Clarkson University

Date: Apr 13 2004
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm not quite sure where to begin on this school. It definately has it's pros and cons. You really need to think about what you are looking for in a school before you decide to come to Clarkson. Let me explain about this place. First of all, this school is very expensive. For such a high amount of tuition the overall quality of this school is quite low. The overall building and housing quality is rather poor. With the exception of the slightly newer freshman quad, housing is in poor repair. To top it off, each year it gets progressively harder and harder to even "advance" in housing, as there are severe shortages in rooms. Thus you might find yourself in the freshman quad for 2 years straight as a result of a bad "lottery number" (this is how Clarkson randomly assigns you a number to choose your room). If you do manage to get into the upper class areas, these buildings are even older and run down than the freshman housing, although this is slightly made up for by the fact that they are suites with individual bathrooms; and some have kitchen facilities. As for the classroom areas? These are even worse. The only exception is Snell Hall, which is the newest building and is actually rather pleasant. However, unless you are a business major, almost 75% of your lecture classes will be held in The Science Center, which could possibly be the ugliest and most out-of-place building on campus, not to mention very dreary and uncomfortable. How about the library? This building is just as ancient and completely outdated as most of the rest of Clarkson. There are a few nice areas, however. The Cheel Center is actually rather new and is a pleasant area, however you would expect a "student center" such as this to be located in the middle of a campus, but this building is located in the outer region. The Gym and weight lifting facilites are actually rather nice, but can be pretty crowded on occasions, and are also extremely far from all dorms but the freshman ones. The food program at this school could definately use some work. The price for the meal plan is overcharged significantly, and Clarkson has recently eliminated any all-you-can-eat plans. Thus you are allowed at most 21 meals per week with a measly $25 extra "declining balance" (used for non-meal items). If you are an active kid that likes 4+ meals a day, you are out of luck. There is only one dining hall, located in the middle of the freshman quad, that was newly renovated and is pleasant to eat at, and has decent food variety, but for the amount that you pay, the overall quality of the food could be higher. Also, if you want to be on the Clarkson meal plan as a Junior or Senior (who actually got J or S housing) prepare to walk. The one aforementioned dining hall, as well as food available in Cheel, are extremely far away. As for the food available in Cheel, it is an OK selection, with a grill and fries area, pizza, a "homecooked meal" area, and a Subway. However, at busy meal times expect to wait at least 15-20 minutes in lines to eat at these places. Let me talk about the actual schoolwork and teaching now. This school is tough. I consider myself a very bright individual, and I wasn't one to study or do much work in High School, but this school changed my ways, fast. You soon realize that you can have upwards of 3-4 hours of homework a day on top of your (average) 2-3 hours of classes a day. The first months of each semester are usually test free, but from that point on, expect to have at least one test every week from that point to finals, unless your unlucky enough to get hit with 3 or more tests in one week (on top of all other work)! I have experienced a fair amount of teachers to this point, and I find almost all to be reasonably competent, however once again, for the amount of money being paid to come to this school, you would like to have TA's that speak english; and there are some teachers who are just downright awful at teaching. The engineering program seems to have the most money invested in it (Clarkson talks about its million-dollar+ donations etc. to its engineering program and to improving the CAMP (Center for Advance Materials Processing) building, which probably needs the least improvement at this school). The rest of the programs could use some of that money too! OK you say, the work is tough, I can handle that, I just will relax in town during my free time. Doing what?? Potsdam, NY (look on a map if you don't believe me) is in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely nothing here. Nothing to do, at ALL. Closest semi-large town? 30-45 minutes away. Unless you are old enough to get into the bars (or have an ID, and the bars are always extremely packed), there is no nightlife, except for Fraternity and Sorority parties which are usually closed functions for members. This area is surrounded by a lot of nature, so if you like that outdoors type of activity, this town might not be as bad, but be prepared for the most brutal and longest winters of your life. This year alone there was snow from November to April, of which half that time was biting wind and sub-zero temparatures. Spring semester you say? No way, only the last 3 weeks of the semester in April does it begin to resemble spring. This comment is getting to be rather long, but I really wanted to try and get the impression of this school down (at least in my opinion), but let me say some last things. If you can manage getting through the work and make an honest effort, you will learn at this school. If your a guy, don't worry about being distracted by women. To put it bluntly, there are none. The ratio is almost 70% male. If your a female, this is good for you, and I believe Clarkson is trying to improve the ratio, so better odds for you to get into the school. This school is also very small, about 3000 students in all. This is good/bad depending on the opinion. It is nice to be able to recognize and know almost every person you pass, but if your looking for that new guy/girl to try and meet, good luck finding someone you havent seen before. A couple of other things, the parking at this school is terrible. Once again, to put it bluntly, there is none. The campus is a very safe campus, almost no crime whatsoever. The majority of the students are very friendly, and most of the staff too. The grounds crews of the campus could do more work, but either they dont get enough funding or just don't know what to do (this is an opinion !) because the school campus is overall very ugly and drear. Also, the people who plow need to figure out what they are doing because I have seen a path no-one walks plowed at 7 AM while I trudge through a foot of snow until 2 that afternoon. Anyways, that is about as much as I can think about saying right now. Just think about what your looking for in a school and try to find as much out about it before you get there. If Clarkson could start spending more of the money that you (the student) pay to come here to improve the overall quality, then this place could get better, but until then, it is how it is.