The State University of New York College - Oswego

Date: Jun 03 2013
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
I attended this school as a freshman because I expected I would receive a well-rounded college experience. What I came to find was that the social aspects of this school led to distraction from my schoolwork. Greek life is obnoxious on campus and if you are not part of a sorority or fraternity there is very little to do on the weekends. In simpler terms, sororities and fraternities are the "cool kids" on campus and anyone not involved isn't "good enough". There are a few crappy bars downtown, 1 or 2 of which you can get into underage, and it's not even worth it. Nobody goes to the bars before 12am and they close at 2… House parties are sparse and often packed with people that you cannot have fun. Fraternities charge FIVE DOLLARS to get into their parties which seems completely ridiculous to me considering once you get inside it is always too crowded and they always run out of beer. So you basically pay $5 for one beer (if you're lucky).The town of Oswego is inconvenient to the student who does not own a car and who doesn't want to rely on public transportation since it can take up to TWO HOURS to get to Wal-Mart which is usually a 10 or 15 drive by car. Also, forget about ever living off campus if you do not have a car. Campus is just far enough from anywhere in town that you cannot walk. Dorm life is a lot of fun and upperclassmen can live in the Village townhouses which are technically on campus (you can still walk to class), but is totally independent from the dorms (more independent living). The food on campus is atrocious. West campus has Little Page and Pathfinder dining halls, both have the same options (Little Page is more limited) and food is often fried and unhealthy unless you want to eat a deli sandwich or cereal for every meal. Cooper dining hall is in the middle of campus and has better food usually but is annoying to walk to. Lakeside is by far the best dining hall and has the most options but is on the complete opposite side of campus from West, you will never want to walk there. Mackin is the dining hall where you go to 'treat yourself'. I have never been there myself, but I hear that it is restaurant-style and you can pretty much get anything you want. The only problem is if you go to Mackin, you cannot go to any other dining hall for the rest of the day. The campus is depressing in it's own. Concrete buildings everywhere. A few nice looking academic buildings, and Lakeside is beautiful. Anywhere else feels like a concrete prison. Academically, the school is manageable if you apply yourself. Professors are very accommodating and helpful. Lake Ontario provides a lot of recreation (more-so at the beginning and end of the year when it's warm). When it's not warm, Lake Ontario gives off unimaginable wind. The wind blows so hard that sometimes you cannot physically walk forward. Makes for super cold weather, and lake effect snow does what it wants when it wants. Regardless of what the weather is supposed to be, it will snow. HARD. There is easy access to Syracuse which is good because there is a beautiful mall there, public transportation is not the most convenient though. It takes twice as much time to get there as driving because the buses stop EVERYWHERE. So the mall is a day trip, you would have to go on a weekend. However, the bus that goes to and from Syracuse leaves from the campus center and returns to the campus center. Overall, SUNY Oswego is socially challenged but they have many strong academic programs. Ironically known as a party school.

I'm transferring next semester. Good riddance.