luck would have it, he was! When having to force triples, Marist uses the date you paid your deposit as the guide as to who gets tripled. The closer you are to the pay by date the more likely you are to be tripled. BUT! most forced triples are broken down before winter break, and some as early as Sept. We were lucky and his broke down before we got there, so he has always been 2 in his room.</p>
<p>Good to know about the pay by date for triples! I seem to recall when we visited last August that they were doing a lot of construction, I think for dorms. Is that what you you mean by triples being broken down? Because new dorms were built and opened? Would you say that there are still a lot of students in triples? Three people in such a small room just seems rather claustrophobic…</p>
<p>ok I called the school and found out that was a composite # used on the video-that the most expensive housing (pictured in video) is currently $1100 over the freshman dorm cost. These are the Fulton Townhouses for upperclassmen and are actually located across the street from the school. Each dorm, or housing is at a different cost which will be worked into your tuition & housing cost, and can be found on the website under current students, tuition & fees, 2011 actual costs, click on 2010-2011 actual housing costs. (campus resident rates)</p>
<p>So that is $1,100 more per semester?</p>