The State University of New York College of Technology - Canton

Date: Jan 16 2013
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
Let me tell you about SUNY Canton. I spent one whole semester there, before transferring out. I was enrolled in the Funeral Service Administration program initially, but when I got to the school, I found that it was NOT accredited. Though the school did gain its accreditation back, a majority of the students had never been made aware that this was an issue for the school. The head of the program was a first year teacher, with no experience in being in an academic teaching position, and was too full of himself to be of any use to the students, not to mention to be qualified to head a whole department.

The campus itself is located in the North Country of New York, which is a beautiful area. However, the campus is far, far, far away from anything that holds appeal in this type of setting, like hiking trails, and there is no public transportation in the area. I never wanted to walk anywhere, because I never felt safe on the campus. The student population is made up of people you would rather not want to run into at night, and the campus has a colourful history of student violence. This is because almost anyone with a pulse is accepted into SUNY Canton, so do not expect to be surrounded by the best and brightest.

The school is relatively small, yet somehow has a growing student population, to the point where dorms are overcrowded (single rooms were converted to doubles, and the school even went so far as to ask apartment complexes and rental houses in town to house the students, and offered free tuition to students who were close enough to commute, if they dropped their housing and lived at home) and the student to teacher ratio was not what you would expect for a smaller school.

The buildings and grounds are the furthest thing from state-of-the-art that you can imagine. Don't expect an old fashioned feel either, most of the school was built in the middle of the 1900s, and is best described as ugly. The newest buildings are the gym and the Grasse River Suites, which aren't bad at all. Most of the school's money went into these buildings, and they came out very nicely. Most of the academic facilities, however, are out of date, poorly maintained, and simply offensive to look at.

As for the social life at Canton, I suggest you join a sport, or the Marines, if you want social activity. The town of Canton is about a square mile of nothing, though there is a bar or a club of some sorts called the Tick Tock. Do not go there. It is shady. I was on a sports team, which kept me busy, and I got to go to events with the team when we traveled to compete, but that was about it. When I tell you that there is nothing to do here, I am not exaggerating in the slightest. Some people living off campus host parties occasionally, but you'll need to be brave enough to walk across the campus at night to get to town. (You'll have to cross two foot bridges over a river, and go through some forest. I'm not kidding. If you're a female, bring at least two male friends you trust, girls have gotten raped here.)

All in all, my best advice to you is that if someone tells you to enroll at SUNY Canton, to punch them promptly in the teeth. No matter who you are, you can do better than here.