First,
let me address the negative comments: I was actually surprised
by so many of them. At my time at Geneseo
(four years; I have recently graduated), the vast majority of
people I met absolutely loved Geneseo, or at least felt
okay about it. For the prospective student, I don?t think
this website is representative of Geneseo at all because it
is probably swamped with people who need to rant their
frustrations, who are more motivated to write a review than
those who are satisfied with the school. The repeated
comments about rape and sexual assault: I have no idea
where the 33% sexual assault statistic is coming from. I
have never heard that in my life and am pretty
informed about sexual issues going on on campus. The sad
fact is that there is sexual assault at every college
campus. There is absolutely no indication that Genseo is higher
in the rates. Many of those postings contained warnings by
Geneseo to the rest of the college. This is NOT
a bad thing. It?s good that in a college atmosphere
where there are bound to be sexual assaults, the college
is constantly working to prevent them or keep students aware.
If this is persuading you that Geneseo is higher in
sexual assaults, then that is just silly. All it shows
is that the college is more involved with preventing them
than other colleges and that is GOOD. Indeed, the college,
whether through student groups or by faculty, has made many
efforts recently to make students aware of the problems of
and relating to sexual assault. I am of the belief
that the comments are being posted by the same person
so obsessed with their agenda that they are blinded by
rationality. That?s not to say that there isn?t room for
improvement at Geneseo when it comes to sexual assault awareness
and prevention, but let?s not get carried away here and
act like Geneseo is the worst place to be when
it comes to those issues.
The assertion that Geneseo
is overrated in academic quality can easily be refuted. The
college is consistently high in academic ratings when it comes
to undergraduate work. No, you will not find the school
in the most commonly referred to US News and World
Report list because the college has a very small graduate
program and I don?t think it gives out any doctorates,
thus excluding them from the list. However, Geneseo has been
rated very highly by US News when it comes to
undergraduate work. Geneseo has also topped the list of Kiplinger?s
?Best Value? (cost in proportion to quality of education) colleges
year after year. The ?Public Honors? college is not just
something made up by Geneseo?s administration, but a claim supported
year after year by the rankings.
What I think about
Geneseo:
The work is challenging but manageable, which is
what I wanted. The professors are absolutely brilliant and completely
willing to help you with the coursework and are more
than happy to talk to you about your future plans
regarding your career path, or anything at all really. In
all my time at Geneseo, I had about three professors
who DIDN?T have a PH.D (Actually hard to come by
at many other colleges), and they were for subject areas
where you really didn?t need a PH.D to be at
the top of your game. And for the most part,
they teach you directly and don?t rely on adjuncts or
TAs to work with you (though TAs offer supplementary help
in many classes).
The students are extremely fun, friendly, intelligent,
and open-minded. Yes there are those few ignorant douchebags. But
here?s a simple solution to that problem: avoid them. You
will find those kinds at every college. You will not
have a problem finding good-hearted, level-headed people at this college.
Many are supportive of fighting against ignorance and discrimination against
minority groups and the LGBT community. I found the small
campus community beneficial to forming social bonds, getting to know
the faculty, and making you feel at home. I loved
how I could inadvertently run into my best friends multiple
times over the course of a day, especially if it
was a stressful one. It?s a nice feeling. Also, small
class sizes allow for more attention from the professors.
The campus is beautiful. The buildings are pretty and you
can see a lovely view of the valley. It?s also
compact so it?s easier to get around and again, makes
it easier to run into people you know.
There?s
not much to do in town, but I for one
enjoyed the small-town charm. I rarely had an issue finding
something to do. I went out to bars and parties
almost every weekend. There are plenty of extracurricular activities and
a fair amount of campus events.
The surrounding area
is beautiful as well. There is a small waterfall a
few minutes down the road and a big state park
15 minutes away that has a ton of waterfalls and
beautiful views of scenery (gorges and hills, the foliage is
pretty in the fall). So there is plenty to
do in terms of hiking and other outdoor activities.
The food is gross, yes. What do you expect from
campus food? You can however find a few good things
that make eating there manageable.
Budget cuts are a
problem, not going to lie. Registration can be difficult. However,
I have not heard of anyone who has not managed
to graduate in four years because of it. For most
people, there is always something else they need to and
can take even if they can?t get their top choices.
But I also acknowledge that it is too early to
tell if this will be a problem in the near
future. It was never an issue for me though.
In sum, don?t take the negative comments on here at
face value. Go find out for yourself. Visit the school
and talk to people who are not just looking to
rant. See if it?s a good fit. Good luck in
your college search!