Providence College

Date: Mar 20 2004
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
I thought that college would be different from high school, and especially a Catholic college…I thought that students would be more disciplined and more willing to learn. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

First off, the school is very Catholic, which is downplayed in the tour and pamphlets, etc. If I had known last fall how religious the school actually is, I probably would not have come here. Many (if not most) students went to a Catholic high school, and almost all are Catholic to some extent. If you have no background in religion, then you will probably have a hard time getting used to the atmosphere and you may have trouble in some of the courses such as the required Development of Western Civilization courses where a working knowledge of Cathlolicism is assumed (though the professors will never admit it).

I am very disappointed with the student body as a whole. I am not particularly concerned with racial/ethnic diversity (which is just as well, because the school has none), but I am disappointed that almost everyone has the same background and mindset. A lot of students come from upper-class Massachusetts or Long Island. I sometimes feel that I am looked down on for being from rural New Hampshire and for going to a public school. The students are overwhelmingly unaware of anything going on in the real world, and they know this and do not care. Service is a big deal at the school, but I can't help wondering if students do it out of the goodness of their hearts or because it "looks good" on applications. Speaking of applications, I wonder how some of these students got into college in general, and this supposedly prestigious school in particular, even some students in the Honors Program. While I have come across some students who are very bright, there are few who seem to want to learn for the sake of learning. Many articles have run this year in the student newspaper blasting student apathy, but it continues, often almost treated as a joke. It's almost "cool" to ignorant. Students in general here are very superficial; many conversations I've heard are more shallow than ones I heard in high school.

The social scene is essentially drinking, which is frustrating if you choose not to drink. Talking to students, you get the feeling that the point of college is to drink. Providence cops seem to turn a blind eye to underage drinking. The administration has strict rules regarding drinking on campus, but I'm not sure how much they are enforced. Parietals are also strict. I don't mind them so much, but it seems that administration concentrates too much on some things and not on real problems.

The one redeeming value of the school is the core curriculum, which requires students to take courses across a variety of subjects; the probably above-average academics is the only reason why I have not yet transferred. Most students don't like the core, however, being apathetic as they are, so they do not take advantage of the core and of what it is intended to do. The Honors program is good, and the four semesters of Development of Western Civilization teach you the things that an educated person should know. I think that this program is underappreciated by the students, who are only (if at all) concerned with learning as it applies to the real world.

Basically, if you are shallow, well-off, ignorant, alcoholic who does not like to learn or put any effort into anything, then this is the place for you. If you're not, then go somewhere else. I'm planning on it.